Sustainability

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Capitol Lake and it's Future: Learn more about the issues and the process on how decisions will be made.
Putting Sustainability into Action is one of the Olympia City Council's four primary goals. Olympia is the first United States member of the Plus Network and is a founding member of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives).

What We're Doing:

•  Working with other agencies to restore Budd Inlet.
• Using porous pavement to minimize stormwater run-off.
• Purchasing Green Power for 100% of our City utilities' electricity needs.
• Working towards Zero Waste.
• Promoting tree planting and preservation. On March 29, 2008 Olympians planted 1000 trees in ONE DAY!
• Providing grants to Olympia neighborhoods for sustainability projects.
• Engaging community members in sustainable land use discussions.
• Conserving our precious water resources.
• Providing and using Class A reclaimed water.
• Protecting our streams and groundwater.
• Acquiring land for future parks.
• Building sidewalks for safe and easy walking.
• WATER WISE garden and lawn care.
• Providing a sustainability context for our policy decisions.
• Creating a walkable community.
• Turning street intersections into neighborhood crossroads and gathering spaces.
• City's First Electric Vehicle
• Climate Change

Community Indicators - How We're Doing.

Founded in 1991, Olympia's Sustainable Community Roundtable was one of the nation's first grassroots organizations promoting the vision and principles of sustainability. With Sustainable Seattle, the Roundtable pioneered the development of citizen-initiated indicators of sustainable community. View the most recent (2006) Indicators Report (pdf file) published by Olympia's Sustainable Roundtable.

Olympia's Sustainable Community Philosophy Statement.

A sustainable community is one that persists over generations and is far seeing enough, flexible enough and wise enough to maintain its natural, economic, social and political support systems.

Olympia Resolutions Passed In Support of Sustainability. The Olympia City Council has adopted four resolutions in support of sustainability:

• Resolution 1306 - A Resolution by the Olympia City Council on City actions to mitigate global warming, adopted in February, 1991.
• Resolution 1309 - A Resolution by the Olympia City Council on City actions to reduce use of petroleum fuel in order to improve air and water quality, mitigate global warming, reduce dependence on a limited resources, reduce traffic congestion, and reduce the need for pavement, thereby improving the urban environment and making Olympia more sustainable in the future, adopted in March, 1991.
• Resolution 1550 - A Resolution adopting the strategy to manage and reduce energy and fuel consumption and greehouse gas emissions, adopted in March, 2004.
• Resolution 1586 - A Resolution in support of Clean Car (Low Emission) Standards for Washington State, adopted in February, 2005.

Contact Public Works

• Mailing Address: PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507
• Physical Address: 924 7th Ave. SE, Suite A (directions)
• Hours: M - F from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except for City-recognized holidays) 360.753.8588,
• TTY 360.753.8270
•  publicworks@ci.olympia.wa.us
• Visit Public Works home page