If you haven’t heard of the Bloomington Sustainability Coalition, now is your chance! This new group is working hard to advance sustainability in Bloomington, and doing so with an eye towards clean energy. We interviewed Tim Sandry, a member of the coalition, to get the scoop on how things are going and where they’re headed.
MC = Trevor Drake of Metro CERT
BSC = Tim Sandry of Bloomington Sustainability Coalition
MC: How did BSC come together?
BSC: There was a group of people who are active in various environmental groups, including the Bush Lake Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, the Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter (MRVAC), and the Sierra Club, who had at one time been active as part of a City of Bloomington visioning process in 2008. There was interest in getting back and doing something more long term so I organized a meeting and we took it from there.
MC: What do you hope to accomplish in the long term?
BSC: Our mission statement is: To lead, collaborate with and encourage local residents, businesses, schools, organizations and governments to build a sustainable Bloomington.
MC: What have been some recent successes and challenges?
BSC:
- Back in December of last year we cosponsored a Solar Event with the Sierra Club at Quality Bike Products in Bloomington and had approximately 60 people show up including several state legislators and a city council person.
- In April we worked with the Alliance for Sustainability to put on a Green Congregation event for Bloomington and Richfield congregations that have a group or individuals that have a commitment to sustainability. We had approximately 30 people show up representing 13 congregations
- Out of the event above, there is a group of 7 congregations (Green Congregation Coalition) that meet on a monthly basis to share success and challenges and to plan events. The first event will be a Garden Tour on Sat. July 27th that will visit congregations and neighborhoods that have community and rain gardens.
- We have been actively engaged with the city of Bloomington both at the council and staff level. As a result of our efforts, the city put together a “work plan” of sustainability initiatives for 2013 that we had input into.
Regarding challenges… We face many of the same challenges that most groups like ours face: time, how to get the word out, face time with stakeholders, how to get our message heard by people with many competing priorities, etc. Fortunately, because our means of getting things done is to partner with other organizations, we have been fortunate to be able to work with groups like CERTs, CEE, Sierra Club, Alliance for Sustainability, etc. to accomplish a lot in a short period of time.
MC: We’re excited for your sustainability fair this fall, to help build engagement. How are things coming along for that?
BSC: Things are coming together well and there is growing sense of excitement. We expect to have at least 20 organizations participating and since we are doing it at the same time and location as the Farmers Market, we expect to see a very high turnout. Again, we are getting a lot of help from CERTs and CEE and the Alliance for Sustainability.
MC: What’s next on the agenda after the fair?
BSC: We are looking at sponsoring a series of business workshops called something like “Greening Your Bottom Line” to show businesses how they can be sustainable while at the same time save money. Topics might include LED parking lights, how to save on water costs by using rain and soil moisture sensors, solar, etc. Beyond that, we are also VERY interested in community solar – especially after the actions of legislature last session.
Thanks and good luck to Tim and the Bloomington Sustainability Coalition!
For more information, check out the Coalition’s Facebook page
