Faced with the rising costs of business-as-usual, Seattle building owners and property managers are coming together to prove that sustainability is not only better for society and the environment, it’s profitable too! The Seattle 2030 District is creating a collaborative model for how to build a vibrant “green” economy, with the hope that other cities will follow their lead.
create a carbon neutral urban environment by 2030
RACE TO ZERO CITY seeks a “village of storytellers” to incite the race to create the first carbon neutral city in North America by 2030. In a Pecha Kucha presentation delivered tonight in Seattle, the team rolled out their theory that stories are central to the acceleration of massive change and offered up ZERO CITY’s first story assignment…
Your assignment, should you chose to accept it: Tell Your Story of the Future of Your City.
How? Using your mobile phone, create a photo montage, video interview, poem, message–whatever you’d like–and send to racetozerocity(at)gmail.com.
Share your story and be a catalyst in doubling the speed of change you want to see!
NOAA’s mesmerizing and disturbing historic animated graph ticks back 800,000 years before 2009 to chart the rise and fall of atmospheric carbon on our planet, illustrating the unprecedented highs we humans are creating.
Currently at 391.76 parts per million (ppm), we are speeding further away from the maximum 350 ppm that many believe is need to arrest global climate change.
A new interactive map plots local commitments to fight climate change across the world…
ICLEI (local governments for sustainability) and the City of Copenhagen have joined forces to create The City Climate Catalogue and a corresponding map showing climate commitments of local municipalities all over the world. The full database lists 2,886 communities to date. Is your city on the map?
Grist reports that mayors from around the world signed a voluntary pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a Mexico City meeting that is precursor to U.N.-sponsored climate talks in Cancun this week.
“We have to tell the international community that it’s in the cities that the battle to slow global warming will be won,” said Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. Read the rest of this entry »
A small beach community in Southern California has announced its plans to aim for carbon neutraility. With only 1.3 square miles, the goal may not be as challenging as it is for other cities, but Hermosa Beach mayor, Michael DiVirgilio, sees his city as a “perfect partner for those who want to collaborate with a city that’s nimble and motivated to showcase the latest emission-cutting, energy-saving and pocketbook-focused products and services.”
Could the leading U.S. city in the fight against climate change be Austin Texas? The City of Austin, population approx 750,000 and metro area of 1.8 million, plans to be carbon neutral by 2020: that means government facilities, vehicles and operations.
Look out New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and all you others…here comes Austin!
According to Grist, San Francisco has “the country’s toughest mandatory recycling and composting laws” and diverts nearing 80 percent of its refuse to recycling and compost, with that figure climbing each year. This means San Francisco is giving Seattle, with a history of pioneering rigorous recycling and composting programs, a serious run for its money in the race to zero waste.
With Seattle’s King County aiming for a Zero Waste goal of 2030, looks like San Francisco could beat Seattle in this particular leg of the carbon neutral race.
PlaNYC is a comprehensive strategy to reduce New York City’s greenhouse gas footprint, while accommodating a population growth of nearly one million, and improving its infrastructure and environment. In short, they aim to be “greenest big city in the world.”
They aren’t yet aiming for carbon neutrality, but what they’ve acomplished in just three years should light a fire under every city in North America to commit to their own, aggresive plan for sustainable, prosperous, high-quality living!
With a call to use less and live better, Vancouver has laid down the challenge to become what they call the “greenest city in the world” by 2020.
They are laying down an international challenge for other cities to compete with them for the “greenest city” title.
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