Policy Tools

"Act Locally: Ten Steps Toward Sustainability"
By Stephen Filler

"Think globally and act locally" remains the perfect creed for communities seeking a sustainable future. With the federal government in denial, most of the innovative work for sustainability in the United States today is occurring on a state and local level.

Local action has great benefits. Citizens can best identify local problems and opportunities given their political, economic and social make-up. Local programs -- arising organically from the community -- can engage, educate and empower citizens more forcefully than directives from Washington or Albany. And local communities can serve as laboratories for small-scale experiments that, if successful, can be exported for widespread use.

Here are some of the best policy and legislative initiatives to consider for your community:

1. Create a Sustainability Task Force
For far-reaching effects, municipalities can form a Sustainability Task Force to identify local problems, set goals and act to save energy, use less resources, and reduce pollution. It's best if a task force works with a municipality, but one can be started simply with a group of concerned citizens. A task force can limit its scope to the local government, the school district, a particular economic sector (e.g., manufacturing, food or retail), or it can reach them all.
The City of Minneapolis's Sustainability Task Force is a great example. It conducts yearly roundtable discussions and utilizes expert testimony, and then publishes annual reports with sustainability goals, targets, strategies and progress. It utilizes measuring tools, or "indicators," in important areas such as air and water quality, asthma, bike lanes, sewer overflow, permeable surfaces, tree canopy, and renewable energy. (Non-environmental "indicators" include affordable housing, wages, graduation rate, and students in the arts.)

In the Hudson Valley, the City of Hudson just created a "Cool Cities Citizen Advisory Panel." The panel will focus on energy, infrastructure, municipal policy, community and intergovernmental partnerships, and "buy local first" economic development. In Westchester, a group of citizens recently formed a Sustainable Westchester Task Force and drafted a proposal for community-wide sustainability planning to engage the county, local governments, schools, and the private sector.

2. Support Local Business

In his new book, "The Small-Mart Revolution," Michael Shuman argues that local businesses create a vibrant local economy with more local jobs and wealth. A strong local economy also reduces transportation, and makes it easier for a community to maintain high environmental and labor standards (local businesses won't move simply to find a place with less protective laws). And because shorter supply lines substantially reduce emissions (most food travels 1500-2000 miles before eaten), Bill Mckibben has said that local business may "be one of the keys to containing global warming."
Municipalities can support local business by implementing local purchasing preferences, instituting "buy local first" campaigns, providing local business directories and training, and removing subsidies and other benefits for non-local businesses. The newly formed Hudson Valley Sustainable Business Network is working on a wide range of projects to support the local economy.

Large box stores and shopping malls are a particular problem. They contain huge impervious surfaces, lead to more driving by shoppers, and result in longer supply chains in the delivery of their products. Localities can enact size ordinances limiting the size of single retail stores and shopping malls. Localities may also require that new retail stores undergo special review if they exceed a particular size, or generate substantial vehicular traffic.

3. Incorporate LEED and Energy Efficiency Standards in Buildings

Buildings consume one third of energy and two thirds of electricity used in the United States. They are responsible for 35% of the country's CO2 emissions and 40% of raw materials consumed worldwide. "Green" buildings are blooming, however, because of new environmentally-friendly building materials, economic incentives and the financial savings of energy efficiency.

The U.S. Green Building Council has developed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for green buildings, and certifies buildings that integrate sustainability, energy and water efficiency, renewable resources and indoor environmental quality. Many municipalities have incorporated LEED standards into laws governing construction of public buildings. In 2005, New York City mandated LEED standards for nonresidential public buildings costing over $2 million, and for private projects receiving signficant public funding. Many localities offer benefits to builders who incorporate LEED into private projects, including tax credits (Maryland), higher zoning density allowances (Arlington County, VA), and reduced permit fees and fast-track permits (Gainesville, FL).

In 2002, the Town of Greenburgh, NY, passed a ground-breaking law requiring most new dwellings to meet Energy Star Labeled Home guidelines that typically use 30% less energy with improved thermal windows, tightly sealed ducts, and high efficiency heating and cooling equipment (HVAC).

Some Colorado communities have charged extra fees for energy-wasting homes. In Aspen, homeowners are charged special fees if their homes are over 5,000 sq. feet or if they exceed an "energy budget" allocated to their property. These fees funded more than $2 million in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects during the program's first two years.

4. Set a Goal of Zero Waste

In March 2006 the Oakland, CA, City Council adopted a "Zero Waste" goal by 2020 and commissioned the creation of a "Zero Waste" Strategic Plan. Oakland has already achieved the 50% waste reduction goal mandated by California law, primarily through residential recycling collection programs and free market recycling services available to businesses. As opposed to traditional waste management principles, the "Zero Waste" strategy presumes that products are designed to be repaired, reused or recycled, and so that no waste is a threat to planetary, animal or plant health. Communities can strive toward "Zero Waste" by implementing policies to reduce (promote low-impact or reduced-consumption lifestyles, and reduce volume and toxicity of waste); reuse (foster use of discarded materials to stimulate and drive local economic growth); and recycle (improve ?downstream' recycling of end of life products and materials to ensure highest and best use).

