The Evanston Roundtable

Turning on its head the adage that says people only talk about the weather, members of the Network for Evanston’s Future have partnered with the City of Evanston to develop a climate action plan. The plan will be presented to the public on May 4 in Evanston’s greenest building—the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, 303 Dodge Ave. (See story on page 5.)

Still in draft form, the plan contains benchmarks of the community’s carbon footprint—the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air from daily life in Evanston. It will also provide suggestions about how individuals, households, businesses and larger institutions can incorporate sustainable activities into their daily routines, said Carolyn Collopy, the City’s sustainability coordinator.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inertia at the federal level in dealing with global climate change has spurred state and local action. In October 2006, Council authorized Mayor Lorraine Morton to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which pledged the community of Evanston will meet the Kyoto Protocol on Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol target is for communities to reduce their emissions to a level that is 7 percent below their 1990 levels. Figuring retrospectively, Ms. Collopy estimates that the community must reduce the carbon footprint of the City of Evanston by 13 percent over the next four years. She compiled an energy inventory for the community of Evanston, showing the groups responsible for energy use: 57 percent is used for business, commercial and institutional purposes; 26 percent for residential; 14 percent for transportation. The City itself is responsible for only about 2 percent of the energy used by the community, she said.

These benchmarks, the levels of current energy use, “show how big a challenge we are facing,” said Eleanor Revelle, co-chair of the Forestry, Carbon Offsets and Water task force, one of the nine task forces that helped formulate the draft plan.

Green thinking entails an expanded notion of “energy use.” It is more than just a direct relationship, such as driving a car, turning on a light or using an appliance. The challenge is effectively a lifestyle change, said Elliott Zashin, co-chair of the project.

Evanstonians may decide not to use plastic shopping bags or one-use plastic water bottles or may choose to plant native species rather than grass in the yard—eliminating the need for fertilizing, watering and mowing. They will be also asked to consider the energy consumed in manufacturing or shipping a product, to think about consuming locally grown (minimally shipped), organic food, purchasing food items in bulk to eliminate packaging and walking or biking instead of driving.

“It’s a project that can transform the way Evanston looks, the way Evanston is, in about 20 years,” said Mr. Zashin. Zerofootprint Evanston, an online environmental calculator customized for Evanston, will help businesses, institutions and households assess their environmental footprint, make commitments to reduce their emissions and energy use and take the necessary steps to achieve their goals, said Ms. Revelle.

“It is the tool that will help us assess where we are today [and] support us as we work to make changes to achieve that 13 percent reduction,” she added.

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