Sustainability is a keystone of public policy in Asheville's civic government, and increasingly in its private businesses' operations as well. The city maintains a sustainability office whose job is to come up with ways for the city government to use less energy and leave a smaller footprint.
Some of the city's recent achievements include a program to replace all city streetlights with LED lighting, solar panels and solar thermal water heating systems on government buildings such as fire stations, electric vehicles and natural gas powered vehicles for the police department and parking enforcement division, and a program that has made it considerably easier to recycle. In the works are plans to encourage the planting of edible trees, flowers, and plants in parks and other public landscaping, and a plan to make the city the nation's premier urban area for beekeeping. Meanwhile, Asheville maintains the highest amount of parkland per capita in North Carolina, but a huge expansion of the riverside park system is underway, as well as an expansion of the greenway network. Even the county, which is considerably more conservative than the city, is getting into the act -- they've set up a power plant at the landfill that burns the methane produced by rotting garbage. By doing so, they've increased the life expectancy of the landfill itself considerably and they're turning a nice profit on the power they're selling into the electrical grid.
The ultimate goal is to lower the city's carbon footprint by eighty percent by 2050. Thus far, it's been reduced by more than eight percent in the past three years, and the city has lowered its power usage by almost six percent in that same time.
In the city's business community, meanwhile, green is the word. Restaurants are leading the way; they pride themselves on the use of local ingredients wherever possible, and it's been our independent restaurants that have led the way in the installations of solar thermal water heating systems and solar panels. City churches are also increasingly installing solar panels as well. Elsewhere in town, biodiesel made from used cooking oil harvested from area eateries is available for sale at most of the major gas stations, and so far, fifteen public electric-car charging stations have been set up.
What's the result of all this do-gooding? One of the biggest tangible results has been that two major craft breweries, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, are moving to town to take advantage of the high quality of life, clean water, and the culture of community activism. New Belgium in particular cited those among its reasons for picking Asheville over other cities. And to prove their commitment to fitting into that kind of culture, they're building their new brewery right in the middle of town on a brownfield site. The city is helping out by extending a greenway along the riverfront property they've selected. Other companies, including a kayak manufacturer and a solar panel manufacturer have either relocated or set up shop in the area, and have mentioned Asheville's green culture as having factored into their decisions.
All in all, Asheville is out to save the world and do well for itself by doing some good. Seems to be working out pretty well so far.
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"To sustain the life of a large, modern city in this cloying, clinging heat is an amazing achievement. It is no wonder that the white men and women in Greenville walk with a slow, dragging pride, as if they had taken up a challenge and intended to defy it without end." -- Rebecca West for The New Yorker, 1947
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