IDEAS For Us is a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

–accredited

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

which works to advance

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

through local action projects in countries and on campuses around the world. IDEAS For Us focuses on reaching communities furthest from sustainable development and advancing the

global goals for sustainable development The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

by helping to develop, fund, and scale local action projects from within communities which have the potential to grow into ongoing programs. IDEAS For Us has three major programs: Fleet Farming (an urban agricultural program), the Hive (a community think/do tank), and the Solutions Fund (an international micro-granting philanthropic branch which supports projects related to the 17 Global Goals).

Goals

Since their inception, IDEAS For Us has evolved into an international network of thousands of individuals who work together to identify, share, develop and initiate these solutions to the integrated environment and sustainability challenges with a focus on the 5 Pillars of

Sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

Waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...

and

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

. The movement uses an all inclusive approach to directly involve students in multiple disciplines to organize community actions, share resources and best practices, develop

innovations Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed ent ...

, and invent the solutions they need through cooperation.

Mission

IDEAS For Us seeks to "Educate, Engage, and Empower" youth and all ages on environmental issues. The organization seeks to provide means for groups of individuals to make a positive change in their environmental community. IDEAS chapters are encouraged "not to dilute, but to add value" to the existing environmental community. Mission Statement of IDEAS For Us, taken from the organization's website:
IDEAS FOR US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and accredited NGO by the United Nations, advancing sustainability and environmental awareness through youth-led action. Mission Statement of the IDEAS Movement, taken from the organization's website:
"To Educate, Engage, and Empower people of all ages in Sustainability through a database of resources, initiatives and experiential learning activities to create positive environmental change on campus and in their community."

IDEAS Movement

Origins

The first chapter of I.D.E.A.S. (Intellectual Decisions on Environmental Awareness Solutions) was created at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in August 2008 by Chris Castro and Henry Harding, both UCF students at the time. Shortly after, a second chapter was created at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

. Chapters at both schools worked together to participate in the Kill-a-Watt challenge, proving to be the first project which gained acclaim in school newspapers for the movement. From there, the UCF chapter created the "T-tote" campaign, which involved

upcycling Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value. ...

worn out donated T-shirts into carrying bags. This campaign moved IDEAS on the national level for winning the "Best Campaign of the Year" award at the 2010 Campus Progress National Conference. The movement gained further attention when a video with Chris Castro, founder to the movement, appeared on the front page of the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

's website in 2010. By 2011 the vision to transform the organization into a 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Organization was pursued and with the help of the current executive director, Clayton Louis Ferrara, I.D.E.A.S. transformed into IDEAS For Us.

Activities

On October 31, 2011, a house which functions completely

off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...

was established by IDEAS members in downtown Orlando, Florida. This house has no basic utilities, such as municipal water or electric. Instead the house is completely powered by

solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...

and

wind turbines A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. W ...

. Water is provided by

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

barrels. The house was designed and implemented entilerly by a team of IDEAS eco engineers. DJ Chill Will, a Floridian IDEAS member, is a DJ who runs all of his equipment on

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...

. As of Fall 2012, IDEAS for Binghamton and IDEAS Office of the Northern Region are collaborating on a project which will bring a semi- closed loop

food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development, and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: grow ...

to the

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

campus, by creating an on-campus farm as well as an on-campus

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

system. Through Clean Edison, IDEASforUs offers courses in the U.S. Green Building Council’s

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BPI (Building Performance Institute) Certification, Energy Auditing, Solar Installation, Wind Engineer and Renewable Energy Technician.

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

Orlando feature
a seminar
about the application of

biomimicry Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...

to the environmental movement, given by Chris Castro. On February 6, 2013, IDEAS launched The Hive, a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

at Urban ReThink in Orlando, Florida. The Hive is an initiative meant to mobilize activists invested in community sustainability. IDEAS was represented at the February 17,l 2013 Forward On Climate rally in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Before the rally, IDEAS for Binghamton and fellow

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

residents met to protest

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...

in New York's Southern Tier.

Chapters

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

Miami-Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida Coll ...

* Seminole State College *

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

* Florida State University *

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center ...

Coral Reef High School Coral Reef Senior High School is a secondary school located at 10101 S.W. 152nd Street in Richmond Heights, Florida, United States. The principal is Nicole Bergé-MacInnes. Coral Reef is locally known as "Miami's Mega Magnet School" since it off ...

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

Eau Gallie High School Eau Gallie High School is located at 1400 Commodore Blvd in the Eau Gallie area of Melbourne, Florida. It is one of four public high schools in Melbourne, along with Melbourne High School, Palm Bay High School, and West Shore Junior/Senior High ...

* Chapel Hill High School *

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

* Chitwan Medical College *

Kathmandu University Kathmandu University (KU) ( ne, काठमाण्डौ विश्वविद्यालय) is a public autonomous university in Nepal. It is the third oldest university in Nepal, located in Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchok District, about ...

Pokhara University Pokhara University (PU or PoU) ( ne, पोखरा विश्वविद्यालय) was established in 1997 (2054 B.S.) and is Nepal's fifth university. Its central office is located in Pokhara, Kaski District, Gandaki Province. Alo ...

* Pashchimanchal Campus * Janapriya Multiple Campus *

Institute of Engineering The Institute of Engineering (IOE) ( Nepali: ईन्जिनियरिङ अध्ययन संस्थान), established in 1930, is the first technical school of Nepal. It was reformed in the present shape in 1972 as an organ of T ...

Awards

;Best Campaign of the Year 2009-2010 - Campus Progress ;2011 Conservation Organization of the Year (2011) - Florida Wildlife Federation ;Champions of Change (2011) - The White House Office of Public Engagement

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://ideasforus.org Environmental organizations based in Florida Organizations established in 2008 Sustainability organizations 2008 establishments in Florida