by Cheryl Mathis on August 5th, 2009
Monday morning I sat down with two dynamic women in a UW-Extension conference room, and magic happened. What was supposed to be a massive conglomeration of community organizations was a bust, but some great ideas still came to the surface.
Our goal? To discuss the future of Wausau community gardens. We love community gardens for many reasons. Extra produce can be given to local food pantries. Any additional vegetable consumption is awesome for those who partake. Having more green spaces in the city is always a good thing. Etc. The list goes on.
The outcome. The brainstorm.
1. They have many school groups that are chomping at the bit to build and plant community gardens at the end of the school year, but they have very little commitment to maintain those gardens during the growing season. Perhaps we could start an email notification list to interested gardeners where we could give them weekly updates on what gardens need what work. If 100 local green thumbs were to donate 30 minutes of their time every week during the summer, we could easily maintain several community gardens.
2. We should band together, all of the various local organizations that have spontaneously begun community gardens, when we approach the city to request the use of vacant lots for gardens. More people, more organization, a better lobbying body.
3. Vacant lots often don’t have water for irrigation. We could get donated rain barrels and cisterns and fill them with water and transport them to the sites for future irrigation use.
4. Raised bed plots could easily be rented to residents. Many nearby cities have started similar programs and have reached full occupancy within days.
5. Raised bed plots in these community gardens could be “adopted” by local church groups or other organizations for the benefit of food pantries. If they were only committing themselves to a 4×6 plot to tend for the summer, perhaps there would be more interest and follow-through.
And my favorite idea of all?
6. Have the schools build and plant waist-high raised beds on the properties of senior living centers. I know many senior citizens who are unable to garden anymore because of physical limitations but yearn for the feel of soil under their fingernails. The gardens would be tended throughout the summer by the residents under the periodic supervision of people like me.
I think it’s a magical occurence when so many people in the community (even though they couldn’t come to the meeting) have the same great idea. Community gardens. Teaching people how to garden, how to think more about what they eat. Donating fresh produce to the local food pantries (I have visions of baskets of fresh tomatoes and potatoes sitting next to highly processed foods like mac-and-cheese and spam) or even eating a serving of sweet corn instead of a pile of potato chips. So many groups in town had the same idea and started these gardens on their own. Together we can consolidate our supplies and talents next summer to keep the miracle going.
In other news, how incredibly cool is it that Lisa Coady planted vegetables in the raised beds outside of the First American Center this summer? What a simple, wonderful idea! What other businesses could replace their flower beds and bushes with useful and still lovely tomato and pea trellises, carrots and potato plants?
by Brad Schjoth on June 23rd, 2009
You would be hard-pressed to find a soul within the Wausau community who would prefer to see the area more clutter-filled, more polluted and more irresponsible when it comes to pressing environmental issues. Those folks simply do not exist, and if they did, their hand would certainly not be in the air. But while the whole of the community, and the globe for that matter, can easily concede that we ought to strive to take better care of our planet, making that happen is exponentially more difficult than it would seem it should be.
Attempting to turn that mindset into a forward-progressing reality within the Wausau area is the Commission for a Greener Tomorrow. Established during the summer of 2007, the organization assumes leadership in the effort for sustainability through conservation, ecological awareness and higher-level thinking toward our relationship with the environment. Immediately upon dropping those typical catchall phrases, it could be easy to dismiss the group as an insignificant body that merely wants what we all desire—a sparkling, clean planet. However, those “green” initiatives become much more realized when the impact hits home within the Greater Wausau community itself, and when the influence of the committee is clearly noticeable.
Most recently, the commission has been working cooperatively with the Wausau public transportation system in a push to create a bus line that would travel through the Rib Mountain commercial area as it already does in both Wausau and Weston. Creating the Business Improvement District that would provide the funding for the line doesn’t come cheap, however, as an estimate of $85,000 would need to be added to taxes in order to effectively run it—and that’s a low-end figure due to constantly increasing costs. While the numerous benefits to the service can be easily understood, the commission is collecting the opinion of Rib Mountain business owners and residents to gauge support. Fifty surveys were distributed, and as of June 22nd, three had already been completed and submitted to the group.
Over the June 19-21 weekend, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association once again put on their well-received, annual energy fair at the ReNew the Earth Institute in Custer. The Commission for a Greener Tomorrow bussed 15 people to the fair free of charge, which was an increase from eight folks who took the trip last year. Reception and reaction was heavily positive from the attendees, and the organization hopes to garner volunteers and sponsor another bus to travel to next year’s fair as well.
Numerous other projects are in development and exist only in their early stages, as the commission not only tries to gain recognition within the Wausau community, but to also collect support and backing. From reusable grocery produce bags in conjunction with the local farmer’s market, to a large woodworking clinic and art project directed at Wausau elementary students, the group’s aspirations vary, but they consistently support the goal of a sustainable Central Wisconsin. More specifically, the committee is proposing legislation that would declare Wausau an “eco-municipality”—a concept that is already in practice throughout several parts of the state. According to 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, as of November 2007, “12 local communities [have] formally adopted ‘eco-municipality’ resolutions.” The concept is an official pledge to put forth policies that increase the sustainability of the general community through cooperation with the citizens themselves.
