Inform, Inc. is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environme ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Founded in 1973, Inform has published more than 100 reports covering

chemical hazard Chemical hazards are Hazard, hazards present in Dangerous goods, hazardous chemicals and hazardous materials. Exposure to certain chemicals can cause Acute health hazard, acute or long-term adverse health effects. Chemical hazards are usually cl ...

prevention,

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

prevention,

extended producer responsibility Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle to the market price of that product, contemporarily mainly applied in the field of ...

, and

sustainable transportation Sustainable transport is transportation sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommod ...

. Inform uses media, such as video, to educate the public about the environmental effects of various consumer products.

History

Inform was founded in 1973 by Joanna Underwood in order to document the environmental impact of business practices and identify practical options for change. Inform's research has been cited as providing "the intellectual underpinning for other advocacy groups". During 1976-1978, Inform investigated the land sales industry. The investigation led to proposed consumer

amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

in the Federal Interstate Land Sales Reform Act. In 1986, recommendations made by David Sarokin and Warren Muir, researchers at Inform, resulted in the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

's creation of the

Toxics Release Inventory The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available database containing information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities in the United States. Summary of requirements The database is available from the United ...

. Chemical research done by Inform on the benefits of waste prevention helped lead to the federal

Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA) is a United States federal law that created a national policy to promote the prevention of pollution or reduction at pollution sources wherever possible. The law also expanded the Toxics Release Invent ...

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

named Joanna Underwood to serve as part of its seven-member Corporate Environmental Advisory Council in the early nineties. By creating this council, Dow aimed to allow environmental advocates to examine its business practices. In 1995, Inform published a ''Toxics Watch'' report, which revealed that a significant portion of the toxic waste released into the environment originates from consumer products instead of chemical manufacturing plants. In 2000, Inform's ''Bus Futures'' report concluded that investment in natural gas buses is crucial in the development of cleaner buses and air. Between 2004 and 2005, Inform had assisted more than 77 institutions in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

prevent more than 56,000 pounds of toxic chemicals from reaching the

waste stream Waste comes in many different forms and may be categorized in a variety of ways. The types listed here are not necessarily exclusive and there may be considerable overlap so that one waste entity may fall into one to many types. * Agricultural ...

The Secret Life Series

Part of Inform's Media Project, ''The Secret Life Series'' consists of several videos examining the environmental impacts of everyday items. The goal of this series is to increase awareness about the ways that production and consumption affect the environment and public health. On January 17, 2008, Inform released ''The Secret Life of Cell Phones'' online. This video details the implications of disposed unrecycled cell phones and the benefits of recycling old cell phones. The video has reached an audience of over 25,000 people in 87 countries and has been discussed on over 50 blogs. In August 2009, Inform released ''The Secret Life of Paper''. The video has won the "Rethinking Resources Award" at the Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Future videos in the series will deal with beef,

antibacterial soap Antibacterial soap is a soap which contains chemical ingredients that purportedly assist in killing bacteria. The majority of antibacterial soaps contain triclosan, though other chemical additives are also common. The effectiveness of products b ...

jeans Jeans are a type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by ...

, and plastic bags.

Awards

Inform has received awards for its research on the environment: *1976:

National Energy Foundation The National Energy Foundation (NEF) is an independent British charity, established to improve the use of energy in buildings. Aims The charity aims to ''improve the use of energy in buildings''. This statement simplified the earlier stated ...

Award *1987: US EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award *1992: US EPA Administrator’s Award, given because of Inform's national leadership in pollution prevention *1992: US EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award *1993: Federal Fleet Conversion Task Force, received for Inform's staff service on its working group, which was established by an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

made by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

*1994: Consolidated Edison of New York’s Enlightened Energy Award, given for Inform's energy conservation efforts *1994: City Club of New York’s

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

Award, given for Inform's leadership in finding solutions to the city’s

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the American English, United States and rubbish in British English, Britain, is a List of waste types, waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. ...

problem *1997:

American Society for Public Administration American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is a membership association of almost 10,000 professionals in the United States sponsoring conferences and providing professional services primarily to those who study the implementation of gover ...

, New York Metropolitan Chapter’s Excellence in Public Service-Outstanding Organization Award *2009 The Rethinking Resources Award at the Ninth Annual Media that Matters Film Festival

References

External links

Inform, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inform, Inc. Environmental organizations based in New York City 1973 establishments in New York City Organizations based in New York City