Environmental prevention is an approach that identifies and works to change the elements within the environment of a community that support or condone unhealthy or unsafe decisions. It focuses on community systems as opposed to individuals, and is based on the fact that individuals do not make decisions regarding their health and safety solely on the basis of personal characteristics. In reality, they are influenced by a complex set of factors in the environment, such as

• the rules and regulations of the social institutions to which they belong,
• the norms of the communities in which they live,
• the mass media messages to which they are exposed,
• and the accessibility of alcohol, tobacco and other illicit drugs.

Environmental prevention, focusing on the community context, can complement more familiar individual-based prevention efforts. Utilizing environmental prevention in addition to existing individual-based prevention efforts increases the possibility of significantly impacting many of the public health and safety issues facing our communities.

Implementing an effective environmental prevention project requires project focus and activity in each of the interdependent components of the Environmental Prevention Implementation Model developed by the Institute for Public Strategies. The five key
components are:
1. Media advocacy
2. Policy
3. Applied data and research
4. Intentional organizing
5. Enforcement