SustainInitiative.html

Initiative Aims to Reduce Local Energy Consumption, Promote Green Activities

Mike McQuestion

August 19, 2009

Looking around Roland Park, one can't help but appreciate the beauty of the place. Neighbors chat, people walk their dogs, children play under leafy canopies. But look closer. Will Roland Park look like this 100 years from now? This is the sustainability question. Are there things we could be doing now to safeguard and enhance our green spaces? Reduce our energy consumption? Live healthier lives? This year the Roland Park Civic League is taking on these and other issues through its recently launched Sustainability Initiative, which officially took off on August 5, 2009.

Among other topics, Sustainability Initiative volunteers are exploring how to make bicycling and pedestrian walkways more accessible. They're considering ways to reduce home energy consumption, develop alternative energy sources, improve recycling, eliminate chemical runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Our Sustainability Initiative has attracted the city's interest. Roland Park will be one of nine pilot neighborhoods to participate in the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC). Through this federal stimulus-funded program, our volunteers will be "captains" in this experimental effort to measurably reduce Baltimore's energy usage over the coming months.

The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge itself is a nine-month pilot program of Baltimore City’s Office of Sustainability and the Baltimore Community Foundation. It aims tohelp households in nine neighborhoods reduce energy use, save money and build a more sustainable city. With the help of community organizations and volunteer captains, BNEC will connect Baltimore residents to the information, services, and support they need to achieve these goals.

If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, or if you want more information, please contact our Sustainability Initiative Coordinator, Rita Walters (443-610-3403, rwalter7@jhu.edu) or Mike McQuestion (410-243-9151, mike.mcquestion@gmail.com) for more details.

Though the weather was decidedly iffy during Saturday’s sustainability teach-in at the Roland Park library... (read more).

Mike McQuestion and... ...Rita Walters are the co-chairs of the RPCL Sustainability Initiative. (Click thumbnails to enlarge. Photos: D.P. Munro.)	Initiative Aims to Reduce Local Energy Consumption, Promote Green Activities Mike McQuestion August 19, 2009 Looking around Roland Park, one can't help but appreciate the beauty of the place. Neighbors chat, people walk their dogs, children play under leafy canopies. But look closer. Will Roland Park look like this 100 years from now? This is the sustainability question. Are there things we could be doing now to safeguard and enhance our green spaces? Reduce our energy consumption? Live healthier lives? This year the Roland Park Civic League is taking on these and other issues through its recently launched Sustainability Initiative, which officially took off on August 5, 2009. Among other topics, Sustainability Initiative volunteers are exploring how to make bicycling and pedestrian walkways more accessible. They're considering ways to reduce home energy consumption, develop alternative energy sources, improve recycling, eliminate chemical runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Our Sustainability Initiative has attracted the city's interest. Roland Park will be one of nine pilot neighborhoods to participate in the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC). Through this federal stimulus-funded program, our volunteers will be "captains" in this experimental effort to measurably reduce Baltimore's energy usage over the coming months. The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge itself is a nine-month pilot program of Baltimore City’s Office of Sustainability and the Baltimore Community Foundation. It aims tohelp households in nine neighborhoods reduce energy use, save money and build a more sustainable city. With the help of community organizations and volunteer captains, BNEC will connect Baltimore residents to the information, services, and support they need to achieve these goals. If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, or if you want more information, please contact our Sustainability Initiative Coordinator, Rita Walters (443-610-3403, rwalter7@jhu.edu) or Mike McQuestion (410-243-9151, mike.mcquestion@gmail.com) for more details. Downloadable documents and new updates may be found below. Please scroll down. _____ Report on the Seven Generations Weekend D.P. Munro, Oct. 25, 2009 Though the weather was decidedly iffy during Saturday’s sustainability teach-in at the Roland Park library... (read more). _____
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		BNEC Overview (2 pp.). City Sustainability Plan (134 pp.).		RP initiative pledge form. Please print this form, fill it in and hand it in at the Oct. 24 sustainability teach-in at the RP library. Alternatively, download it, fill it in and e-mail it as an attachment to Mike McQuestion at mike.mcquestion@gmail.com. Sustainability Initiative press release, Oct. 7, 2009. At left is the event organizers' official report on the wildly popular Oct. 25, 2009 ciclovia along Roland Avenue, which was closed for a morning of cycling, strolling and conviviality. Click the PDF icon for the report.