On a simpler level, municipalities can mandate municipal purchasing of recycled products such paper. Communities can also create a materials exchange program for items such as computers and chemicals, or give incentives to reduce waste by charging residents based upon the amount of waste they generate with "pay as you throw" programs. Local laws should also insure that communities use "dual steam" recycling, meaning that paper and cardboard is separated at the curbside from bottles, cans and plastic. There is an unfortunate trend toward mixing all recycled waste in a "single stream," which is less expensive for haulers, but undermines the value of the recycling (paper with glass shards, for example, cannot be recycled).

5. Enact Environmentally-Friendly Land Use Laws
The New York Constitution states that "the policy of the state shall be to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty," and the State grants broad authority for localities to enact environmentally-friendly laws. Comprehensive plans and other local laws can protect sensitive areas and native plant species, implement water use and conservation goals, protect trees, and require environmental mitigation measures. Cluster zoning can limit a development's footprint and maintain more contiguous open space. Incentive zoning can encourage developers to use renewable energy, energy efficiency, reduced impervious surfaces, and maintain native vegetation.

6. Create Biotic Corridors
Ecosystems do not respect municipal borders and, unfortunately, municipalities have generally returned the favor. Communities, however, can band together to create biotic corridors that maintain important ecosystems and biodiversity. Recently, the Towns of Lewisboro, Pound Ridge and North Salem, NY, agreed to preserve habitats spanning 22,000 acres known as the Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor. Cortlandt, Putnam Valley and New Castle, NY, just reached a similar agreement for the Croton-to-Highlands Biotic Corridor.

7. Encourage Green Transportation
Communities can take hundreds of steps to reduce emissions from automobiles. Some of the better ones: use hybrid fleets; create "Safe Routes to School" projects and participate in "Walk to School Week"; appoint a cycling coordinator, build bicycle lanes, and provide for widespread bicycle parking; and provide a jitney bus service to get commuters to the train.

8. Bar "Formula" Restaurants
Fast food is often unhealthy, over-processed and its processing, packing and transportation create huge amounts of waste and CO2 emissions. A small but growing number of communities across the country have banned so-called "formula" restaurants. The New York Times reported September 24 that NYC Councilman Joel Rivera, Chairman of the Health Committee, wants to use New York zoning laws to limit the number of fast food restaurants in the City.

9. Support Green Roofs and Porous Pavement
Municipalities can build green roofs on city structures and create incentives for private building owners and developers to use them. Green roofs typically have a layer of soil with plants; their greatest advantage is water management, since they can absorb 50-60% of the rainwater that falls on them. This means that storm water enters the municipality's drainage system in a slow, controlled flow, rather than the typical high-volume surge from impervious surfaces that frequently cause storm water overflows to mix with sewage. Green roofs also help buildings stay cool in the summer and retain heat in the winter. Portland, Chicago and Toronto all have green roof programs.

Similarly, porous pavement can reduce storm water flooding and pollution by permitting water to pass directly through concrete or asphalt into the soil rather than sheeting off. Philadelphia recently announced it intends to use porous pavement in its storm water management program.

10. Celebrate Success
One of the best ways to encourage sustainability is to provide awards for excellence. Portland Oregon's Office of Sustainable Development recently announced its 14th Annual BEST awards for local businesses that incorporate sustainability into their business. Award categories include energy, product development, water efficiency, food systems, storm water management, transportation alternatives, waste reduction and pollution prevention.

Side Bar: What is Sustainability?
Sustainability sounds complicated but it's actually something every child understands: leave your place as nice as you find it. More formally, it is sometimes defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Environmental sustainability can often be measured by looking at a societies' "ecological footprint." Redefining Progress, a major sustainability non-profit, uses "ecological footprint" to compare humanity's natural resource consumption rates (its use of resources and waste disposal) to nature's regenerative capacity. Society is presumed to be operating sustainably if its footprint does not exceed the Earth's natural regenerative capacity. In 2004, the United States consumed approximately twice its natural regenerative capacity and its per capita consumption significantly exceeded that of any other country. Businesses are frequently considered sustainable if they follow a triple bottom line with equal concern for people and planet, as well as for profits.

Stephen Filler, an attorney in Tarrytown, New York, is on the boards of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the New York Solar Energy Industries Association, and is a member of the Hudson Valley Sustainable Business Network. He consults for sustainable businesses and organizations, and maintains a website on sustainability and legal issues at www.greencounsel.com.

Resources for Local Policies and Legislation:

Local Organizations:

Books:

  • Nature Friendly Ordinances, James M McElfish Jr., 2004
  • Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change, Guy Dauncey
    with Patrick Mazza, 2001.

  • The Small-Mart Revolution, Michael Shuman, 2006.
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