(The photo is a little blurry, but so is my head after so many hours of PowerPoint presentations!)
So, I'm winding down, getting ready for my annual "blogging break" (oh, I guess this is my first holiday season with Sustainable Dunwoody, but it's my third with FoodShed Planet). Just a few more posts here, probably until Tuesday of next week. I then have a couple New Life Journal articles to finish, plus my monthly column for them, and some corporate work such as a marketing blog and weekly biz-to-biz enewsletters on the Cox-owned Kudzu.com.
My "things to investigate" list from the ARC Green Communities training session Tuesday, and subsequent emails and phone calls that filled the day yesterday, includes:
General Sustainability
* Reviewing the sustainability reports of neighbor cities such as Roswell (they are doing major things with fleet-management, and did you know they have a solar powered dog park and that they were named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists? The bike group in that city is offering cute "R" shaped bike racks to businesses at a reasonable cost--maybe we could get them in a "D"?)
* Contacting P2AD and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) for assistance in getting our sustainability efforts formalized. Do we want to officially pursue Green Community certification? I believe we have the capability to qualify for Level 1 in 2009.
* Reading the magazine Cities Go Green: The Sustainability Magazine for People in Local Governments. (By the way, if you are in a job where you have a "gov" ending your address, you qualify for a FREE subscription to this magazine, which is a $72 annual savings. Click here.)
Greenspace/Food Security
* Determining the potential and possible placement of a small market farm, in conjunction with an expert who has presented an opportunity to us.
* Trying to help Corinna Garmon find a new location for the Spruill Farmers Market (that location will be unavailable next year due to construction).
* Researching toxicities of power line greenspace.
Building
* Learning about Green Globe building standards (increasingly being offered as a building standard option to LEED) and also finding out more about lighter colored roofs (Cherokee County has a white roof on its Silver-level LEED-certified Administrative Office Building in order to reduce the heat island effect and increase energy-efficiency--many HOAs, by the way, require dark roofs, and the recent concern about a red roof at the new school "not fitting in with the neighborhood look" leads me to think we're not asking questions about the energy efficiency when we could be).
Water
* Investigating "stormwater credits" for citizens in various municipalities (Gwinnett gives credits for having a sprinkler with a sensor that recognizes rain but NOT for not using a sprinkler at all, practicing organic lawn and garden care, and Xeriscaping! Credits for conservation-minded efforts like these, as well as adding rain barrels and installing permeable surfaces can help lower your stormwater usage bill!)
* Finding out more about phosphorus and water quality in our area. I hear that Georgia has more than enough phosphorus naturally in its soil and that ANY additional phosphorus added through fertilizer applications results in damage to our watershed. Speaking of water quality, the lower the water level (and before this week's rain, Lake Lanier was down 18 feet--now it's probably down, you know, 17 feet and 8 inches), pesticides become more concentrated and the water requires higher levels of treatment in order to be potable. If current conditions continue, Lake Alatoona is expected to be dead by the year 2015. That's six years, folks. Dead.
Business
* Researching creative ways other cities incentivize small, locally-owned businesses to operate within their city, since having a vibrant local business community keeps more dollars circulating close to home and thereby increases economic security and long-term sustainability.
* Compiling links to the sustainability reports for corporations and national retailers who operate within our city limits for easy access for readers of Sustainable Dunwoody so that you can more easily "vote with your dollar."
Education
* Determining how to access the citizen toolkit that Atlanta is developing with the catchy slogan, "Power to Change." (All training session attendees received a clever switchplate sticker to remind people to "Switch off" and apparently there is a whole set of materials that the City of Atlanta says we are free to use.)
* Learning from cities around the country and world who are farther along than we are on sustainability efforts. For instance, I have blogger friends in Adelaide, Australia who have been dealing with a severe drought for ten years now. The coping mechanisms they have learned (specifically in relation to personal food production) are downright shocking to me.
Oh, and it goes on and on. Suffice it to say that I am continuing to dig in on these issues and many more. Also, you will be happy to hear, I think, that so many people have come forward with interest and energy to work on various aspects of sustainability for our community. Sometimes "livin' green" can feel sort of lonely. I want you to know that right here in Dunwoody, you are most definitely NOT alone!
If you read this blog and are interested in getting involved or sharing your comments/suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at freshbakedcopy@mindspring.com.
No matter what happens in our city (and I have full expectation that bold forward-thinking steps will be taken to put Dunwoody on the map as a national leader in this arena), I will continue to "bear witness" to the exciting creation of a brand new city as it addresses the challenges of a changing world.
I love this line from a recent David Brooks column:
"The season of prosperity gives way to the season of economic scarcity, and out of the winter of recession, new growth has room to emerge."
Well, lucky for us, winter is short here in the Atlanta region. And signs of new, sustainable growth are everywhere, as made clearly evident by Tuesday's workshop. Is it time for us to officially join in?
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3 comments:
When you say "toxicities of power line greenspace" to what do you refer? Is this the oft-cited EMF issue, visual pollution, or is there something inherent in the land beneath high tension transmission lines that is physiologically toxic?
I've often wondered why neighborhood groups don't collaborate with Ga Power to build linear parks under the transmission lines in Dunwoody. I would if it were in my back yard. And there are many varieties of trees that grow no higher than 20-25 feet and properly planted would not impact the lines, towers or access to either. Many bear fruit.
Perhaps the City could use the extra money they (the city) will start taking from us by way of higher franchise fees to make this happen. It would turn an eyesore into an asset and offer a mea culpa for breaking the "same or lower cost" promise.
We can all dream, can't we? ;^)
Thaddeus: I don't have an answer yet about toxicities. I'm just not convinced about the safety of that area for food or children. I want to research other cities that have used space like this and look at their data.
However, I tell ya', I think you're destined to be involved with our city's sustainability initiatives. C'mon-it'll be fun!
If the soil contains toxins I would guess it is due to post-construction dumping by someone other than Ga Power. Transmission lines are just towers and wires, and Ga Power clear-cuts for access and safety.
I suspect that a design including paved cart/bike/walking paths adequate for maintenance vehicle access, combined with an assurance of security and limits on liability might help engage Ga Power. If I recall correctly the park/golf center at Morgan Falls uses some of the area under the towers, but I could be wrong. However, if it does, there is some precedent.
Plus, if the city is using Ga Power to increase a tax it might be nice if the city used some of that money to improve the appearance and community value of the infrastructure they use to justify the tax.
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