 City begins Thrive initiative
Mayor Otis Johnson and members of City Council took a pledge during Wednesday night's Town Hall Meeting: Savannah will be a more environmentally sustainable community.
They signed their names to a special pledge book that reads: "I will strive to understand the social and environmental consequences of my actions and pledge to help Savannah thrive by taking part in activities that promote an eco-friendly and sustainable community." Then the Mayor invited the audience of almost 200 to sign the pledge as well. More than two-thirds did.
"There's a lot of talk about being green and sustainable," Mayor Johnson said. "If we're going to lift up as part of our vision statement of being environmentally healthy, we have to walk that walk."
Wednesday's pledge signified the launch of the City's new sustainability initiative - Thrive.
Thrive is a process City Government began late last year, when staff started collecting data from throughout the City to establish the size of Savannah's carbon footprint. The City conducted employee commuter surveys and analyzed electricity consumption, fuel usage, and gas emissions. By plugging all of this data into a formula created by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, a number was produced.
Your City Government as an organization produces roughly 75,320 tons of equivalent carbon emissions per year.
This is the City's baseline, and it is from this number that it will start this journey called Thrive. The goal is a target set by Gov. Sonny Perdue earlier this year: A 15 percent reduction of our carbon footprint by 2020. And the City has already started making changes.
In recent years Savannah has been pro-active in converting all of its traffic lights to more energy-efficient LED's. It has expanded its use of treated wastewater for irrigation, and has been a leader in adopting Georgia's first graywater re-used ordinance.
In January, the City will implement a much-anticipated curbside recycling program to complement its successful drop-off sites and education center.
In coming months, citizens will see Thrive do much, much more. All 2,500 City employees have been tasked with coming up with ideas.
The City is looking at the way it operates its vehicles - from idling policies to the routes employees take.
The City is installing energy-efficient bulbs, and motion detectors to turn them off when no one's around.
The City is looking at everything from the kinds of computers and printers it buys to the kinds of materials it builds with to the latest technology that converts waste into energy.
Mayor Johnson stressed, however, that the City Government needs the community's commitment to make a real difference. Thrive is for everyone, for all of the citizens of Savannah.
With everyone pitching in, sharing ideas, and making commitments -- only then will Savannah truly Thrive.
Read the Town Hall Meeting handout:
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