City of Bloomington Commission on Sustainability

The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability (BCOS) was enacted by Ordinance 05-15 (PDF 903.76 KB), adopted unanimously by the Common Council on May 4, 2005 and approved by Mayor Mark Kruzan the following day. The twelve commission members, six appointed by the Mayor and six appointed by the City Council, met for the first time on October 25, 2005.

Email the BCOS at sustain@bloomington.in.gov.

BCOS Mission:

The BCOS promotes economic development, environmental health, and social equity in our community for present and future generations. The commission gathers and disseminates information; promotes practical initiatives; and measures, monitors, and reports on our community's progress toward sustainability.

BCOS Vacancies:

The City of Bloomington Commission on Sustainability is currently accepting applications to serve as a regular member.

Commission Member Expectations:

The City of Bloomington Commission on Sustainability is a volunteer powered commission staffed by the City of Bloomington Department of Economic and Sustainable Development.

As a volunteer commission, staff realizes that your time is valuable. Regular attendance at monthly meetings is necessary in order to achieve our mission and goals. Each member of the commission also takes part in a subcommittee ranging from the Education Committee to our annual Sustainability Trends Assessment Report Committee. On average commission members should expect to devote approximately 4-6 hours per month to the commission.

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Upcoming Agenda and Approved Minutes

Agendas:

Recent Minutes:

Sustainability Assessment Report

Learn about the commission's previously published Sustainability Reports

Earth Care- Bloomington Indiana

Commitment, vision and mission

Earth Care is an interfaith group that accepts our urgent moral responsibility to protect all life by curbing climate change. We recognize that the earth is sacred, that all its creatures depend on each other, and that we are its stewards. This work is a matter of justice: while we disproportionately generate heat-trapping emissions, this catastrophe will fall most heavily on the vulnerable poor.

We envision that, together, people of faith will help create the tipping point in consciousness and action needed to preserve our sacred earth. To realize this vision, our mission is to bring people of faith together tohelp to curb global climate change by educating, acting, and speaking up.

What we do and why

Because personal energy usage accounts for one third of our heat-trapping CO₂ emissions, reducing this usage is a quick way that we can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. At the same time, these emissions are greatly affected by public policies. Therefore, Earth Care focuses on:

Educating our communities and the public about personal actions that will cut CO₂ emissions,

Reducing the emissions of our faith communities: modeling there the change we seek all over,

Engaging other faith communities in this work, and

Speaking up about key policies that affect CO₂ emissions, as advised by our Council of Experts.

We also co-sponsor others' efforts to do the same, share information and ideas, and support each other in our work to "green" our own communities.

Earth Care Offers "Cut Your Carbon" Workshops

Earth Care, Bloomington's Interfaith Group for the Environment, accepts our urgent moral responsibility to protect all life by curbing wanton climate change. One program we offer is a series of Cut Your Carbon workshops designed to assist individuals and families reduce their carbon contribution to global climate change and reduce high energy bills.

Cut Your Carbon 2009 (PDF 18.50 KB)

Sustainability Events

Learn about upcoming Sustainability Events in the Bloomington area

Sustainability Links

Epicurious is website that will allow viewers to see what fresh food is available by season in any area across the country. To view this site click here.
Follow two Bloomington residents as they work to make their city and the entire country a more sustainable place to live. You can track their journey at their website, http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/.
How "walkable" is your community? Find out what your community scores by visiting the the Walk Score website.
Fair Trade Bloomington is committed to global economic development and poverty relief through education and promotion of products that adhere to fair trade principles.
Learn about Recycling Services in Bloomington, including what is recyclable and where drop-off locations are.
The Local Growers Guild promotes practices that preserve the viability of local family farms and protect the Earth.

Join the BCOS Email List!

Want to keep up with all the latest sustainability happenings in Bloomington? Look no further. By joining the BCOS email list, you will recieve periodic messages about sustainability related information and events hosted by ourselves or other community groups.

Send an email from the account you wish to receive the news and notices. Address it to sustainability-join@bloomington.in.gov. The rest of the email and the subject line can be blank.
To unsubscribe, send a message to sustainability-leave@bloomington.in.gov. The email and subject line can be blank.

Members:

Appointee	Appointed by:	Term Expiration Date:

George Hungtinton	The Mayor	1/31/10
Melissa Clark	The Mayor	1/31/10
Cynthia Schultz	The Mayor	1/31/10
Jim Sherman	The Mayor	1/31/10

Dave Rollo, ex officio	Common Council	1/31/10
Paul Schneller	Common Council	1/31/10
Toby Strout	Common Council	1/31/10
Dan Killion	Common Council	1/31/10
Matt Laherty	Common Council	1/31/10

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