City hopes to begin setting the bar for sustainability

Davis citizens attending city council meetings and other city sponsored events may notice something missing in the upcoming weeks: water bottles. In a decision made during its Oct. 25 meeting, the Davis City Council decided that the city would no longer purchase or sell single-use water bottles.

This decision, unanimously adopted by the City Council is the first step towards action to reduce Davis's greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with climate protection/sustainability plans voted on in April.

"The water bottle idea was the first plan ready to go," said Mitch Sears, interim sustainability program coordinator for Davis.

While further sustainability actions wait to be announced in the upcoming City Council meeting Nov. 13, the organization is focusing on its own practices and on "low hanging fruit", Sears said.

Normally, the city has provided bottles of water at its meetings and events as a courtesy, Sears said. The non-use of water bottles will have some exceptions, involving the Fire Department, which needs water on the go and issues of public safety and health, she added; however, the city is contemplating alternatives to water bottles even in these exceptional situations.

The change will be low-key and won't be commemorated, Sears said.

"You won't see a big roll out, no big event," he said.

According to City Council reports, the Davis Climate Protection/Community Sustainability Framework Strategy will look to evaluate current city programs regarding resource conservation and sustainability. Once these have been evaluated, the City Council hopes to create short-term plans that will be enacted within 18 months, as well as long-term plans to be carried out over many years. Ultimately, the City Council hopes to create programs that allow for decisions that continue to support sustainability and eco-friendly habits.

Many of these actions will start after a greenhouse gas emissions report is completed on Davis, which will be coordinated through the California Climate Action Registry, Sears said.

A greenhouse gas emission report of this type is not new to the Davis area. Aimee Pfohl, Environmental Protection specialist for the UC Davis Environmental Health and Safety office, conducted UC Davis's first greenhouse gas emission report, with assistance from UCD student Kristine Haunschild, in 2005. This report included the main campus, as well as outside campus areas such as the UCD Medical Center, Pfohl said.

"UC Davis is the third UC, behind UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, in correspondence with the California Climate Action Registry," Pfohl said.

These actions put UC Davis, along with UCSD and UCSB ahead of the curve after UC President Robert Dynes announced in March of this year that all UCs should work to be more sustainable, Pfohl said.

Don Saylor, councilmember for the city of Davis, is a strong advocate for these systematic sustainability actions, he said. Davis has been an environmental leader for decades, Saylor said.

"Our large dependence on bicycles for transportation is one example, as well as the environmental designs of our neighborhoods such as the Village Homes and the Covell park area," Saylor said.

However, Saylor notes that Davis cannot rest on these previous achievements. Other cities have taken a stronger approach, and now it's up to Davis to do the same, he said.

"No single action is sufficient to address the concerns of global warming. Each small action taken together will make a difference. The city is beginning to take small steps to lessen the unnecessary use of resources."

JOSHUA ROBERTSON can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com. © Copyright 2007 The California Aggie