CitiesGoGreen - December 2008 - (Page 19)

Connecticut’s ‘One Thing’ Connecticut’s innovative approach to stimulating millions of individual actions by Page Buono hat is the power of one action? ed a competition urging viewers to go on- rating, opening up a friendly competition By itself, generally little. But, line and pledge their ‘One Thing’. In return, among cities striving for a green reputaaccumulated in millions and they were entered in a drawing for four all- tion. The rating system could be reworked billions, each one adds up. That’s the expense-paid trips to Florida. This proved by individual states to fit their needs. One major incentive for going green is principle of Connecticut’s ‘One saving money, and the ‘One Thing’ site is Thing’ website (onethingCT. The idea opens up a friendly competition a great way to communicate savings as a com), which makes it easy result of citizen action and commitment. for citizens and businesses to among cities striving for a green reputation. In addition to showing savings in energy choose one thing to do for enspending, the website can display deergy efficiency or other sustainability aims, and to calculate and record to be a huge success in increasing traffic creases in CO2 emissions and electricity. the results of their actions. on the website, says John Mengacci, UnPledging on the site began in September The site is part of Governor M. Jodi Rell’s dersecretary for Policy Development and 2008, and based on commitments made commitment to a statewide campaign, Planning for the State of Connecticut. by the end of October, predicted savings encouraging each of the state’s 3.5 milConnecticut’s website offers thousands are $908,083, as well as 7,876,567 lbs of lion citizens to do one thing each day for a of ‘one things’ in six CO2 emissions year—resulting in 1.2 billion actions state- different categories: and 2,715,611 Connecticut’s website offers thousands wide to save on energy and help the envi- at home, at work, kwh annually. ronment. The campaign, managed by the for business own- of ‘one things’ in six different categories. Essentially, state’s Office of Policy and Management, ers, transportation, the site is a my city/my town, is part of the Governor’s Energy Vision. way for the The ‘One Thing’ website, originated and my school, and agriculture. Each category state government to say, “Here is what you copyrighted by the Office of Policy and yields subcategories with tools, incentives can do to save money while making our Management and launched in October and a way to pledge, as well as a carbon state cleaner and more sustainable.” And 2007, is one smart way to engage citizens footprint calculator created for the site it’s working. in energy-saving and emission-reducing with information from the EPA. activities. The site aims to be a clearingAnother interesting feature is a link to Page Buono is a staff writer and editorial house for information. an interactive map on the Connecticut assistant for CitiesGoGreen. Some months after the website was Clean Energy Fund website that allows uslaunched, a Connecticut TV station host- ers to click on any city and see its green December 2008 19 W http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/features/connecticuts-one-thing http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/december-2008/features/connecticuts-one-thing http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/lib/governorrell/energyplan.pdf http://www.ctinnovations.com/communities http://citiesgogreen.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

Citites Go Green Contents In Motion We’re Taking Steps 10,000 Rain Gardens in Kansas City Chicago Center for Green Technology Connecticut’s ‘One Thing’ Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management Philadelphia The Economics of What Matters New Context: New Possibility

CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

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