Houston » Environmental Resource Guide
Purpose: To achieve sustainable community improvement by providing programs that educate the public, combat blight, prevent litter, minimize waste and beautify Houston’s public spaces.
Programs: Adopt-A-Block and Adopt-A-Ditch Program; weekend cleanups and tool lending library; community beautification and edible community garden projects; civic leader and teacher training workshops. Teacher worksheets are available on the website for classroom use.…
Purpose:Â Founded in 2001, the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy (WWGC) partners with the Harris County Flood Control District and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department to enhance the 280 acre Willow Waterhole Park as a native plant and wildlife area and a passive recreational green space.
Programs: Music in park performances, movies in park screenings, conservation volunteer work days on the second saturday of each month, monthly bird surveys on the third saturday of each month by Houston Audubon Society, and free environmental education series for kids and families.…
Purpose: Founded 2005 as part of the Houston History Project (now the Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative), UH Center for Public History, UH-HHA is a public repository for books, documents, oral histories, and images related to the Houston region’s growth and development from 19th century to present. Particular areas of collection interest include energy development, environmental history and activism, and documentation of Houston’s ethnic diversity and activism.…
Purpose:Â The SPARK School Program works with schools and neighborhoods to develop community parks on public school grounds. In the past 30 years, SPARK has built over 200+ community parks throughout the Houston/Harris County area. Each park is unique, with its design based on ideas and needs of the school and surrounding neighborhoods.…
Purpose: To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
Meetings: Second Thurs., 7:30 p.m., St.…
Purpose: To accelerate the clean energy transition by incubating climatetech startups focusing on electricity, agtech + water, buildings, transportation, manufacturing, and resilience + adaptation. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown Labs brings together startups, corporations, investors, policymakers, and many others with a focus on scaling climate solutions. Driven to provide startups with the resources, knowledge, connections, and equipment they need to thrive, Greentown Labs offers climatetech startups lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, an electronics lab, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more.…
Purpose: Houston Wilderness is a broad-based alliance of business, environmental and government interests that acts in concert to protect, preserve and promote the unique biodiversity of the region’s precious remaining ecological capital from bottomland hardwoods and prairie grasslands to pine forests and wetlands.
Programs: Collaborative Access Program, Sam Houston Greenbelt Network, Collaborative Grant Organizing, Wilderness Passport, ecosystems services, and Get Out Here Houston.…
Purpose: Houston’s leading health and clean air advocacy non-profit specializing in both the treetops and grassroots of environmental advocacy and organizing. Air Alliance Houston’s mission remains to reduce air pollution in the Houston region and to protect public health and environmental integrity through research, education, and advocacy.
Programs: Research, Education, and Advocacy, including Ozone Theater (air pollution education program with three curricula for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8). Annual Earth Day Art Contest for grades 3-12, earthdayartcontest.org.…
The Exploration Green Conservancy, Inc. (EGC) has been formed and incorporated to develop, preserve and protect the land known as Exploration Green (EG). This area was purchased by the Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) for use as a storm water detention area: the CLCWA created a Master Plan for the area and initially sponsored the formation of the EGC.…
Purpose: HDHHS’ Environmental Health Services division provides a variety of programs and services relating to air and water pollution, occupational health and food establishments.
Patrick Key, Assistant Director
webadmin@houstontx.gov
Stephen Williams
Houston Health Department Director
(832)393-5169
Purpose: Empowering Texans to fight pollution through sustained grassroots organizing campaigns that shift corporate and governmental policy. The TEC envisions a Texas free from pollution. As the largest environmental group in Texas organizing support through door-to-door canvassing, grassroots is both who we are and what we do. Programs: Advocates for local, state and national policies that hold manufacturers responsible for recycling the toxic products they create (such as electronic waste or “e-wasteâ€); works to strengthen environmental and health standards for Texas landfills; educates residents and builds grassroots support through a year-round neighborhood canvassing program; and works toward recycling for all Houstonians.…
Purpose: The University of Houston Office of Sustainability serves as the hub for campus sustainability efforts. Engaging the campus and community, the office fosters collaboration and educates individuals about social, economic and environmental factors that impact today’s society and generations to come. On-campus sustainability initiatives include academic programs and research, educational events, the campus community garden, single-stream recycling, water bottle refill stations, renewable energy use, sustainable transportation, green building and more.…
Barry Mandel, President and Park Director
Maria Aguirre, Executive Assistant
Purpose: To provide an uncommonly beautiful, urban green space in the heart of Houston that serves as a village green for our city, a source of health and happiness for our citizens, and a window into the incredible diversity of talents and traditions that enrich life in Houston.…
Purpose:Â To celebrate, protect and restore the natural richness of all our bayous and streams. Founded in 1966 to protect and restore the richness and diversity of our waterways through activism, advocacy, collaboration and education. BPA monitors water quality, plans clean-ups for bayous, restores habitat, reviews permit applications and sponsors seminars on flood reduction.…
Purpose:Â Scenic Houston works to eliminate visual blight because all Houstonians are entitled to a green, uncluttered, visually appealing city. Scenic Houston promotes sign control, billboard reduction, freeway landscaping, scenic byway development, and enhanced design standards for public projects. Our success improves the quality of life for all Houstonians.
Major Events: Scenic Visionary Awards Dinner, October.…
Purpose: To raise awareness of the connections between pollution, place and the public’s health. CEER envisions a region that is equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically strong; where residents have the opportunity to live, work, learn, play, and pray free from environmental hazards. CEER advocates for public and private investment in protecting communities by cleaning up hazards that contaminate air, water, and land.…
Purpose: To provide education about the natural environment to people of all ages and to protect and enhance the Arboretum as a haven and as a sanctuary for native plants and animals. Programs: Adult classes on nature, wildlife, art, photography, food and wine, and more. We also offer family programs, special events, Memberships, private group tours, guided nature hikes, citizen science opportunities, a Nature Shop, and rentals.…
Purpose: The Houston-Galveston Area Council is a region-wide voluntary association of local governments in the 13-county Gulf Coast Planning region of Texas. H-GAC’s mission is to serve as the instrument of local government cooperation, promoting the region’s orderly development and the safety and welfare of its citizens. Key governmental services include transportation planning, disaster resiliency, cooperative purchasing, homeland security, workforce development, air and water quality planning, forecasting, and mapping.…
Purpose: The Friends of Woodland Park, Inc. (FWP) is dedicated to preserving the park’s natural habitat along with its unique historical significance to the City of Houston, and to providing for the enjoyment and education of all who visit.
Publications: Subscribe to email newsletter.
Programs: Trails at Twilight Gala,
Bird watching monthly.…
Purpose:Â Houston Climate Protection Alliance connects residents of the greater Houston-Galveston region concerned about global warming so we can learn and act together.
Meetings: First Sundays of each month at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5200 Fannin at Southmore. Time is usually 1:15 p.m., but please call to confirm and for topic information.…
The CEC has a searchable, web-based version of the Environmental Resource Guide. You may also download older versions of the printed guide below.
Archived Resource Guides