[GreenYes] nice work St. Paul and Susan !!

["Eric Lombardi" <eric@no.address>]

Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006

Group to share greener-city tips

City has committed to act on goals

BY DENNIS LIEN

Pioneer Press

St. Paul will get a blueprint today on how to become a cleaner, greener city
over the next decade or so.

Hundreds of city residents who've been fine-tuning a half-dozen
recommendations for much of the past year will pass them on to Mayor Chris
Coleman and the City Council, which already has pledged to do something
about them. If the city takes them to heart, lots of things will be done
differently.  Less garbage, for example, will be thrown away. More energy
will come from renewable sources. Buildings will use less electricity. There
will be more community gardens and more nutritious food.

"This is not only great for the environment, but what it really means is the
quality of life in St. Paul is going to be better for everybody,'' said
Susan Hubbard, chief executive officer for Eureka Recycling, a nonprofit
organization. More than a year ago, Eureka Recycling and Council Member Lee
Helgen helped create what became the Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable. As
part of it, more than 500 people met in different sessions and identified
and researched ways to conserve resources and cut pollution.

To show its commitment, the council passed a resolution saying it would
implement the recommendations to the greatest extent possible. It also will
receive annual progress reports.  "What's really exciting is the city has
agreed to a third-party evaluation on how well the city has been
implementing these,'' Hubbard said.

Here's some of what the roundtable is recommending:

. Create a zero-waste plan and establish measurable goals to reduce garbage
for the next two decades.

. Strive to get 25 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and
cut carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 to a level 20 percent below 1988.

. Develop sustainable design and building guidelines for new and existing
buildings.

. Improve the availability of and access to healthy foods.

. Recommit to maintaining open and park space.

. Work with watershed districts to encourage stewardship of the Mississippi
River.

Helgen said city staff already has begun work on some of the ideas. "All of
the work we have done is paralleling this community work,'' Helgen said.

As the group identified issues, Helgen said it was asked to focus on local
ones.

"We asked the roundtable, keep it at a level that the city can make a
difference in,'' Helgen said, adding, "This was a nice way to use people's
energies in a positive way.''

The council is expected to pass a resolution today directing city staff to
carry out the recommendations.

Dennis Lien can be reached at dlien@no.address or 651-228-5588.

 

 

Eric Lombardi

Executive Director/CEO

Eco-Cycle Inc

Boulder, CO. USA

303-444-6634

www.ecocycle.org

 



--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GreenYes" group.
To post to this group, send email to GreenYes@no.address
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to GreenYes-unsubscribe@no.address
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---