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What is a Sustainable Community ? I think the late great Thomas Jefferson, one of our important founding fathers said it best when he wrote, "Then I say the earth belongs to each generation it its course, fully and it its own right, (but) NO generation can contract debts greater than can be paid during the course of it's own existence". Translated this basically means we can't take more from the earth than it can regenerate in our own lifetime. We cannot take selfishly that which belongs to future generations.
In addition to this, one of my other favorite quotes comes from an old Polynesian tribal saying, "We don't inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children". For over a hundred years since the industrial revolution we have been taking from the earth at a rate faster than it can replenish itself. Each generation inherits the previous generations problems. Is it really fair that we expect our children to clean up our messes instead of leaving them a better world than we had?
Since the federal government keeps stalling on the immediate action that needs to be taken to preserve life as we've come to know it on this earth, more and more local communities, municipalities, businesses and individuals are taking action to reduce their global footprint. I've been recently asked to write a Green Policy for consideration in Pike County, "The home of Conservation". When the request came in I had to find a place to start my research on this issue. As a Certified EcoBroker, I belong to an incredible nationwide network of Green Real Estate Specialists. Through our e-list serveR I sent out a call for help to see what local plans had already been implemented elsewhere. I was amazed at the wonderful response I got from all around the country.
Thousands of local municipalities all over the world have already installed such plans to reduce their carbon footprint, save energy, money, the environment, and improve the over all health of their community and the quality of life for their residents. I reviewed many of these plans trying to find a compromise of ideas that would not only fit into our local particular set of circumstances, but also something that could realistically be approved and embraced by the community, businesses and our local government. This is a tough task to say the least, but there are a lot of serious and determined people behind this, and I'm very honored they asked me to help.
The Climate Action Plans and Green Policies that I researched are not only already in place in "hip" areas of the country where you'd expect them, like Boulder Co., and many counties in Calif., Oregon, Washington etc...but I've also seen these plans for areas on the east coast as well, like Massachusetts, Upstate New York, Southern New Jersey and all the way down to Tallahassee, Florida who has one of my favorite plans and websites: http://www.sustainabletallahassee.org. Check it out !
Even Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a Mecca of suburban sprawl outside of the greater Philadelphia area, recently instituted it's own green program that includes such things as low energy traffic lights, (LED's), incentives for recycling, hybrid municipal vehicles, solar panels on government buildings and more.
Many local governments have banned both plastic bags and plastic water bottles. Plastic bags are non-biodegradable and can sit in landfills for up to 1,000 years. They clog municipal drains and flow out into the ocean killing birds and fish and ultimately end up in our food chain. Alternatives include cloth and canvas reusable bags, not paper bags which require a lot of water, trees and energy to produce them.
Last March, San Francisco, CA became the first major municipality in the U.S. to ban plastic grocery bags in supermarkets and pharmacies and plastic water bottles in government installations and functions. According to ICLEI, (the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives), at least 30 rural Alaskan villages and towns have banned plastic bags, along with Bakersfield, CA; Oakland, CA; Boston, MA; New Haven, CT; Portland, Annapolis, MD; Austin, TX; Los Angeles County, CA: New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Phoenix, AZ. The state of Washington is also considering fees or outright bans of plastic bags and plastic water bottles.
Do you know it takes two gallons of fresh water to make one gallon of bottled water and only 10% of those bottles are ever recycled? Fortunately, bottled water is slowly being banned in cities across the country as they are instead promoting municipal tap water over the waste and carbon emissions associated with the manufacture, disposal and required transportation of bottled water. "Mayors have touted municipal water as equally healthy and pure as bottled water, and are taking steps to exclude the bottles from city offices and functions", according to the US Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
The built environment is also addressed in all of these sustainability plans as our buildings contributed 37% of our greenhouse gases. One household generates more energy and CO2 than a car does in a year. All of the sustainability plans include an extensive green and sustainable building code that deals with land use & development, water and energy conservation, building materials and waste reduction.
There's so much we can do on a local level that will improve our quality of life for generations to come while creating green collar jobs, promoting eco-friendly businesses and consequently attracting eco-minded tourists that help support our economy. With a proper Green Policy in place we can apply for government grants and loans, enhance our life, improve our economy and keep it prospering in the future as we move toward the inevitable changes now...not once it's too late or forced upon us.
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