04/25/2012 Environmental Board Minutes

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ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING April 25, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 6 B. Green Step Presentation/University of Minnesota Student Group, Intra- College Program, Sustainability and Social Justice Environmental Science. Diana McKeown present from CERTs (Clean, Energy, Resource Teams). CERT is one of seven partners in the GreenStep program. She stated she will present a brief overview of the program. She stated the program is voluntary. If a group chooses to sign up, there are certain things that group would need to do. There are 28 best practices and actions under each of the areas. It is a big menu of options focused on cost savings & energy use reduction. GreenStep is about providing a pathway to sustainability with actions. GreenStep different is focused on Minnesota and geared toward smaller cities. The best practices are developed by experts in their fields from Minnesota. It is action oriented, allows flexibility with each Best Practice, gives credit for actions we have already taken and helps identify new actions to take. It also identifies real resources people who can use. It was questioned if there are other cities already involved. Ms. McKeown stated yes, a few other cities are: Mahtomedi, Oakdale, Edina, Eagan, Apple Valley, Pine River, Red Wing and Saint Cloud. The 28 best practices are listed in 5 categories: There are additional actions under each of the five categories: Building & lighting Transportation Land Use Environmental Management Economic & Community Development Sample Best Practices: Improve efficiency of city street lighting and signals, farmer’s market, etc. Building Community Interest: Have a local city council approve a resolution that says you want to work toward designation. Name a GreenStep cities coordinator and you will be recognized for Step 1. Students from the University of Minnesota Sustainability and Social Justice Environmental Science Department presented some of their findings from the research they have done in Lino Lakes.