Metal parts of old toilets are recycled and the rest is crushed and turned into paving material. Volunteers load a van with ultra-low-flush toilets; their efforts are essential to the program. Photos courtesy of Mothers of East L.A.-Santa Isabel

Mothers of East Los Angeles Water Conservation Program, California, U.S.A. The Mothers of East Los Angeles -- Santa Isabel were founded in 1984 as a community-based organization. Over the last 15 years, they have protected their neighborhoods from a range of environmental and health threats: a municipal waste incineration project, a hazardous waste incinerator that planned to treat 60,000 gallons of cyanide only 60 feet from a local high school, and an oil pipeline to be built 3 feet underneath another local school. In 1992, with the support of Cooperative Technologies & Services International (CTSI) and city water authorities, the Mothers of East L.A. initiated a community-wide water conservation project. In 5 years, their program has distributed 65,000 ultra-low-flush toilets to area residents to reduce water use. These toilets use only 1.6 gallons per flush instead of the usual 5 or 6 gallons, enabling each household to save 5,000 gallons of water per year. CTSI itself has distributed nearly 500,000 ultra-low-flush toilets in programs up and down the West Coast and in cities on the East Coast. 1 of 2