Seattle Office of Sustainability

Company Visited: Office of Sustainability

Where: City of Seattle, Washington

Website: http://www.seattle.gov/environment

About Department: The Office of Sustainability and Environment has been hard at work coordinating and developing policies and initiatives to protect Seattle's environment for over 10 years”

Final Thoughts: We met with Jeannie Boawn. High-level policy led to initiatives in climate protection. It has been doing 40 years of environmental initiatives. It focuses on policy related to energy and climate. They are heading towards net zero carbon by 2050. The department of energy granted the community power works program. Which focus on preserve energy and retrofit buildings. Collaboration among other city departments is vital. They have electric vehicle infrastructure. Food system educational program informs citizens on healthy, affordable, local food. The city owns 7000 acres of land and only 2 properties available for farming all other land is not suitable. They city has mandatory recycling for residents.  Waste 2020 is the vision of having 70% of the landfill waste reduced. They are currently at 50% reduce waste. Our local city should implement a coordinator of sustainability or an office of sustainability so that there is a better control and use of sustainable initiatives. Collaboration is needed among residential, commercial, community, etc it takes of all to make milestone changes. The local government needs to comply, create and implement policies that favor sustainability.  Employee engagement is successful to increase green policies.