top of page

Recent Achievements and Programs
 

Fund the CAP Campaign

  • Fund the CAP Campaign

    • Our goal was to successfully implement the Charleston Climate Action Plan, and we saw two major choke-points blocking implementation: staffing and project funding. 

    • We fought for some key budget requests from the Office of Sustainability to be funded, such as:

      • Sustainability & Resilience Grant Writer - $70k a year

      • Communication and Community Engagement Manager - $60k a year

      • Compost Program Expansion - $20,000

      • EV Charging Expansion - $70,000

      • Tree Survey - $400,000

    • We organized partners and our members to send letters and emails to council in support of the budget items, got 1-on-1s with council members to secure their support, and showed up to the City Council meeting preceding the budget vote to get our asks over the finish line.

    • In the end, all of these requests were approved!

County Climate Action

  • In 2021, we passed a Charleston County Climate Action resolution with Councilman Middleton calling for a community-centered, equity-based Climate Action Plan. Now, the County is working on its CAP!

Community Building

  • We’re proud of the climate activist community we’ve helped build in the few years we’ve been active.

  • We hold monthly meetings on the last Wednesday of every month to keep members engaged and involved, featuring action sessions and guest speakers.

  • We hold the yearly event the Surge Sessions, a night of TED-esque talks from local climate experts, leaders, artists,  and changemakers.

  • We hold the yearly event Tour de Earth Day, a bike ride around downtown Charleston featuring many local partners and urban ecostops such as  gardens and creeks.

  • We collaborate with the environmental community, boosting actions from partner organizations like Charleston Moves, Coastal Conservation League, Conservation Voters of South Carolina, and more.

  • We collaborate with the justice community, working with partners like Charleston Black Lives Matter and the Lowcountry Action Committee through the People’s Budget Coalition.

Municipality Climate Action

  • In 2021, we passed a Climate Action Resolution in James Island. This year, they installed solar panels on their municipal buildings as a direct result of the resolution.

  • We helped spread Charleston’s compost dropoff program to Isle of Palms.​​

  • We rallied support behind the Mt. Pleasant GREEN Commission.

Compost Dropsite.jpeg

Surge Magazine

  • Surge Magazine

  • We’ve been publishing the Lowcountry Climate Magazine, Surge, since 2022. Issue 4 was recently released in partnership with Charleston City Paper, significantly multiplying our impact.

TdED '23 (34).jpg
surge mag issue 4 cover.png

In Development

Lowcountry Green Business Alliance (LGBA)

  • The LGBA program is meant to promote and facilitate sustainability in our local businesses, through data & action, education, communication, connectivity, and a registry.

  • We’re aiming to move as many businesses as we can up the ladder of sustainable practices, as well as recognize and lift up businesses that are leading in the field.

  • We want to be a resource for consumers looking to reward sustainability as well as leading local businesses towards matching the City of Charleston’s goal of 56% GHG emission reduction by 2030

Surge Radio

  • We’re collaborating with CCL on a radio show for Ohm Radio highlighting local visions for an aspirational, eco futurist Lowcountry.

Environmental Justice

  • We’re developing the Environmental Justice Profile (EJP), a comprehensive accounting of EJ issues a community can face, what mapping and measuring tools are available for diagnosing them, and ultimately, working with communities on appraising their EJ challenges and organizing for solutions.

bottom of page