July 27, 2006

By Lauren Heaton and Diane Chiddister

Before the village decides how to become more sustainable, the community must first identify local indicators of sustainability, according to sustainability experts at last weekend’s Yellow Springs Energy Forum. The decision for the village isn’t to choose between fixing the roads or keeping the pool, they said, but to define the characteristics of a sustainable community and use that framework to guide all other decisions in the village.

“We value what we measure and we measure what we value,” said Richard Olson, professor of sustainability at Berea College and a panelist for Saturday morning’s panel on Planning in Yellow Springs and Antioch in Relation to Peak Oil. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t develop policies to guide it,” he said.

The two-day event was organized by the Smart Growth Education Task Force and The Community Solution. Organizers were pleased with the response to the weekend, according to Dimi Reber, who said about 80 people attended the keynote speeches on Friday night.

Throughout the weekend, several participants stated that the coming of peak oil, which will require communities to be more sustainable by keeping jobs and shopping in town, can be good for small towns.

“All the little ways that your paths overlap over time builds up to this profound thing called community,” said Don Hollister at the Saturday afternoon panel. If the energy crisis leads to more small enounters between people, he said, “We may see more of our neighbors. We may have a happier future.”

The Saturday morning session focused on panelists sharing their experiences and ideas about how to plan for sustainability in Yellow Springs. About 60 people attended the session.

Panelist Nick Boutis, executive director of the Glen Helen Ecology Institute, spoke about the human capacity to adapt, collaborate and develop new technology that will help humans become more sustainable if they focus on reducing our dependence on cheap, private transportation and supporting mass transit and sustainable population growth. He said he hopes the Glen, whose aging facilities could use remodeling, could become a model of how to retrofit a building to be carbon neutral and energy efficient.

Panelist Dimi Reber, representing Antioch College, talked about sustainability efforts in other communities, including Willits, Calif., Duluth, Minn., and Salt Lake City, Utah. Towns in other regions have also studied their energy consumption and taken steps to purchase only local agriculture, institute the use of solar energy, recycle grey water, reduce gas emissions and develop local currency and have also made other innovations to become more sustainable and self-reliant, she said.

Panelist Ed Amrhein, who is the assistant Village planner, spoke about sustainable economic development and the fact that though the Village has been reluctant in the past to develop standards for green building and development, awareness is growing and, he believes, attitudes are changing.

He suggested a host of ways villagers can get involved now to help guide the village toward greater sustainability. The Village Environmental Commission is drafting an official position for Village Council to take toward peak oil as well as action the Village should take to complete the Jacoby greenbelt around the village, he said. Villagers could also join the Bicycle Enhancement Committee’s efforts to plan safe bicycle routes and walkways for youth with the Safe Routes to School program.

Amrhein urged villagers also to get involved in regional planning efforts, including the Beavercreek-Wenrick Greenway Community Land Trust’s efforts to create a greenbelt around the city of Dayton and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission’s study on the potential for a light rail system in Dayton.

“There’s room for whatever energy you want to commit to this effort,” Amrhein said.

Several forum participants expressed frustration with lack of support from Village Council and other village leaders and the inability of different groups to communicate on sustainability initiatives. But both Village Council member Judith Hempfling and Tecumseh Land Trust representative Krista Magaw urged community members to stay focused on a constructive agenda of actions that “people can really sink their teeth into and commit to,” Magaw said.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com or dchiddister@ysnews.com