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Can Vallejo Be a Sustainable City?
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, June 26, 2005

 With all the commotion about the downtown waterfront redevelopment, downtown plan, Mare Island, Bordoni Ranch development, auto row, the fairgrounds and a new Wal-Mart, is anyone at city hall paying attention to the long-term effects on our environment and the sustainability of our community?

This past week, San Francisco was named the most sustainable city in the United States. Portland came in second followed by Berkeley and Seattle. San Francisco and Berkeley are so close, one would think that some of this goodness would blow our way.

A new Bay Area group, SustainLane, has launched a single-access portal for healthy sustainable living (www.sustainlane.com). The site features resources from the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability web site (www.LOHASJournal.com) as well as city management resources. SustainLane's first big splash was the US Sustainable City Rankings. So what makes a city sustainable? Cities were rated on 12 criteria including air quality, transportation, green building, and land use.

In November 2004, SustainLane began measuring the levels of sustainability of 25 major cities. Following Rachel Carson's lead from "Silent Spring," they found an abundance of data and information, but it was fragmented. They documented each city's sustainable practices including regional challenges of clean air, water, and local foods. They looked at how cities dealt with new buildings and redevelopment projects for green building techniques.

Each city differs in its approach toward sustainability. As new projects are built or redeveloped, most cities are looking for the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Environmental & Energy Design) building certification. There are several high-rise office buildings planned in New York City that are pursuing LEED's standards, including the 2.1-million-square foot 56-story Bank of America Tower in Manhattan. SustainLane included farmers markets in their study. They believe that these markets bring the consumer in direct contact with those that grow their food, thus building an understanding of the connections between daily lifestyles and consumptive habits.

Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco told SustainLane: "Sustainability is important not only for protecting citizens' health and ensuring a great quality of life here in San Francisco, but also for boosting the local economy with jobs and services in everything from clean technologies to fresh food and green building products."

Biodiesel is a big part of Berkeley's sustainability. Two hundred city trucks burn 100% biodiesel fuel made from used cooking oil. Vallejo should have an advantage in this category as we have a biosiesel manufacturer located on Mare Island. SustainLane also analyzed data on air and water quality, waste diversion rates, planning, zoning, and land use. Land use issues impact everything from the availability of recreation opportunities to how much people are dependent on driving everywhere for everything.

Both Sustainlane.com and LOHASJournal.com are fascinating websites with loads of information. Grab a cup of mint tea (with fresh mint from your garden, of course)and check them out.

Annual Meeting and Retirement Celebration

The public is invited to VALCORE's annual meeting on Monday, June 27, at the recycling center starting at 6:30p.m. Following the meeting, there will be a dinner celebration of our Manager Genie Kaggerud's retirement at 7: 00 p.m.

VALCORE Recycling Vice President Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling manager at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.

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