Ideas for a Green Wausau, for a sustainable future, sometimes seem far-fetched or too costly, but I assert that this doesn’t have to be true. By taking some first steps to sustainability, we can achieve a more environmentally healthy city and hopefully, less of a dependence on foreign oil. With a media focus on T. Boone Pickens’ plan, we can take this moment to talk about the first steps that Wausau can take, should take, since we are a community packed full of conscientious, brilliant people with determination and grit.
What should we do? What should happen? I am not a political science major, but how about a non-binding statement from our Mayor with a set of goals that define where we want to go? Instead of letting the Commission for a Greener Tomorrow work it all out in a never-ending set of committee meetings (one of which happens at Greenwood Hills by the way…sort of ironic given the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used by golf courses), let our City Council lead the way.
Why not create a paperless workplace? This is not a new idea. Bill Gates even has a model for this and how it can be translated to a city in one of his books. I am sure that some paper is needed, but I have seen interoffice envelopes flying around City Hall, when those can all be replaced by emails.
Why not make the fleet vehicles used by the city hybrids? The major car companies ALL have a hybrid pickup truck that is similar in power. For inspectors and the like, why not by Smart Cars, or sub compacts? Why not do this for all non-chase cars used by the police or fire department? Why not make the parking ticket guy ride around in a hybrid instead of a Saturn?
Why not make all the paper used by the city recycled? Sure, the initial cost might be higher, but why not?
Why not work with area farmers on ways to use organic or greener fertilizer and pesticides in city parks?
Why not make city buildings solar? I know WPS wants our money. I am willing to concede that, but it has been my experience that they also want to be a good community partner, and they would be a resource to help the city. And some dude named Rosenberg, who works there, is also an elected official.
Why not have plans for sustainability in our town? Why not demand greener building standards? I suppose the argument can be made that we should not have more government policy, but my answer to that is why not.
We have a chance to look at the large buildings in our town, often built with incentives from our city government, and say that we want you here as our partner, as our friend. But friendship requires a give and take. We are willing to give you these breaks to build your building, but we want to know that you as our friend, are willing to do your due diligence and make your building a part of our community in a more environmentally friendly way.
Why not, Mr. Mayor, ask Mr. Dudley, a man who made a bit of money in energy, to put up solar panels on his new tower? Why not ask the man who owns the Landmark to put up solar panels? Why not ask the people who own the big bank downtown to put up solar panels? Why not find a field out in the country and work with the county to put up a windmill or two?
Why not take some of the money from something else and build bike racks? Why not do the bike-rack-at-city-hall thing?
Mr. Mayor, you should ask this Rosenberg fellow, and others like him, to help you take a stand. Why not ask these people to educate you so that your legacy is not the horrible Jasurda crap and its resignations, but rather a legacy as the Mayor who led us to a more sustainable future?
And you, Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer…why not do the things that you know are important and simple? Why not recycle? Why not buy local? Why not sell that SUV and get a car that actually makes sense? If you have ten kids, and four play hockey, then sure a Suburban makes sense, but not as the car that drives you to work, not as the car that goes to the grocery store.
We live in challenging times. We live in a time where we get to decide the future of our world, the kind of place our grandchildren will grow up in. All the questions can be answered in the negative and the skeptical. Sure, I concede all of that, but we can also go the other way. We can take it on faith that something will work, that some step will be the right way, and only by taking one step will we get somewhere – anywhere.
We have a chance to be a leader. We have a chance to be the pebble in the pond. We can start our initiative with ACTION, not DISCUSSION. Maybe then Athens will get involved, or Rosholt, or Hewitt, or Thorp. Maybe then it will spread north and south, and we will meet up with people who know things from other cities, and you will network with them in a cool Web way. Then we will learn from mistakes, and from mistakes will come progress. With progress will come momentum. With momentum will come success, and with success, Wausau will be cleaner for generations to come.
So I say to you…why not utilize Rosenberg, and those like him that we have right here? Why not lead us, you elected leaders, our Princes and Princesses of Central Wisconsin?
Tom Neal
3:00 pm on September 29th
It can all start with a review of other towns in other states, in other countries, that have taken their own initiatives. We can study them and see what worked and what didn’t. See what they’re considering or getting started on. I especially think it’s important to attract new-energy and green-tech-based companies here to change our industrial makeup. Like a Silicon Valley for sustainability. Marcus always wanted that to happen. But it takes a city to do it, not just a Marcus.
Dino Corvino
3:08 pm on September 29th
Marcus had some initiative that had a fewe backers and the like, real work was done by the guy, and it fell dead due to lack of movement I think. But that would be for him to comment on.
I do not even think they need to look outside or hire consultants. I think they simply need to pick one thing. Do something.
Market themselves.
Tom, don’t you work at a marketing firm? Would it not create narrative if the city took on a green initiative, and say built windmills or something, and moved big in any direction.
Would that not be something they could hang their hat on?
