“Think global, act local” is a worthy philosophy. 

But a person can get overwhelmed deciding how to make a dent in their personal carbon footprint.

That’s the challenge the Office of Sustainability addressed by creating the Knox Breathe Resource Guide.

As the lead agency in creating the first-ever regional climate action plan, our Sustainability team has compiled data and brought together a coalition of governments, agencies and nonprofits to review the sources of emissions in multiple categories and consider the actions to take to reduce those emissions.

Later this year, they'll conclude regional outreach and present the final plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants. 

Sustainability Analyst Davy Ray and Summer in the City Intern Freya Cordell assembled the Resource Guide's content to empower individuals to take action in manageable ways. 



The guide provides sources of additional information, ways to take action and a list of regional leaders in each category of strategies: 

• Energy Efficiency
• Food and Farming
• Land Use
• Natural Hazards
• Transportation
• Waste Management 


Emissions data can be intimidating and beg answers to seemingly impossible questions: how will we reduce carbon in the atmosphere to improve our air quality on a local, much less, global scale?  

Just breathe! Then take heart and take action using the examples in the Resource Guide.