Sustainability thrustLocal government driving environmental initiatives in various New North communitiesStory by Amie J. Schaenzer WINDMILLS THAT DOT THE EASTERN SHORELINE of Lake Winnebago provide some of the most visible examples of a trend slowly taking hold in the Fox Valley area. While the massive energy-producing wind mills are hard to miss, plenty of behind the scenes work on sustainability efforts in the Fox Valley has been emerging in communities as educators, city governments, businesses, and in many cases – grassroots organizations – have begun to implement eco-friendly policies and practices. “Sustainability is really starting to bubble up, whereas a couple years ago, it was just a couple bubbles,” said Roger Kanitz, member of the City of Menasha Sustainability Board and co-chair of Ecos Fox Valley. Ecos Fox Valley hosted the first ever regional sustainability action summit in October at UW-Fox Valley in Menasha, where those interested in making sustainability a part of their communities came together with the hope of improving communication among municipalities in the Fox Valley. “We found that there are a lot of entities out there working on the same thing – but not actually together,” Kanitz said. THE UW-EXTENSION IS ONE SUCH ENTITY educating the public on local sustainability efforts and trying to tie together the many other entities pursuing such initiatives. This past July, the UW-Extension in Fond du Lac County hosted a local energy bus tour, showcasing Cedar Ridge Wind Farm on U.S. Highway 45 in Eden, as well as a handful of other businesses in the county demonstrating various energy-saving measures to not only help the environment, but also their bottom line during tough economic times. Besides Cedar Ridge Wind Farm, the tour also featured J. F. Ahern Company, Culver’s Restaurant, Vir-Clar Farms, Horicon Bank, the dental office of Dr. Orvis Johnson and two residential subdivisions in the Fond du Lac area. At J. F. Ahern, energy tour participants learned about the variety of green initiatives adopted in a 58,000-sq. ft. addition to its corporate headquarters in 2007. One of the highlights of the addition is a green water system, which collects rainwater from the roof and parking lots, treats it onsite, and re-uses that water to flush toilets, Tscheschlok said. Also, some of the windows in the facility trap heat in the winter and retain cooled air in the summer, she said. The changes in the first year saved the large mechanical and fire protection contractor $21,000 – or about 25 percent less on its energy bills – and reduced wastewater discharge by 26 percent, or 25,000 gallons. The east side Culver’s Restaurant in Fond du Lac upgraded to energy efficient appliances, and Vir-Clar Farms is using a manure digester to create energy. A pair of subdivisions in Fond du Lac, including Pheasant Run, were promoted on the energy tour for their use of green space. A total of 30 people packed a bus to its capacity during the July tour, Tscheschlok said. A high level of demand in that tour lead to a second tour in October. Partnering with the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce and Green Lake County UW-Extension office, Tscheschlok said that tour was also a hit. “This time, we had a bigger bus,” she said. The interest in the tours, Tschesclok said, speaks to a more diverse and further-reaching understanding of “triple bottom line” thinking, which promotes eco-friendly practices for “People, Planet and Profit.” The 45 people who attended the October energy tour included government officials from Fond du Lac and Green Lake counties, business owners, educators and others who simply had a personal interest in sustainability efforts going on in their back yard. Local government’s impact OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, sustainability boards have been cropping up in municipal government settings across the Fox Valley. Such boards allow citizens with a vested interest in green initiatives to help formulate plans and policies and communicate with city staff over ways to make their respective communities more eco-friendly. The Oshkosh Sustainability Advisory Board has officially been meeting for two years since former Mayor Frank Tower took an interest in creating the governance, said Ron Hardy, current chair of the sustainability advisory board. At its outset, the all-volunteer group lingered through several months of unclear direction, but eventually found some focus after receiving support from city staff. “The difference in whether sustainability efforts really take hold in a community has to do with staff support and support from the mayor,” Hardy said. Over the past year, the city of Oshkosh conducted greenhouse gas emission studies on its municipal buildings and services. The results from that study will be used to assist a new part-time employee with the city’s planning department to write an official sustainability plan for Oshkosh. The City of Oshkosh sustainability board also spearheaded an effort to test the beach waters at Menomonee Park this past summer for bacteria that might affect swimmers. Prior to this summer, there had been a lot of uncertainty in the community over the safety of the beach since it was not regularly tested, Hardy said. “We only had to close the beach once,” he said. “And the city manager has agreed to fund the testing next year with city dollars.” Shoreline restoration along Lake Winnebago will be a focus in the next year to improve water quality, Hardy added. Finding government support during tough economic times has been a challenge for many communities, said Leslie Taylor, project coordinator for the Sustainable Fox Valley Initiative “It’s been really hard for cities to dedicate the money and the staff to take on sustainability in our communities,” she said. Right now, with budgets tight, cities are focusing on more short-term needs, Taylor said. “To look 10 years out and see how this is going to help the people and to cut costs is not happening,” she said. In Oshkosh, over the past year, Hardy said local surveys have overwhelmingly indicated the public wants the city to be more bicycle-friendly and implement more environmentally conscious decisions. Regardless, Hardy said priorities this year have shifted and there has been a focus on upgrading basic needs. But now may be a better time than ever for local government support of sustainability efforts, Tscheschlok said. The recent outpouring of federal stimulus dollars to communities and businesses provides grants for environmental sustainability upgrades. “Government support is really critical,” she said. “Our local government is starting to look at this seriously. We are just starting to get that support.”
Communication is a critical element to making these sustainability initiatives work. Identifying the select group of people in a community that truly care about rain gardens or greenhouse gas emissions, then finding ways to adopt sustainability solutions has been a challenge for many. The idea for Fond du Lac Fire Souls was hatched after a climate change conference organized by UW-Fond du Lac. During that conference, participants in the Fond du Lac area expressed a desire to continue communicating about sustainability goals in the future, Tscheschlok said. The Wiki site – which allows registered users to post information and add value to the site – has been up and running since April 2009. With virtually no cost to start up, Fond du Lac Fire Souls has 117 registered users and is “slowly but surely” increasing traffic, Tscheschlok said. “We wanted to provide a tool where people could come and share ideas on sustainability,” she said. The Sustainable Fox Valley Initiative spent its first year “doing a lot of talking,” Taylor said, but alluded to the fact that not much action was taken. After completing 12 study groups in Menasha, Appleton, Greenville, Grand Chute, New London, Neenah and Oshkosh, Taylor said the loosely knit groups could now begin to put ideas in to action. Needless to say, Tscheschlok said those interested in sustainability initiatives are not going anywhere and are growing in number. She believes such initiatives will continue to take hold in the Fox Valley and will continue to grow to make communities better places to live as groups find better ways to communicate with one another. “This is a trend that’s not going to go away,” Tscheschlok said. Amie is a freelance writer who is currently living in the Chicago area and works fulltime as an event planner in downtown Chicago. Prior to her current job, Amie spent three years writing and reporting for daily newspapers in the Fox Valley, including the Oshkosh Northwestern and the Fond du Lac Reporter. Amie was born and raised in the Fox Valley area (Hortonville) and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from UW-Oshkosh. In her free time, she enjoys running, shopping and spending time with family, friends and her dog, Sweets. |