The grass roof on Ohare field.
politicalactorvist
4:52 pm on September 29th
The UWEC campus just started using these new biodegradable plastic cups. They’re apparently made from corn or something…
Anyway, they don’t cost that much more to buy, and I’d love to see UWMC (and other places) start using them as well.
Just a thought.
Tom Neal
6:26 am on September 30th
Dino,
You are absolutely right with the marketing comment. This city is failing to develop a marketable brand, one that would stand out and reverberate in today’s challenging marketplace. Wausau should stand for something, and that something should be relevant and bold and newsworthy. It is something that could be trumpeted coast to coast, and it can attract interest, investment and participation. It takes vision, leadership, strategy, cooperation, investment, gamble, truth, justice and the American way. If we continue to plod along, and follow and wait and hire the occasional outside research consultant, our strides will be short and halting at best. Is it new blood that’s needed in our government or is it new energy? Can you have the one without the other? It’s up to this set of officials to step out of their habitual roles, and accept that they can make a huge difference if they stop being so old-school and partisan and confrontational and cautious. Leaders should lead. They should be able to see opportunity and capitalize on it.
I’ll ask this question publicly, right here on CW, and direct it to our local government (and surrounding communities):
WHAT IS YOUR BOLD, FOCUSED, UNIFYING, MARKETABLE VISION FOR OUR COMMUNITY; WHAT WILL WE BE KNOWN FOR THAT SETS US APART MEANINGFULLY FROM ORDINARY COMMUNITIES?
Dino, who will answer this? How can we make him or her answer it?
Dino Corvino
9:52 am on September 30th
Tom,
My concern is that our City Council, and our County Board, as well as our Mayor are truly only concerned with speaking to each other.
What would it take to get 5 leaders from some of our marketing firms to get together some where, with pizza and wine and beer, and talk about putting something together? A barcamp style meeting.
Tom Neal
10:33 am on September 30th
Marketing firms plot for each others’ demise, so I don’t know about doing lunch.
I really think the leaders need to be challenged openly, brazenly and frequently, until they emerge from their inner sanctums and become public officials, in the public sense.
If they need marketing / branding help (which they do), we’re here for them. And we’ll knock it outta the park!
Jane Neal
10:34 am on September 30th
I think government (national, state, local) tends towards band-aids rather than planning and prevention. There is no big picture, and even when there is, no one seems to want to look at it.
michelle8
10:46 am on September 30th
I was one of the founding members of the commission for a greener tomorrow. I was proud of the idea and of our beginnings. However I decided to resign my position with the commission.
I had said for a long time that the structure and way things are set up are not conducive to real change in this area. My ideas for change were met with anger and were taken personally.
The team I was involved with the Water team had some great ideas and projects in the hopper. We were working with the Central Wisconsin Storm Water Consortium on educational opportunities, had speaker Chris Schneider (The Hybrid Guru) at the LYW, were planning an effort with Wausau Area Events, a challenge project with the county board, and had started storm water stenciling projects with area schools. (Walk around Mosinee Middle school and you’ll see our work) However our chair and the chair of the commission were on different pages and when our chair moved our team was left stunned. I was then designated a temporary chair and when trying to continue the Water teams work found out I was being undermined at all turns.
I feel that while this is a worthwhile effort under its current structure is not conducive to people who want to join the commission or just help out.
However I hear that the commission is going through a strategic planning session that may make some significant changes. So I’m crossing my fingers for that.
Michelle Ostrowski
And Dino, we met at Greenwood Hills because they actually use a lot of great environmentally friendly products on their course and we were looking in to doing an environmentally efficient lawn care seminar with their staff.
kelley
11:13 am on September 30th
Although it is not a solution in and of itself, I might suggest looking at some of the agreements that have already been drawn up and gained ground. When speaking of the mayor, an excellent resource and starting point might be the The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
There is no reason to start from square one as this is not a new conversation and we can all benefit (and add to) the goals that have already been accomplished.
As for UWMC, I might suggest The Talloires Declaration. We tried to get this through at UWM a couple of years ago without success. The school is just to large to sign up for that kind of accountability, for now.
Additionally, becoming part of these kind of networks can only be beneficial.
Dino Corvino
3:25 pm on September 30th
http://wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080930/WDH0101/80930139/1981
Look there, another instance of shutting down public transit, instead of investing in it. Instead of making it interesting, and marketable, and more visible…these people are cutting it.
I remember when my friend Jason recently moved to Milwaukee. He and I talked for like 30 minutes about the coolness of the bus, and how it worked there.
In Wausau, we do not even try to market ANYTHING.
Shame for going the exact opposite way of green. Now you have 21 new cars on the road everyday.
Grinning Soul
4:14 pm on September 30th
Our barely existent public transit system bothers me greatly. It doesn’t get used because it isn’t user friendly. The highlight of a recent trip to Chicago was riding the train. I can go to Chicago and not even drive my car out of Wisconsin! Plus I love the subway! I can handle the smell of urine!
