Seattle goes green

At a time when words such as “green” and “eco-friendly” have become little more than buzzwords, Seattle’s government, businesses and residents have made sustainability a part of everyday life. At the highest levels of city government, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has been one of the most progressive mayors in the country in terms of city environmental policy.

While the United States declined participation in the Kyoto Protocol, Mayor Nickels pioneered an effort to encourage city governments around the nation to embrace the new standards. Mayor Nickels’ plan, called the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, encourages other mayors to pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions seven percent from 1990 levels by 2012, as Seattle has pledged to do. By Nov. 1, 2007, more than 710 mayors representing more than 64 million Americans have signed on and followed Seattle’s lead.

Another way the city government is directly investing in environmental awareness is through its spending policy. Seattle’s Sustainable Purchasing Program requires Seattle city government to consider factors such as pollution, waste generation, energy consumption, recycled material content and potential impact on health and nature when making all purchases on behalf of the city. This allows the city to pursue more contracts with local businesses, small and minority-owned businesses and companies with responsible environmental practices.

Seattle’s publicly-owned utility, City Light, has also taken a leading role in sustainability, becoming the nations first major ‘zero-sum emissions’ utility. Through a network of partnerships and purchases of emission offsets, City Light became the first large electric utility in the country to effectively eliminate its contribution of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Also, approximately half of City Light’s electricity comes from hydroelectric power produced by projects on the Skagit and Pend Oreille Rivers.

Transportation organizations made large contributions to Seattle’s environmental programs, making it easier for commuters and visitors to get around using biodiesel fuel blends. King County Metro Transit has received two national awards for their efforts in biodiesel and hybrid buses that use electric power in the city and switch to diesel fuel in the surrounding areas. Currently, Metro has more than 300 buses in its fleet using a biodiesel/ultra low sulfur diesel blended fuel. Seattle’s Department of Fleets and Facilities also has approximately 300 trucks running on a biodiesel fuel blend and the Washington State Ferries have conducted pilot tests using biodiesel.

With Seattle’s focus on sustainability, it was an ideal city for the pilot property of Starwood Capital Group’s new “eco-friendly” hotel chain, “1” Hotel and Residences. Five other “1” Hotel properties will be developed later around the United States and in Paris. Slated to open in late 2008, the Seattle “1” Hotel’s construction will be built to standards set forth by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and feature environmentally sustainable architecture and interior design. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has signed onto the project as an environmental advisor.

Other buildings around Seattle designed with a focus on sustainability are part of a specialty tour offered by the Seattle Architectural Foundation. The foundation offers tours of some of Seattle’s first and most prominent green buildings. The tours include lectures by architects, engineers, project managers and developers of these structures, as well as information about sustainable building certifications such as LEED and BuiltGreen. The tours cost $10 per person in advance and are offered for different green structures around the city.

A group of Seattle volunteers created a one-stop resource which references the city’s sustainable resources and other noteworthy green locations. Included on the “Seattle Green Map” are green businesses, alternative transportation options, cultural centers, recreation, public art, ecological restoration sites, recycling centers and more. Another feature of the map allows users to see what percentage of people drove alone to work in each part of the city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The website, seattlegreenmap.net features both interactive and printable Seattle Green Maps.