Shawnee City Commission Curbside Recycling Workshop September 3rd

 

Congratulations Shawnee! You will be curbside recycling before the new year! After many years of hard work and advocacy, the city commission voted to begin curbside recycling in Shawnee. Hooray! Though some of the details are still being worked out, the program should be in place within 60-90 days. We should be recycling essentially what we are now at the drop-off centers but further details and community education will be forthcoming.

Please take a moment to thank Commissioners Stephens, Smith, Winterringer, Hall and Mayor Mainord for their leadership. It takes courage to lead and they have shown it. Make sure they know how much you appreciate their efforts.

Thank you to everyone who called, wrote and attended in support of recycling over the years.

wes.mainord@shawneeok.org - Mayor Wes Mainord
pstephens@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Pam Stephens
keith.hall@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Keith Hall
jdwinterringer@shawneeok.org - Commissioner John Winterringer
ssmith@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Steve Smith

 

Paula Waters, Avedis Foundation, to Speak at March Meeting

 

Paula Waters with Avedis Foundation spoke about how the foundation plans to support health, wellness and quality of life in Shawnee at our March Meeting.

Avedis Foundation supports projects that directly benefit people from the communities we serve. Our interests include initiatives that nurture the community by promoting healthy lifestyles in one
or more of these areas:

• Physical wellness
• Intellectual well-being
• Emotional wellness
• Social well-being
• Environmental well-being
• Spiritual well-being

We greatly appreciated Paula's presentation and discussion. I'm glad so many were able to join us. We'll meet again on May 9th at the Shawnee Community Garden on Park and Wall Sts. at 6:30pm. Our speaker will be announced later this month. Thanks as always for your ongoing support of Sustainable Shawnee.

City Commission Adopts Proposed Bike Routes for Shawnee

I just wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who attended last night's commission meeting and wrote emails of support to our commissioners. When I asked for the bike route supporters in the room to stand last night, fully two-thirds of the audience stood. Your emails created an opportunity to discuss the proposed plan and your attendance conveyed the deep community support for cycling and running in Shawnee. Each of you was responsible for making a difference last night so thank you for caring and for "showing up" in the many ways you did. Having said all that, there's still work to be done so roll up your sleeves and let's get started!!!!
Please take a moment to express your gratitude to the Commissioners that supported the bike route plan:

wes.mainord@shawneeok.org - Mayor Wes Mainord
pstephens@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Pam Stephens
keith.hall@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Keith Hall
ssmith@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Steve Smith

Thank you!

Bike Routes in Shawnee!

Sustainable Shawnee hosted Randall Entz Transportation Planner for the City of Oklahoma City to speak about OKC's experience with bike routes and trails.

Mr. Entz observed,"Commerce happens at 3 mph not 30." Providing for pedestrians and cyclists and vehicle traffic has anecdotally increased business for OKC's downtown. "We've noticed a return of locally-owned restaurants and shops which is great for the community." Mr. Entz also believes the areas where bike lanes and paths are designated are safer for both drivers and pedestrians/cyclists." ignage needs to be clear and not open to interpretation. As drivers and cyclists learn the rules of the road together, accidents will hopefully be reduced. He hopes to have actual data in the coming months as these improvements are studied further.

The City of Shawnee is drafting a bike route plan for our community now. The early plan will be reviewed by the Traffic Commission on January 22nd. The commission welcomes public comment on the plan especially from people who frequently bike, jog or walk on our city streets. Contact Mike Ludi, Assistant City Engineer, at mludi@shawneeok.org with bike route questions or comments and help our community have the most "user-friendly" plan possible.

Shawnee's proposed bike route plans are in the news! Here's the link for a recent Shawnee News-Star article and be on the look out for an upcoming peice in the Shawnee Outlook!

Click here for a Mr. Entz's complete presentation and like Sustainable Shawnee's Facebook page for updated bike route information.

Sustainable Shawnee's 2013 Christmas Party!

Sustainable Shawnee held our annual Christmas Party at Zocalo's Mexican Restaurant in Tecumseh this year. We enjoyed a wonderful vegetarian and vegan buffet along with other carnivorous favorites! We had a stumpendous turnout including many members from the Shawnee Peace Fellowship! Thanks to everyone who attended and to the staff of Zocalo's who worked so hard to serve us. Remember Zocalo's offers fresh and healthy Vegan/Vegetarian dinner options every Saturday evening of the year so stop by often!
We look forward to working with the City of Shawnee on a new bike route plan and finding a cost effective way to bring curbside recycling to our community.       Merry Christmas to all and let's get ready for 2013!

Sustainable Shawnee Elects 2013 Slate of Officers!

Thanks to everyone who's offered to give their time in 2013! Here's next year's fabulous volunteers!

 

President - Shawna Turner
Vice President - Timothy McCollum

Treasurer - Cody Deem

Secretary - Shelby Shackelford

 

You don't have to be an officer to do your part! If you have an interest in water issues, recycling, community gardening, local foods or another topic we've never tackled before, we have a place for you. Questions? Comments? Contact us at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com!

GreenStar Recycling Speaks on the Economics of Recycling in Oklahoma

We had a hugely successful meeting with GreenStar Recycling executive, Robert Pickens. He provided best practice examples for what has been successful and what hasn't been so successful for recycling programs nationwide. He will be a well-informed and valuable asset to the City as they explore their curbside recycling options with the key stakeholders in our community.  We look forward to working with him in the coming days. Meanwhile, Sustainable Shawnee continues to work on our curbside recycling recommendations. The recycling committee will meet Monday, November 12th at 4pm at SIPS downtown to discuss our plans. Join us if you're free. We need your feedback and support to make curbside recycling a reality in Shawnee. Questions? Comments? Email us at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com. 

Fun Day at Shawnee's Community Garden!

Professor Timothy McCollum and his OBU students welcomed over twenty students to the Shawnee Community Garden this morning. Unfortunately, it was a cold start but the kids had a great time learning about farming and growing their own food. Many thanks to OBU for helping make our garden a place of learning for everyone! Visit Sustainable Shawnee's facebook page for more event photos and stay tuned for next week's Countywide article.

City of Shawnee to Submit Bike Route Plan to Traffic Commission

The City of Shawnee is presently working on a bike route plan for the community based in part on the Master Trails Plan approved in 2009. The plan is likely to include both on-street and off-street linkages to ensure bikers, joggers and walkers have safe routes throughout the city. "This is a huge step forward for Shawnee, says Sustainable Shawnee President, Shawna Turner. I would like to personally thank Justin Erickson, City Planning Director, and his staff for their support of this measure. They really made it happen."

The bike route plan will be submitted to the Shawnee Traffic Commission for public comment on Tuesday, November 27th at 6:30pm. The meeting will take place at the City Hall downtown in commission chambers. Everyone is welcome to attend and comments are encouraged. If you'd like a copy of the plan in advance contact the city clerk's office at 878-1604.

Oklahoma One of Three Most Improved States in Energy Efficiency

By Sarah Terry-Cobo
The Journal Record
Posted: 08:03 PM Monday, October 8, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma joins Montana and South Carolina as states that are most improved in energy efficiency, according to new rankings by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE. The Sooner State jumped eight spots to 39th among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, up from 47th in last year’s ranking by the energy-efficiency organization. While the most improved status is an accomplishment, some experts say there is still more progress to be made.
Ben Foster, senior policy analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based American ACEEE, said that updated building codes and Gov. Mary Fallin’s energy plan, which includes an effort to reduce energy use in state buildings, helped increase Oklahoma’s score from the previous year. Senate Bill 1096 directs state agencies and schools to become 20 percent more energy efficient by the year 2020.
The annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard analyzes policies and programs such as utilities initiatives that encourage high-efficiency appliances, building energy codes, state government policy on energy efficiency and combined heat and power policies. Data comes from 2010 and 2011, the most recent years available.
Oklahoma’s ranking increased significantly in part because of the programs utilities Public Service Co. of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Gas and Electric implemented with automated electric meters, and more natural gas electric generation.

Click here for the complete article.