Maybe people have to start talking BIGGER for the city to stand up and take notice to our demands. I call we ask for a light rail system that will connect Wausau to Merrill and Mosinee. (oh, but could we ever separate folks from their big trucks?) Lets all just get crazy and ridiculous sounding so the bus line will run till 10 pm and go to Rib Mountain. Trips to Petsmart in the height of X-Mas season would be a FUN adventure!
Mohawk Matt
3:10 pm on October 1st
It would be nice if the bus ran past six. Or on sundays. Or Saturdays during the summer. This is honestly the worst public transit system I’ve ever encountered. I would take the bus, I have no problem riding one, but it doesn’t fit my hours. If I get off work at seven, there’s no point to take a bus there because I can’t get back.
Tom Neal
7:16 am on October 2nd
Matt … It’s the law of supply and demand. What the bus system does is based on public participation vs operating costs. If people, in sufficient numbers wanted service after hours, during summer, etc., the bus service would certainly oblige. But how can they justify driving empty or near-empty buses around? Obviously, they can’t. We’re a car-based society, seemingly no matter how expensive gas gets. We drive everywhere, even just a few blocks. We complain about lack of parking availability. Many of us almost define ourselves by the vehicle we drive (Hummer, Saab, VW, Chevy pickup).
But Dino is right. There is no marketing of the bus service. No branding to make it a more attractive alternative. How about weekly cash prizes to random riders? How about handing out cookies (did okay for Midwest Airlines)? How about “free ride day” every now and then to attract new customers?
New ideas for the bus system, and the Parks Dept., and efforts to attract new businesses, and for bikers / walkers, and for the environment. Those are needed.
Article in todays WDH has a headline about funding for new bike and walking trail enhancements in the “Wausau area” … but the story isn’t about Wausau, it’s about Rib Mountain, Rothschild, etc. Nothing here in the core of the metro area. We seem stagnant and unimaginative. I’ll say it again (and again) we need leaders with vision, not just worker bees and mutual antagonists. We need a brand … based on a reality that we are creating.
Dino Corvino
9:19 am on October 2nd
Not to be Debbie Downer, but were not going to get that here.
Tom Neal
9:23 am on October 2nd
Get what here, Debbie?
News item today:
AP) Officials want to see more green roofs on building tops in Cincinnati.
The City Council on Wednesday became the first in Ohio with a plan to channel grants and loans to residents and businesses to replace tar and shingles with vegetation.
Supporters of the idea want to see Cincinnati become a leader in green roofs, a European-born movement that has spread to only a few U.S. cities, including Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle.
They say the greenery not only is pleasing aesthetically but reduces stormwater runoff, filters pollutants and cuts heating and cooling costs.
In Ohio, pastoral roofs grace the tops of the Toledo public library, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency building in Columbus and the Cleveland Environmental Center, home of the Greater Cleveland Green Building Coalition.
“We call it our civic plaza rooftop,” Toledo library spokeswoman Rhonda Sewell.
It was installed in 2000.
“We were inspired by what we saw in Chicago during a public library conference,” said Charlie Oswanski, who heads the library’s facilities and operations. “It’s performing very well – very low maintenance, and it does benefit us in cooling and heating costs.”
Chicago has scores of green roofs, including one atop City Hall. Other buildings elsewhere in the United States that are considered green roof pioneers include the Ford Motor Co. Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich., and the Convention Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.
The plan approved Wednesday in Cincinnati is the first of its kind in Ohio, said Bob Monsarrat, manager of the environmental planning section of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which directs certain federal grant funds toward such programs.
“We have wanted to support green infrastructure initiatives in the state directed toward improving water quality, so this was a fairly easy sell to us,” Monsarrat said.
He said the handful of green roofs in Ohio have generally been on government buildings, while the Cincinnati program is mainly aimed at commercial buildings.
“It’s very exciting,” said Vicki Ciotti, director of the nonprofit Civic Garden Center, which plans to begin a roof garden early next year. She said the council’s plan should jump-start a movement that has taken hold in a few cities but has generally been slow to grow.
“It’s been slow just because it’s such a new idea for us,” Ciotti said. “They’ve been doing green roofs for years in Germany.”
A report by the Green Roof Research Program at Michigan State University estimates that 12 percent of all flat-roofed buildings in Germany are covered with vegetation. It noted several barriers to widespread acceptance in the United States, including lack of government incentives or tax breaks.
“What the city of Cincinnati is doing is the largest effort I have heard of,” Monsarrat said. “It will be interesting to watch that and see how it works.”
About $5 million a year in below-market-rate loans through the U.S. EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund will be available starting in 2009 for green roof projects, city officials estimate, along with an undetermined amount of grant money from other EPA funds.
Mohawk Matt
10:18 am on October 2nd
They already drive near-empty busses around.
Tom Neal
9:39 am on October 3rd
Dino …
Jump back in. First, you’re all rah-rah jolly green giant, and then you pee all over the parade with that unqualified Debbie comment.
What gives? You started it!
I really feel any far-reaching initiatives will need to originate from and be championed by our local government and civic representatives. The private sector won’t do it on its own; it needs incentives and cooperation.