Climate Showcase Communities
Local Climate and Energy Program
Effective Practices for Implementing Local
Climate and Energy Programs:
Action Checklists
Lessons Learned by Communities for Communities
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products or commercial services mentioned.
WHAT IS IT?
Action checklists motivate behavior change by providing a clear and concise list of activities
that community members and organizations can use to reduce their carbon footprint and
achieve other sustainability goals.
WHY DO IT?
• Action checklists can engage people and organizations in your audience with near-term,
achievable actions to create a sense of accomplishment.
• They provide ideas and a starting point for longer-term behavior change.
• The checklists provide a consistent and common language among program partners and
with program audiences.
WHAT WORKS?
• Focus on a relatively small number of high-impact actions.
• Provide a menu of options that allows people to choose the activities most appropriate
for them.
• Make actions general enough to be adaptable but specific enough to be useful.
• Within organizations, have a responsible party for each action and define a timeline.
• Create opportunities for in-person discussions to go over the checklist.
• Make choosing items fun. For example, use an online "shopping" website for the
actions.
• After people complete simple actions, follow up with them and invite them to take
additional steps.
WHAT SHOULD YOU WATCH OUT FOR?
• Too much choice in checklist actions can lead to confusion and inaction.
• Make sure that there is an easy path to implement items on the list. Having a list full of
items that cannot be reasonably achieved can be discouraging.
WHAT RESOURCES HAVE PROJECTS FOUND TO BE USEFUL?
• "Communities Take Charge" Action List, Corvallis, Oregon:
energizecorvallis.org/takecharge
"Checklists make it easier
to engage people because
each person can find his or
her low-hanging fruit and
feel that he or she has
accomplished something."
Linda, Energize Corvallis,
Oregon
"Make sure that there is
an easy path to
implementing the action
items on your list."
Randy, New Jersey Sustainable
Energy Efficiency Demonstration
Projects, Cherry Hill
£EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
April 2015
EPA-430-F-15-007
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