2012 Four Corners Green Living
Meeting Our Needs Through Sustainability Article by Carolyn Moller, Werner Heiber, Lissa Ray, and Elsa Jagnieki
Living sustainability is often defined as living to meet our needs in the present without compromising the lives of those who come after us. The Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado, an all-volunteer group based in La Plata County, embraces this definition of living sustainably, applying it to our local community in holistic ways. Our mission is to promote sustainability through facilitation, communication, and community collaboration. Sustainable communities are those that thrive economically, socially, and ecologically, promoting interdependence through use of local, natural, and human resources and talents. Much of our work occurs behind the scenes, and has resulted in some very successful public programs: •Farm to School Program, now a regional model •Local First, a thriving non-profit with 180 locally owned business members •Social Community Forums - Appleseed Series (2009 - 2010) a collaboration of six local organizations, Sustainability Dialogue Series (2009 - 2010) and Green Drinks (2011 - present) Additionally, we have been active in the formation of the Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency (4CORE), the La Plata County Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP), SW Connect (ongoing mapping of community assets) and the www.greenlivingindurango.com
City and County comprehensive plans. Our current work includes the Smart Energy/CLEAN initiative, the Durango Bag-It Campaign, and Durango Green Drinks. The Smart Energy Committee was formed to address climate change on a local level. The group advocates for distributed, local, and renewable electric generation to build the local economy, protect energy security and conserve the environment. To that end the committee has recently sponsored internationally recognized speakers such as Paul Gipe, R James Woolsey, Craig Lewis and Pegeen Hanrahan; selected a team of local community members to travel to Germany to study policies and experience the successes of renewable energy; and promoted renewable energy as an issue to members of the LPEA coop during recent board elections. The group continues to work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing our local carbon footprint, and building a sustainable local economy. Durango Bag-It volunteers have lead a very successful community education campaign over the last year to bring greater awareness around the subject of disposable bags. The EPA reports (2010) that
only 15% of plastic bags are recycled in the U.S. Reducing and even eliminating disposable packaging, such as the plastic bag, is small step toward the larger, very important goal of having a zero-waste community. Durango Green Drinks is a monthly informal social forum for community members to meet, network, and discuss issues and projects related to sustainability and to get connected to exciting things happening in our greater community. SASCO and Local First co-host Green Drinks at different businesses throughout Durango, currently held the 2nd Monday of each month.
The Sustainability Alliance hosts many regular gatherings and meetings. Visit our website, www.sustainableswcolorado.org for information about upcoming events. You can also subscribe to our monthly e-News, a concise listing of local news and events related to sustainability in the Four Corners! We operate as a 501-c-3 organization under the sponsorship of the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado. We are an all-volunteer organization and invite you to join us. Our children’s future depend on today’s actions!
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Four Corners Green Living • Sunday, June 17, 2012 • 5