Maricopa County has been working on a green initiative to save taxpayer’s money and be more environmentally friendly. They plan to enact policy to save energy, use more fuel efficient vehicles, use renewable energy such as solar, and plant roof top gardens to help reduce the heat island effect. Overall this sounds like a great start.

Among the county’s goals and actions to be reached over the next several years:
• Increase recycling and decrease the use of paper. Several departments will increase the use of electronic documents to cut down on hard copies. They also plan to increase by an average of 5 percent each year the amount of recycled and remanufactured products.
• Beef up efforts to reduce air pollution and cut down on travel. By 2012, Environmental Services will have replaced half of its fleet with alternative-fuel or hybrid vehicles. Increasingly, staffers will attend out-of-town meetings electronically rather than in person.

The Department of Public Health, for example, will increase Web use and videoconferencing and, by 2011, will buy a fleet of hybrid vehicles for employees.
• By 2011, at least 5 percent of full-time county employees will telecommute each day. A shorter workweek will be available for eligible employees.
• The Public Works Department will use biodiesel fuel and liquid-propane gas for at least half of its new vehicles and equipment. It also will work with ASU’s sustainability institute to calculate and track the county’s carbon usage and measure the effectiveness of green programs.
• By July 2010, Public Works will implement a program designed to make sure that 75 percent of all new county-owned and county-managed facilities have a renewable energy source – such as solar, wind or hydrogen-fuel cell – as part of the building’s design and construction.

“Our goal is to have every element of Maricopa County – every staff member, every manager, every supervisor – to constantly be looking at the way we do business, so we can save as much resources as possible,” said Joy Rich, an assistant county manager who oversaw the creation of the program. “There are a lot of resources that we consume as an employer. We frankly should’ve done it sooner.”

More over at [azcentral.com]

Related posts:

1. Save Taxpayer Money And Help Create Locally Made Fuel By Recycling Your Turkey Grease This Year.