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Green Government Initiative NACO’s initiative provides comprehensive resources for local governments on all things green, including energy and air quality, transportation, water quality, land use, purchasing and recycling. Included are a series of publications on issues such as green building standards, air quality improvement and creating a green team. NACO serves as a catalyst between local governments and the private sector to facilitate green government best practices, products and policies that result in financial and environmental savings. Green Government Webinar NACO has posted presentations from its Green Government Initiative on its website. NACo’s Green Government Survey Results Two recent NACO surveys help give a better picture of the green efforts that are taking place in counties across the country. Many counties have chosen to take environmental measures in order to protect the environment and improve the operations in their counties.
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Publications&template=/ContentManagement/ NLC Sustainability Website The National League of Cities website serves as a clearinghouse for what cities are doing to "go green." http://www.nlc.org/topics/index.aspx?SectionID=sustainability Go Green! Monthly Newsletter America is shifting to a green culture where 300 million citizens are embracing the fact that environmental responsibility is everyone's responsibility. To help, you can sign up to receive EPA's new consumer monthly newsletter, Go Green! EPA launched the electronic newsletter to provide information about activities and events that we can use in our homes, communities, and offices. http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/gogreen SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AWARDS NACO has announced winners of the Center for Sustainable Communities Awards Program, which recognizes the positive results when counties work together with fellow governments, the private sector, and community leaders to improve the lives of their citizens. A report includes five key lessons for building sustainable communities and highlights the best practices of the twenty finalists. Some of the awards which have an intergenerational and healthy community focus include: Gwinnett County, Georgia Environmental Heritage Center > The Heritage Center’s programs and interactive exhibits offer a wide array of sustainable design strategies for citizens of all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. The Center features some of the very latest ‘green’ building practices and serves as a focal point for a regional educational effort to conserve and responsibly utilize natural resources.
Pinellas County, Florida:
Brownfields Pinellas County is quickly approaching build-out conditions. To start educating its future leaders, the county partnered with the Girl Scouts of Suncoast Council to launch a Brownfields Spotter Patch program to educate the community’s youth, particularly its girls, about brownfields, and eventually help facilitate rehabilitation of these properties.
Dane County Food Council, Wisconsin:
Creating a Sustainable The four main components of the Dane County, Wisconsin sustainable local food system are: a Farmers’ Market Network Project to increase direct marketing opportunities for producers; an Institutional Food Purchasing Project that works to increase the amount of local food purchased by Dane County and area institutions; a Market Basket Project that expands programs that provide fresh fruits and vegetables for low income households; and an Education and Outreach Project that raises public awareness of food system activities, recruits volunteers and partner organizations, provides for public input, and celebrates people and initiatives that are making an impact.
Woodbury County, Iowa: Comprehensive Woodbury County enacted the Organics Conversion Policy that provides a five year 100 percent real property tax rebate to any farmer who converts from conventional to organic farming. The county became the first in the nation to enact a mandatory local foods purchasing policy requiring the county to purchase locally grown organic food for its food services. This fall, Woodbury is set to enact a Homestead Ordinance to repopulate rural communities providing no-interest loans to buy farmland, free lots in rural communities to the new farmers for housing, and tax rebates on the acres farmed.
Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky: A joint effort of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government, the University of Louisville and Jefferson County Public Schools, is focusing on environmental management, education and health initiatives. The Partnership’s goal is to create a greener, more sustainable community, while improving the health of citizens and improving and institutionalizing environmental practices within the organizations themselves. This is accomplished through the strong participation of workers and citizens in project teams devoted to researching approaches to specific community enhancement issues such as green purchasing, waste management, and energy efficiency.
http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=New_Technical_Assistance&template=/ContentManagement/
College
Sustainability Report Card Cool Schools The Sierra Club has identified the top 10 “cool schools” for environmental initiatives. Schools earned points in ten categories: policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement, and transportation; curriculum; environmental activism; waste management; and overall commitment to sustainability. The article also includes information about campus initiatives and green careers. http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200809/coolschools Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Winners EPA has announced winners of this first-ever award, which recognizes outstanding community planning and strategies that support active aging and smart growth, thereby improving quality of life. Achievement Award Winners are the Atlanta Regional Commission and the City of Kirkland, WA. Commitment Award Winners are: City of Rogers Adult Wellness Center, Arkansas; Carver County Public Health, MN; Scarborough, Maine; Queen Anne’s County Housing and Community Development, Maryland; Brazos Valley COG, Texas. http://www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/awards/2007/index.html New Partners for Smart Growth Powerpoint Presentations More than 230 power-point presentations from the 2008 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference are now available online, courtesy of the Local Government Commission. Workshops covered a wide array of topics, including livable community design, preparing for the boomers, access to local food systems and developing community partnerships. http://www.smartgrowth.org/newpartners/NPSG2008.asp 5-Star Restoration Program This program brings together schools, youth groups, conservation organizations, community groups, businesses and local government agencies to provide environmental education and training through projects that restore wetlands and streams. Through a partnership of EPA, NACO, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Wildlife Habitat Council, Southern Company and Pacific Gas and Electric, challenge grants and technical support are provided to enable community-based restoration projects. See a description of projects that have been funded throughout the country. http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/restore/5star ONLINE RESOURCE FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES The U.S. Green Building Council, in partnership with the city of Seattle, is spearheading “The Green Playbook for Green Building and Neighborhoods,” a web-based resource that provides strategies, tips and tools for cities and counties to take immediate action on climate change through green affordable housing, green neighborhoods and sustainable infrastructure. AARP: OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATING LIVABLE COMMUNITIES This brief provides a framework for understanding the common barriers communities confront in their quest to create more livable areas, and offers several examples of how communities have used a variety of planning and zoning tools to overcome these barriers to benefit residents of all ages.
www.aarp.org/research/housing-mobility/ FROM EPA: TIPS TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT Protecting the environment doesn't have to be expensive. Even if you are on a fixed income,there are affordable steps that we can take at home, in our yard, at the store, on the road and leading by example. These steps will not only reduce our ecological footprint but also save us money and help us live happier, healthier lives. http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/tips/index.html Safe Routes to Schools in the States The Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership has released a report on state progress and activities since the program was enacted by Congress in 2005 to support education and enforcement programs that make it safer and easier for children to walk and bicycle to schools. It includes early success stories of action at the local level; a “state of the states matrix;” and a discussion of resources and program needs. www.saferoutespartnership.org/media/file/rpt_SRTSstates2007.pdf Safe Routes to Schools Resources The National Center for Safe Routes to Schools provides a comprehensive list of resources, “how to guides” and promotional ideas for making walking and bicycling to school safe and appealing for children. www.saferoutesinfo.org/getting_started COMPLETE AMERICA’S STREETS In communities across the country, a movement is growing to influence the building of road networks that welcome all citizens. The Complete Streets Coalition is a wide array of organizations which advocates that the streets of our cities and towns ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper.
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