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  Green Community Focus Group Orientation Binder

  Ten Input Ideas for Green Community Thousands of ideas were generated and all will be considered by the Focus Group.
  
  1  Bonnie - Westgate Pride.
  People need to be educated about what their contribution to the pollution in the city is, what the effects are and can be in the future if we do not try to reduce pollution by using alternatives modes of transportation such as public transit, bicycles, walking, and scooters. When people realize how harmful emissions effect children and people in general, they will be more willing to make changes.
  2  Ecokarina - Riverfest.
  Start by dramatically reducing air pollution, emissions, and smog... encourage less car driving, more public transportation, more bike trails and walking trails, perhaps media advertisements that recommend much more outdoor related activities like hiking, biking, camping, etc.
  3  Ray - Riverfest.
  Plant more trees in urban areas as there are studies that demonstrate reduced crime in treed communities. It sounds a little far fetched at fi rst, but take the time to research the studies that have been done, the pilot areas that have been tested already.
  4  Javier - Youth Forum.
  Continue to encourage green space within new developments, possibly even some tax advantages to the investor/ builders for keeping a percentage of the property green.
  5  Rooney - Arts Festival.
  Preservation of greenspace with an emphasis on local vegetation and a reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. more sustainable energy resources, community gardens, less mowing.
  6 Ben - College Symposium.
  Create a local green business association to rank the “greenness” businesses like LEED except on the citywide scale. Tie tax incentives to the green ratings.
  7  Van - Gallery Hop.
  Columbus should encourage recycling through education of the populace and by making it easier to accomplish. Currently, the recycling bins at our nearby park are often overflowing. Recyclables could be separated at the point of collection despite the fact that many people would be happy to separate their materials and put them into separate bins.
  8  Josh - College Symposium.
  Promote recycling by having a recycling container by every public trash can. They should be uniformly branded with a unique, noticeable look to them.
  9  Robby - Arts Festival.
  It would be great to re-invent the city with the GREEN Ecosystems in place. We really need more green space in the downtown area. Get rid of the asphalt!!!!!! It is not eco friendly. Let be the Best Damn Green City in America by 2012. A model for all to follow!!!!
  10  Freddie - Arts Festival.
  Please go green in everything the city does. For example, roof top gardens, reducing temperatures of hot water in city buildings, make recycling mandatory, even for private entities. In Canada many provinces do this and it works very well, even hotel rooms have a small recycling bins!

Green Community

Focus Area Members:

Member	Organization
David Caldwell (Chair)	United Steel Workers District 1
Meera Parhasarathy (Chair)	Columbus Green Building Forum
Catherine Girves	University Area Community
Christine Cooley	OSU-Students for Sustainable Campus
David Robinson	The Climate Project
Erin Miller	MORPC
Greg Cunningham	Limited Brands
Kate Harkin	Ed Council
Kevin Eigel	Organic Farmer
Marilyn Welker	Simply Living
Megan Moses	Scotts Miracle-Grow Company
Sarah Topy	Sierra Club
Scott Huffman	ZERI
Sophia Corna	Corna/Kokosing
Susan Barrett	Adena Brook Community
Tad Dritz	Shepherd Advisors

Meetings:	Work Session 1 - Notes
	Work Session 2 - Notes
	Work Session 3 - Notes

Focus Area Description: The ways in which the city embraces and supports its natural environment is critical to Columbus’ long term sustainability. The green agenda is broad in scope, covering topics from recycling and LEED construction to neighborhood gardens and brown field redevelopment. The focus group may elect to consider storm water management and surface water quality, parks and open space, and tree preservation.

Key Question: What should Columbus be doing to protect our natural environment?

Public Input about the Focus Area: Respondents were ardent in their interest in improving the natural environment. The green community focus area received the third most amount comments. Contributors universally supported a free, citywide recycling program. Many commented that they currently pay for recycling yet trash removal is paid through taxes when the opposite should be true. The most frequent comments fell into the improved parks and greenspace. Numerous contributors simply wanted more parks and greenspace while others had very specific recommendations for existing parks. Our car centric, transit based economy needs to change to curtail the major air pollution problems our region has. The City needs to take major steps to reduce the air pollution within the region. Finally, a many saw opportunity in emerging green technologies as a way to improve our economy while reducing energy dependence. Columbus can become a leader in clean energy and other green technologies and benefit both economically and environmentally.

Public Input Themes for the Focus Area:

1. Free and accessible citywide recycling. Free and easy citywide recycling is a strong desire expressed in many of the comments related to the Green Community focus area. Several respondents suggest ‘pay as you throw’ trash combined with free recycling as a way to encourage people to recycle as much as possible.
2. Create more natural greenspace, parks and active recreational opportunities. The most frequent category of responses relating to the Green Community focus group are suggestions for improving greenspaces and parks throughout the city. Numerous respondents simply want more greenspace while others want more bike trails or recreational activities. Recommendations from contributors also include specific ideas and plans for upgrading existing parks within the city as well as setting park coverage goals where every resident has a park within a certain distance of their home. Connecting parks through greenway park systems is also something respondents want to see.
3. Reduce air pollution by providing better bicycle, pedestrian and public transportation options. Air pollution is a major environmental problem for our region. Columbus has a thriving logistics and transportation industry due to its strategic geographical location. However, the increased truck traffic along with the auto oriented nature of the city’s built environment has led to air pollution problems. Many comments call for incentives for fuel efficient vehicles while others point to moving people out of private vehicles to public modes of transportation as a means of combatting the air pollution problem. Increased bicycle and pedestrian use are also cited as ways to reduce energy usage and curtail air pollution problems.
4. Protect and improve the water quality of the region and enhance the downtown riverfront.Our waterways as critical to the environmental health of the region. Citizens want increased protection of the waterways resulting in higher water quality throughout the region. Numerous respondents also want improvements in the park space along the Scioto River downtown making it an area of activity at all times instead of only during festivals.
5. Promote the emerging green economy and clean energy incentives.
Many contributors also emphasize the opportunity that emerging green and clean energy technologies could represent for the region. By aggressively promoting and developing green business in Columbus, the city can become a leader in these technologies which would benefit our environment as well as our economy.

Think Outside the Box...