7 leading green bloggers tell us what they think are the top environmental organizations in the United States.

To kick off our new “7 Green Bloggers” series, I decided to ask leading environmental bloggers from around the web a rather difficult question: “What would you say is the top environmental organization in the United States?” The following are the responses. I am delighted and a little surprised to see that no one picked the same organization.

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Let us know in the comments which of the answers below you most agree with.

Adam Shake: Sierra Club

Adam Shake is Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of Simple Earth Media, one of the largest environmental blog networks on the internet.

Adam’s answer to the question above was: “That’s a difficult question. There are many great organizations out there who help protect individual pieces of the collective pie, but my personal choice would be the Sierra Club. Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club is the oldest and largest environmental organization in the United States. The fact that it was founded by environmental hero John Muir, helps too.”

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg: Earth Policy Institute

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog, one of the oldest continuously-published blogs focused on environmental and sustainability issues. Jeff also writes for the Sundance Channel’s SUNfiltered blog.

Jeff wrote: “This is a tough one… so many good organizations doing fantastic work! But since I have to pick one, I’d go with Earth Policy Institute. I think Lester Brown is one of the sharpest minds out there in terms of identifying the broad spectrum of ecological issues we face, and promoting practical, sensible solutions that are both environmentally and economically sound. (As a disclaimer, I should note that sustainablog is one of the many sites that runs content from EPI).”

I might add that Planetsave also publishes content from EPI.

Becky Striepe: Environmental Working Group

Becky Striepe is an independent crafter and avid vegan cook living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her passion is working with vintage fabric and salvaged materials. Her indie business, Glue and Glitter, is all about using existing materials in products that help folks waste less without feeling deprived. She is the editor of our sister site Eat Drink Better. You can also find her written work on another one of our sister sites, Crafting a Green World, as well as on greenUPGRADER and Care2.

“I’m a really big fan of the Environmental Working Group. They’re constantly releasing important information about environmental hazards and they have such useful tools, like their Cosmetics Database and their Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce,” Becky wrote.

Jennifer Lance: National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Jennifer lives on 160 acres off-the-grid in a home she and her family built from forest fire salvaged timber. She is a teacher, mother, writer, artist, and yoga instructor. She is the founder and editor of Eco Child’s Play, “a blog devoted to informing and discussing ‘Green Parenting for Non-toxic, Healthy Homes’, and also writes for Blue Living Ideas, Green Living Ideas, and Really Natural.

In response to the question above, Jennifer wrote: “I am wary of the large environmental organizations, especially after the Sierra Club endorsed Clorox products last year. These large organizations have more political lobbying power, but I usually choose to make donations to smaller groups that I trust and are somewhat locally-based. My favorite environmental groups right now are Environmental Working Group, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Northcoast Environmental Center, Environmental Protection Information Center, and Environment California. I like to support groups that are making a difference where I live, although none of them would qualify as the top environmental organization in the US. I suppose if I had to pick one top group, it would be the NRDC.”

Image Credit: CarbonNYC via flickr/CC license

Zachary Shahan (1960 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on your favorite social network, go to: zacharyshahan.com