"Green Ribbon Committee" forums a great opportunity!

11 / 12 / 08
Nashville mayor Karl Dean’s “Green Ribbon Committee”, comprised of superb volunteers from the local professional community, held a forum last night which was open to the public, with the objective of seeking input from residents of Davidson County on their vision and priorities for creating a sustainable future here, and for making Nashville, in the words of Mayor Dean, “the greenest city in the south”.
Ambitious? Perhaps… but the committee seems to be going about this in the best way possible, by encouraging all of us, as stakeholders, to help in the process of creating that vision and setting a clear agenda for moving forward. As we’ve seen so recently with the stunning grassroots movement that helped elect Barack Obama as our next president, the bottom – up approach can be remarkably effective, and ensures community support in the process.
Some of the many issues given attention at the multiple round-table discussions last night include increased bike lanes, improvements in mass transit (bus, rail, etc.); increased availability of recycling; greater efforts toward energy and water conservation, as well as reducing or eliminating Styrofoam and other disposables in all schools and Metro buildings; an aggressive campaign to raise public awareness and provide increased educational opportunities on a range of issues; a central database for info., events and volunteer opportunities (several good ones already exist that can be built upon), more fresh, local and organic food in schools and other institutions, and many more. Suffice it to say the ideas and passions of the participants were in strong evidence.
There will be several more of these public forums in upcoming days / weeks. For more information on when / where, go to:
http://www.nashville.gov/mayor/green_ribbon/meetings.asp
Meanwhile, the 3-day Summit for a Sustainable TN begins tomorrow at Lipscomb. More info. on that soon. Cheers!