SUMMER 2009 EDITION
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"Going green" can help tighten budgets
Scott MacDonald/MUJW
The SolarOne project soaks up rays on Bernadette Drive behind Westlake Hardware on July 15. The project is a collaboration between the Public Works Department and DOW Chemicals.
COLUMBIA — The state of the economy and the state of the planet — two of the biggest topics in the world right now. Politicians debate them. Talking heads on cable news channels rant about them. You can imagine that on the other side of the globe right now, they are the focus of lunch conversation between men in business suits in a Tokyo restaurant.
Tips for saving energy and money
Each household can take steps to reduce energy usage and save money. The Bonneville Power Administration suggests homeowners use natural “air conditioners” to stay cool during the summer. “Plant deciduous shade trees … (They) absorb radiant heat before it warms your house, and planting trees helps clean the air, too,” advises its Web site, bpa.gov. Other ways to save on natural gas include:
- open windows at night
- keep the thermostat at 78 degrees
- install ceiling fans
- combine multiple, smaller washing machine/dishwasher loads
- use Energy Star appliances
- install compact fluorescent light bulbs
- minimize cool air lost around windows, doors or other openings
Saving energy is often a matter of awareness: turning off utilities when they're not needed, minimizing water use and, either by driving conservatively or using alternate means of transportation, not wasting gas. Focus on incorporating these values and methods into your daily lifestyle — you may be surprised at how low your energy bill will be.
The intersection of these issues, recession and global warming, offers a logical opportunity for communities to multitask. If saving energy saves money and reduces carbon emissions, what is Columbia doing to go green?
Jill Stedem, spokesperson for the Public Works Department, gives a long list of projects undertaken by the department aimed at sustainability and energy efficiency. These projects include constructing LEED-certified buildings and using methane gas from landfill waste to produce electricity.
But she says many smaller changes to city public works are more a matter of necessity than of environmentalism.
“We don't have temp staff now because of budget cuts, so that is why the green spaces are not getting mowed as often and the trees … are not getting watered as often,” she said. “Most of the sustainability projects that we do are not tied to the economy.”
Columbia Water and Light has a more focused conservation initiative.
“We are working on reducing our environmental impact as well as saving customers money,” Utility Services Manager Tina Worley said. "Any time we can help residents become more energy efficient, it’s always a good thing.”
Worley points to numerous “green” initiatives — some of which have been in place for three decades or more — including rebates and loans for solar-powered water and electrical appliances, free home energy audits, free shade trees for residents and the city recycling program, which she calls a “very good effort in helping us become sustainable.”
The city also has a variety of energy projects to eliminate fossil fuels.
One is a biomass initiative; 10 percent of the city’s electricity is produced from wood chips from a local sawmill, and Columbia is the only city in the state to operate a landfill bio-reactor, Worley said. Columbia also owns a large portion of Missouri’s first wind farm, Bluegrass Ridge, and the city is working with Dow Chemical Co. to test a new solar-powered roof shingle project.
Each of these promisesto replaceold coal plants with cheap or free materials.
“It’s cheaper to buy efficiently than it is to build new power plants,” Worley said.