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Sustainability: Successes 2008
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Resource Conservation
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Better Buildings:
The mixed-use Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure received
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The
882 parking space structure includes 9,000 square feet of commercial
retail space and a solar photovoltaic roof canopy that generates 181
kilowatts of solar electricity. Solar Success: Solar capacity in the
city has doubled since the launch of Solar Santa Monica. To date, there
are 139 grid connected solar projects in the city representing 926
kilowatts of solar capacity.
Compost Collection:
The city’s food waste composting program kept more than 1 million
pounds of food waste from Santa Monica restaurants out of the landfill
last year.
Post-Consumer Paper:
The city purchases 100% post-consumer recycled content copy paper for
municipal operations. Annually, this saves an estimated 1.2 million
gallons of water, 158,000 pounds of CO2 and leaves 1,700 trees standing
in the forests.
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Environmental and Public Health
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Household Help:
Residents using the Household Hazardous Waste Center kept more than
137,000 pounds of hazardous materials and almost 19,000 pounds of
household batteries out of the landfills.
Resource Reuse:
The Santa Monica Urban Runoff and Recycling Facility (SMURRF) captured
and treated more than 33 million gallons of water for reuse in
irrigation and toilet flushing. Market Madness: More than 1 million
people annually visit four thriving farmers’ markets that provide
access to fresh, locally grown and organic produce!
Container Campaign:
More than 630 local food vendors successfully implemented the citywide ban on all non-recyclable plastic take-out containers.
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Transportation
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Prosperous Partnership:
A pilot transportation collaboration between Big Blue Bus and Santa
Monica College reduced 1.6 million car trips in the first year thus
reducing traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.
Biking is Big:
This year the bike valet program parked more than 20,000 bikes for free at community events around the city!
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Economic Development
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Local Leadership:
Over 30 Santa Monica businesses were recognized for their exceptional
commitment to sustainable practices through the Green Business
Certification Program and the Sustainable Quality Awards.
Going Green:
An additional 20 businesses took steps to become more sustainable as part of the Sustainable Works Business Greening Program.
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Open Space and Land Use
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Pavement to Parks:
The Beach Green project converted 83 spaces in the beach parking lot into .62 acres of public park space!
Total Trees:
The size of the community forest grew 2% this year.
Outstanding Open Space:
Santa Monica’s open space system now includes 245 acres of state beach and 26 community parks.
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Housing
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Housing Hope:
The city added 118 units of affordable housing last year! And 389 more
affordable housing units are in the process of being developed.
Affecting Affordability:
The city’s progressive legal protections, such as the just-cause
eviction protections in rent controlled units, have helped to keep 39%
of the controlled units affordable to low and very-low income tenants.
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Community Education and Civic Participation
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Creating Community:
More than 2,000 people took an active role in shaping the future of
Santa Monica by participating in the update of the Land Use and
Circulation Elements.
Environmental Education:
More than 680 people took the next step towards integrating sustainable
practices in the urban environment by participating in the Sustainable
Works Community Greening Program.
People Participate:
More than 15,000 people participated in this year’s Santa Monica
Festival, 20,000 people attended the AltCar and AltBuild Expos, and
attendance at GLOW was 200,000!
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Human Dignity
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Community Care:
The Community Development Grants Program provided over $7.6 million to
support local family, disability, employment and homeless services.
New Neighborhood:
The Neighborhood Resource Officer program was launched this year
placing community-oriented police officers in 8 districts throughout
the city. |
Last updated: Thursday, 04/16/2009
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Take Measure of Our Progress
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The Sustainable City Progress Report is your portal into the ways we measure success in meeting our sustainability goals. Each and everything in the Sustainable City Plan is measured, point by point, and on display.
Take a moment to measure Santa Monica's program for yourself.
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