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A note from 9th District Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh:
After 4 years of work in District 9, the Green Triangle is entering a new partnership with Louisville Metro Office of Sustainability and the Louisville Sustainability Council (LSC), which will be working on a community wide scale to encourage green action and collect green data. Since April 2012 the Green Triangle website collected data from the 9th District about the steps people are taking to become more sustainable in their daily lives. You can see the exciting data that we collected here. The LSC will be researching the best way to expand green data collection to the full Louisville community.
Learn more about the Louisville Sustainability Council, how to become a member, and get involved in the Action Teams related to the Sustain Louisville Plan.
For the time being, the Green Triangle Blog will serve as a resource for learning about the work that the 9th District Green Triangle did from 2009 to 2013, and blog posts will continue to be updated. I have grown immeasurably while working with you all in the 9th District to create a more sustainable community, and I am excited to see this work continue in a more expansive and sophisticated format for the full Louisville community, which has been our long range goal from the beginning.
At this festive time of year, join us in celebrating the increased safety that the Brownsboro Road Diet has brought to Lower Brownsboro Road. The Road Diet was completed in August 2012 between Drescher Bridge Avenue and Ewing Avenue. It added a sidewalk for pedestrians and reduced the four-lane stretch to two wide lanes with a continuous middle turning lane. This project has helped worked towards a more sustainable, walkable community, along with improving safety. From 2010 through 2012, Lower Brownsboro Road saw an average of 27.3 collisions per year. In 2013 there have been 15 collisions in this area, which is a decrease of 45%. So let’s give thanks and celebrate that on Lower Brownsboro Road it is safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and even motorists, as these statistics confirm. A 45% reduction in accidents seems like something we should all celebrate!
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The Louisville Metro Office of Sustainability is partnering with the Louisville Zoo and Louisville Sustainability Council to hold its first Sustainability Summit, on January 17 - 18, 2014. The purpose of the Sustainability Summit is to foster community engagement and provide citizens with an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of certain goals identified in Sustain Louisville – Louisville’s first comprehensive sustainability plan that was released in March 2013. The Sustainability Summit will be held at the Gheens Room, Louisville Zoo, 1100 Trevilian Way.
Friday, January 17, 2014 - Opening Keynote
Saturday January 18 - five Action Team work groups (Transportation, Green Building and Green Infrastructure, Green Economy, Tree Canopy and Urban Heat Island, and Community Engagement)
Registration will be available soon. Check the Office of Sustainability website for registration and more information. Please note, seating is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. This is a free event. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
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From Bike Louisville: The bike movement in Louisville is gaining steam! To kick-off 2014 we’re assembling some of its key contributors to talk about its progress and important steps ahead. Here are the details:
What: The 2014 Bike Kick-Off
When: Wednesday, January 8th (5:30-7:30)
Where: Clifton Center, (2117 Payne Street, Louisville, KY 40206)
We’re looking to promote networking, inspire action, and coordinate efforts among the people excited about improving conditions for bicycling in Louisville. Doors open at 5:30 pm, with presentations beginning at 6:00 and lasting roughly an hour. Light snacks and beverages will be available. After the presentations, we invite you to stick around to chat with others and meet with bike advocacy groups from around the region.
A Park Steward is a volunteer leader who receives in-depth training by Olmsted Parks Conservancy staff in order to help with park projects, volunteer events and/or community outreach. The training program covers plant identification, best practices for invasive plant removal, proper planting techniques, the history of the Olmsted Parks and more. January 23, 2014 is the start of the next Park Steward training. Register online at www.olmstedparks.org/events or call 456-8125.
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With our recent snow in Louisville, I thought it would be a good time to investigate options for snow and ice removal. There is an ordinance in Metro Louisville requiring the owners or occupants of homes and buildings to remove snow on the sidewalk in front of their property within 24 hours of a snowfall. While this is the ordinance, it is important to remember that some residents are unable to shovel their walks. So let’s look out for our neighbors and take snowy weather as an opportunity to build community through reaching out to help others.
The greenest way to remove snow is to shovel it by hand before it ices over. Sometimes this is impossible to do and people often turn to salt.
Using salt to melt snow or ice has its drawbacks:
- Salt can kill vegetation
- Salt can leach heavy metals, polluting the groundwater supply and local streams
- Runoff with salt can increase salinity in waterways
- Excess salt builds up in soils
- Salt can cause corrosion of vehicles, lessening the life and sustainability of a vehicle
If you must use salt, follow the directions for how much salt to use and do not over-salt. Some salts are better than others from an environmental perspective. Magnesium chloride is less corrosive and toxic than sodium chloride, which is typically used for melting snow. Read ingredients on salt bags and try to purchase magnesium chloride if you must use salt. Find more information here.
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