Environmental initiatives

Habitat for Humanity's Environmental Initiative has three main goals:

• promotes energy-efficient, environmentally friendly construction
• encourages good stewardship of natural resources
• raises awareness of the environmental impact of house building

At the heart of HFH’s work in this area is the challenge of sustainable building: how to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The Initiative provides education and training to volunteers working with HFH’s many local affiliates. Emphasizing resource efficiency, construction materials conservation, energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity, the initiative helps affiliates achieve higher levels of sustainable building practices.

Environmental Initiative Projects

Cane Reed in Kyrgyzstan
Find out how cane reed – an abundant material, used in the 19th century but neglected in the 20th – is being used in Kyrgyzstan. It's friendly to the environment, local economy, volunteer labour force and community.

Solar energy in Armenia
Habitat for Humanity Armenia is running an innovative commercial-non-profit partnership to provide solar energy to 127 vulnerable households. More about solar energy project.

Tree nurseries in Uganda
In Africa, trees meet a wide range of needs. Habitat for Humanity Uganda has developed tree nurseries, teaching HFH homeowners to raise and care for trees.

Promoting re-use and recycling

Habitat affiliates find many opportunities to reuse and recycle leftover materials. They are encouraged to designate a special area on the work site, making it easier for volunteers to channel them back into house construction or to materials recyclers. In an effort to raise funds at the same time, many affiliates operate a "ReStore". ReStores sell re-usable and surplus building materials to the public, using the proceeds to fund local Habitat house construction.

Read more about our Environmental initiatives