Sustainable boards spring into action

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Mar 19, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

STAFF PHOTO / CLIFF NEWELL / Lake Oswego Review

Jean Baumann and Jacob Shimkus are working hard to take Lake Oswego to the next level with the local sustainability advisory board that they are on in the city.

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Sustainability is like a warm and fuzzy blanket. Achieving it is such a huge and comfortable idea that it is tempting to stay in the planning stage for a long, long time.

But now sustainability advisory boards in the Portland Metro area are pushing beyond the idea stage and going to work.

“We hope our entire city takes on sustainability initiatives,” said Jean Baumann, chair of the Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board. “The 2009 goals and work plan have been adopted by the Lake Oswego City Council. Now it is time for serious work.

“We hope to engage the whole community in action, not just information. Real action makes a difference. We are really geared toward our sustainability action month.”

The big month is set for May, and Baumann and her colleagues are now setting up a schedule of events, activities and speakers with the intention of turning Lake Oswego into a hotbed (not in a global warming sense) of sustainability.

The 11-member Lake Oswego SAB has a huge amount of expertise and experience, and it also gets a big shot of youthful enthusiasm from Jacob Shimkus, a 15-year-old sophomore at Lakeridge High School.

“We want to provide more than basic ideas,” Shimkus said. “We want to take the next step – opportunities to fulfill education on things like global warming.”

Other SABs have been thinking along the same lines. Some have even been planning for up to a year, but now they are putting their theories into practice.

In West Linn, the city council has already funded $20,000 (raised from fees for the city recycling program) for the plan of its sustainability advisory board, and the budget items have been set.

“Two or three members have been assigned to each item to make sure they get it done,” said Michelle Wittenbrink, West Linn SAB member.

The West Linners will be strongly addressing city codes to see that they don’t cause roadblocks on sustainable development, especially green building.

Other projects include: energy audit recommendations; reusable bags; in-house training for city employees; educational resources for the West Linn Library; a mobile sustainability kiosk; and a lecture series. All of them are set to be accomplished this year.

“We see all of these opportunities, but we have limited resources,” Wittenbrink said. “We want to pursue more projects when we can.”

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