CitiesGoGreen - October 2008 - (Page 10) Red Light, Green Light A one page decision-making tool developed as a student project helps the City of Olympia, Washington make balanced, transparent decisions supporting increased sustainability, even when the issues involved have many ramifications. You’re invited to try it. sustainable community is one that persists over generations and is farseeing enough, flexible enough and wise enough to maintain its natural, economic, social and political support systems. This sustainability vision for the City of Olympia was created by a citizen taskforce in the early 1990s. In 2005, recognizing the need to reinvigorate the City’s sustainability efforts with a focus on tangible action, the City Council adopted the goal of putting sustainability into action as one of its top long-term priorities. The next year, a group of Department Directors, called the Sustainability Super Team, formed. The team recognized that sustainable action starts with balanced decision-making, and that the City needed a decision-making model to help assess the impacts of any decision on the community as a whole, as well as being easy for all departments to use. To help develop this model, the City teamed up with the Evergreen State College. Six undergraduate students designed a sustainability decision model as part of a class project. The students named themselves STARS, or Students Toward Achieving Realistic Sustainability. After ten weeks of work, what emerged was the Sustainable Action Map. Decision making with SAM, the Sustainable Action Map by Amy Buckler A environmentally and socially responsible way, while ensuring the best economic choices for the long-term. SAM includes the following three dimensions, which work together to facilitate systems thinking: • N.I.C.E. represents the four key components of sustainability: the Natural, the Individual, the Community, and the Economy. All four must be in balance to achieve a sustainable solution. Sustainable Action Map (SAM) Action: Provide pitchers of H20 & encourage use of reusable cups at City functions. Department: City-wide Natural How does this decision impact environmental health? Individual How does this decision directly impact the well-being of citizens and employees? • Always offering healthy water as an alternative to sugary beverages. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities About SAM The Sustainable Action Map, lovingly referred to as SAM in the Olympia organization, provides a framework for approaching the community as a holistic system. Systems thinking is the foundation of sustainable decision making; it helps illuminate the relationships between social, environmental and economic issues. SAM ultimately helps the City deliver a level of service citizens expect, and do so in an 10 Threats S W O T • Fewer plastic bottles in waste stream. • Addresses climate change-a decision not to use a product that relies heavily on burning of fossil fuels during production & transport. • At first (until everyone carries a cup), it will be necessary to provide paper cups- also an unnecessary waste of Earth’s resources. • Potentially, commonly used sinks contain more germs than individual water bottles (something to keep in mind in the event of a germ outbreak). • Sustainable action makes us feel good. • To influence culture/ change behavior harmful to the environment. • Using more paper cups when the only truly sustainable thing to do is use reusable cups. • Making bottled water taboo may discourage some employees from hydrating during the work day. October 2008 http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/october-2008/current-feature/red-light-green-light http://citiesgogreen.com
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