Interested in solar power for your Decatur/DeKalb home but you’ve been holding off because it’s too complicated or expensive?  Greg and Beth send along this announcement. Greg notes that this program is already live in Athens and summarizes…

Solarize Decatur is a community-based solar PV bulk-purchasing program that allows homeowners, businesses and nonprofits in the Decatur Area to save on the cost of solar together—the more that participate, the greater the savings!

There are a lot of really interesting plans and goals in Decatur’s just-released Environmental Sustainability Plan.

Here are some of the most notable ideas.plans, in my humble opinion.  Let me know what else you find!

EXPLORE STARTING A MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC UTILITY

Though not a small task, controlling the electric utility would provide Decatur residents with much greater flexibility around the sources of their electricity. Additionally, innovative financing mechanisms (such as on-bill financing for energy efficiency or renewable projects) can be made available to Decatur residents and businesses.

SUPPORT THE INSTALLATION OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCE STATIONS IN PUBLIC OR SEMI-PUBLIC PLACES.

Fueling infrastructure that should be considered includes:

Read the rest of this entry »

From the Decatur Minute…

The City of Decatur Environmental Sustainability Board invites the community to review and comment on the first draft of the Decatur Environmental Sustainability Plan.

WHEN: Thursday, November 10 from 6 – 8 p.m. (drop in)

WHERE: City Commission Meeting Room, Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street

Decatur residents submitted hundreds of ideas of how Decatur can become even more environmentally sustainable during the 2010 Strategic Planning process. One of the tasks in the final plan is to “Develop a citywide sustainability plan with the assistance of the environmental sustainability board to address issues such as the creation of a climate action plan, initiatives such as an ordinance to limit motor vehicle idling and roof color standards to reduce the heat island effect.”

The draft plan will be presented at the meeting and be available online for review and comment up to 3 weeks after the meeting. More public input will also be gathered using online tools like Open City Hall and at public meetings as more revisions are made to the plan. If you would like a link to the plan emailed to you, please contact the meeting coordinator using the information below.

In addition to looking at and commenting on the draft plan, the open house will include recycling demonstrations, rain barrels and other environmental initiatives to explore. Please stop by anytime between 6 – 8 p.m.

For information about the meeting contact:

Lena Stevens – 678-553-6577, [email protected]

Resource Conservation Coordinator

While trolling the Decatur city’s website a couple days back, I saw this item on the Environmental Sustainability Board’s agenda from last month…

Coca-Cola Curbside Accelleration Recycling Grant: City is a finalist in the program.  City applying for a $200k grant. Funds would be used for an education campaign and also to provide 65 gallon wheeled bins.

I checked with the city’s Resource Conservation Coordinator Lena Stevens and confirmed that this was still underway.  She replied…

The City of Decatur is a finalist in a grant from Coca Cola called the Curbside Acceleration Recycling Program. We applied for $200,000 to provide rolling recycling carts for those who want them, and also for an educational campaign around recycling. The winners haven’t been announced yet, so we’re waiting with fingers crossed. We had a phone call with Coke representatives 2 weeks ago, and they expected an announcement in 4-6 weeks.

Currently, the only option for Decatur residents – in addition to the free, 18 gallon bins – are 95 gallon wheeled bins that cost $68 a pop.

Decatur Environmental Sustainability Board Member KC Boyce recently asked about question facing his Board on Twitter…

#DecaturGA is working on ordinance updates (for 2012-13). What do you think about #green building requirements for new development?

From a look at the Sustainability Board’s agenda over the past couple months, it looks like this has been an ongoing conversation about whether the ESB should pursue an interim policy for consideration by the City Commission.

As for the other question that Mr. Boyce raised on Twitter a couple of months ago, “Should #DecaturGA ban or tax plastic bags and/or disposable take-out containers?”, and a subsequent Board survey, the Board’s meeting minutes it sounds like they’ve decided to pursue an educational campaign to reduce plastic and other non-reusable bags instead of an outright ban.

When I first caught wind of a potential initiative to ban or tax plastic bags by Decatur’s Environmental Sustainability Board back in October, the post produced 87 comments of a heated back-and-forth about everything from the dangers of plastic bags to the dangers of banning plastic bags.

Well, now the Board is openly appealing to the Decatur population at-large to take a 5-question survey to get a better gauge of support for legislation that would either ban, tax or limit the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam by retailers.

Why plastic bags and Styrofoam?  Here’s the Board’s argument…

Estimates are that in the U.S. 60,000 plastic bags are used every 5 seconds. Less than 10% of these are recycled.

Polystyrene foam adds to the waste stream and presents a hazard for birds and other wildlife as it breaks up into indigestible pellets. The market now provides products that serve the same commercial purpose, are readily available and are less harmful for the environment.

How will/did you respond?

Decatur Environmental Sustainability Board member KC Boyce wrote on Twitter this morning…

Should #DecaturGA ban or tax plastic bags and/or disposable take-out containers?

Looking back at the latest uploaded minutes from the Sustainability Board meeting in August, it seems like at least the tax is a serious consideration.

Presentation on options for a plastic bag tax: Jill presented an overview on some statistics and pros and cons of plastic bag ban or “tax.” The board is interested in pursuing this but wants to better understand the impacts and options and pros and cons specific to the City and businesses, especially in light of conflicting information found in various news sources.

ACTION: Committee will continue research and will come back to the board to share.