“When it comes to the environment, our fates are the same”. FY11 “Green” report card for DC

The District Department of the Environment recently released their FY11 Accomplishments Report which lists the many ways that Washington DC government is working hard with citizens and organizations to keep DC “clean, vibrant and healthy for future generations.” It’s another one of those documents that I really wish I could publish here, in its entirety. But since I can’t, I encourage you to download the document and at least skim it to learn about all of the great things going on in DC.

Here are a few excerpts:

Green Together [teamwork, friends and funds]
Individuality defines who we are. We are unique. One in billions. Yet, the billions of us have one thing in common: our planet earth. When it comes to the environment, our fates are the same. We share the sun. We breathe the same air. Whether we believe the “butterfly affect” – a theoretical example of a hurricane’s formation being contingent on whether a distant butterfly flaps it’s wings – as hard fact science or just poetic metaphor, we, as a collective force, have much more influence over climate change, for example, than we could ever imagine.

• The District is #1 per capita in the amount of LEED certified and ENERGY STAR buildings.
  
• The District uses more green power than any other jurisdiction in the US EPA Green Power Community.
  
• The District has the largest bicycle share program in the country and is second in the country in the number of commuters who walk to work and take transit.
  
• The DDOE WPD's RiverSmart team had an outstanding FY11. TheRiverSmart Schools team worked with five District public schools to identify, plan, and construct low impact development (LID) retrofits and outdoor learning gardens, and funded numerous teacher trainings on effective use of schoolyard gardens in the school's curriculum.
  
• Through its grantees—the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Casey Trees, and DC Greenworks—DDOE installed 575 rain barrels, permeable pavers on 14 driveways and patios, and 180 rain gardens; and planted 151 native plant gardens and 681 trees. Collectively the practices installed in FY11 through RiverSmart Homes are treating 21 acres of land in the District.

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