Was it the election of Mayor Bob O'Connor, and the launch of his Redd Up neighborhood clean-up program, that tipped Pittsburgh toward sustainable community development during the past decade? Or was it perhaps the founding of the non-profit Construction Junction recycled building materials store in Wilkinsburg?
Or something else entirely?
Sustainable Pittsburgh has announced its first Tipping Points for Sustainability Competition, which invites individuals to pinpoint milestones that moved southwestern Pennsylvania closer to achieving one or more of the 14
sustainable community development essentials the group has identified, from improvements in air quality and education to the expansion of housing choices and the elimination of blight.
Winners will be announced at the organization's annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference, set for October 15. Top prize is an iPad, donated by the Pittsburgh Technology Council.
"Sustainability is considering how your decisions impact people, planet and profits," explains Sustainable Pittsburgh spokesperson Ginette Walker Vinski. It's about meeting the current generation's needs without harming future generations' ability to meet theirs.
Tipping points might come from the establishments of new organizations (such as Construction Junction), new leadership (such as O'Connor's election), new policies, events or even mishaps. Deadline for
submissions is Sept. 24.
Concludes Vinski: "We're going to hold up the tipping points as lessons we can learn in writing the next 10 years of sustainable development in western Pennsylvania."
Author: Marty Levine
Source: Ginette Walker Vinski, Sustainable Pittsburgh
Image courtesy of Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission