History of Seattle Since 1940 - Environmental Sustainability

Environmental Sustainability

In 1971, Weldon Robison along with Ron Ralph established a community based non-profit glass recycling effort in the Eastlake Community of Seattle. It was simply called "The Glass Barrel" and was registered and incorporated as a non-profit enterprise with the City of Seattle. Three sites were established on Fairview Ave East and one above the houseboats on Portage Bay. Glass was separated in three colors and deposited in three separate oil drums.

Seattle was voted the United States' most "green" city by the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), which gave the following reasons for the designation (among others):

1. Seattle mayor Greg Nickels founded the United States Conference of Mayors' Climate Agreement in 2005. Since then over 900 cities have signed on. The charter of the Agreement is to reduce the environmental impact of U.S. cities on the environment and meet the Kyoto environmental protocols, sidestepping the Bush administration's refusal to sign on.
2. Over 90% of the city's electric demand is fed by hydroelectric power.
3. Comprehensive recycling and sustainable resource use practices.
4. The most successful car- and van-pool program in the country.
5. Expansion of the city's light rail system.

The city's populace is also environmentally conscious, stemming from the natural beauty and landscape surrounding the area. Land use policies and natural geography have led to an increase in property value as the aforementioned boom in population with the arrival of Microsoft, new business for Boeing, and the foundation of Starbucks as a global corporation, has put a strain on availability of single family home property.