The organization has struggled to find considerable support up to this point. With their humble number of recurring members and volunteers working directly with them toward their cause, their intentions are still positive and certainly in the best interest of the Wausau area. Continued work at piecing together resolutions and spreading knowledge about the importance of sustainability are the ultimate goals of the folks at Greener Tomorrow. Hopefully as public recognition and understanding of the group increases, so will the likelihood of success in their ambitions and, in turn, a better Wausau.
by Dino Corvino on December 1st, 2008
The Commission for a Greener Tomorrow has been kind enough to provide us with the agenda for their upcoming meeting on December 8, 2008 as well as their minutes from their last meeting. I encourage all of you to get involved if you feel you could make a useful contribution to this team of noble citizens.
December Agenda
November Minutes
by Dino Corvino on September 29th, 2008
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. (more…)
by Dino Corvino on September 24th, 2008
The City of Wausau is a small town. Like a small car, the City of Wausau can be a nimble thing, darting through changes, looking forward, wind in its hair. But like a badly maintained small car, the city of Wausau can be an underpowered, unresponsive car without any room for friends or family or even the dog. I think that this is a challenging time, a time with opportunity, and a time where we have the resources to make our City the best small car we can make it.
As the Fourth of July just passed, I am left with the reality that we built this country not with committees or procedures, but literally with shovels and hoes, and our hands got dirty. We came here (and yes, we stole the country from its previous tenants) and created government out of an idea, out of an abstraction. Blood in the streets, brothers killing brothers, and law was the beginning.
Today we have a much different world. Some might say a more stagnant world, one that sits on its laurels and rests in hopes of resting at a later time — a slower, less dynamic, less responsive, less brave world. A world often led by its fear.
We in Wausau have a chance to change some of that. We have a chance, we have the resources, and we have the wherewithal to do it.
Jim Rosenberg is a member of our City Council and a member of the County Board. He has been there since before the Civil War, I think, and was a founding father of this city. Just kidding, but he has, in fact, been a civic leader for a long time. In case anyone was wondering, Jim works at WPS. The electric company. A big electric company. Jim is a leader both in the city and in the big electric company.
Let us think about that for a second shall we? A man in a leadership position in the City is also sitting in a position to know all the players in the energy business. When I wanted to explore solar power, Jim was a tremendous asset, telling me who was reputable and who was not.
How can this apply to our city? HOW DOES IT NOT? Mr. Rosenberg has access and contact with people who are experts in both electricity and alternative energy, just through his daily reading for his job. How can these people help us in Wausau? How can they not?
We have a Commission for a Greener Tomorrow. I have read every agenda and every set of minutes they have put forth. We have a mayor who has a chance to lead us into a sustainable working model for our city. And we have Rosenberg.
We have a chance to exploit the professional knowledge and contacts of this Rosenberg character to the fullest extent. If the City of Wausau is really serious about making a commitment to being green or sustainable, it has someone on its council who can and should be called upon to lead the way.
Sadly though, like a sluggish small car, we are underpowered and under committed. A statement from our Mayor at the beginning, a unanimous vote to name an ad hoc committee. That is it, and it is sad.
New York City has an entire department devoted to Sustainability. New York is like a Sherman Tank compared to a small car. A small car can move faster, change direction quicker, and I hope we do. A green Wausau could contain solar and wind power, more community gardens, hybrid fleet vehicles, and greener building standards. In part two of this series, I’ll describe many specific, tangible ideas that we can invest in and implement.
We live in a challenging time, a time of vast change and significant social upheaval. Small towns, medium cities, all have a chance to lead. To be innovative, to be responsive, to be the best small car we can be.
by Kevin Rector on January 9th, 2008
I went last night [on Monday] and sat in on the steering team meeting for the Commission for a Greener Tomorrow. This is a citizen led group that is focused on promoting sustainable living in central Wisconsin. (more…)
by Citizen Wausau on January 4th, 2008
What an amazing year 2007 was. It’s brought about a a lot of change in our community, and in some ways, I myself will never be the same.
A few months ago, I was walking into my friend Forest Young’s drugstore to pick up a prescription. As I entered, I was quickly asked to leave and not touch anything. Why? Was I a loitering miscreant? No, not this time. It was because the ladies behind the counter had just been accosted by a gun-wielding burglar. (more…)
by Dino Corvino on November 30th, 2007
Friends,
This is clearly something that we at Citizen Wausau take seriously. Something we hope that more people are interested in. So, we are passing along this email that we got from Susie and Kelly. The work that they have initiated is impressive, and will be something that propels our city into the future.
Hope to see you there.
Commission for a Greener Tomorrow – Meeting Dec. 4, 2007
Wausau City Hall – 5:00 to 6:30pm
The Commission for Greener Tomorrow is working towards creating sustainable communities within Central Wisconsin. A sustainable community respects its own diversity and accepts responsibility for the social, economic and ecological well-being of the present and future generations through individual and collective actions.
Membership is open to all citizens in Central Wisconsin who support the ideas stated above. This is a great opportunity for citizens to become a voice in their community.
The next meeting of the “Commission for a Greener Tomorrow” will be held on December 4, 2007 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Wausau City Hall in the council chambers.
Cynthia Holt from the “Fort Atkinson Project” will be the guest speaker. Please visit www.theatkinsondiet.com to learn more information about the “Fort Atkinson Project.”
We will also give an update on what has been happening since the last meeting.
New members will also have the opportunity to sign up on the different committees. The committee options are as follows:
- Purchasing Options
- Water
- Buildings
- Communication – Education
- Energy
- Waste/Recycling
- Community Planning
- Transportation/Mobility
Join the team – help make Central Wisconsin Green!
Please forward this email to others that may be interested in attending and becoming a member.
Thanks
Susie and Kelly
