Green Omaha Coalition 2008 Year-in-Review

The GOC had a very busy, successful year in 2008. Click on the links below to learn what each council accomplished in the past year.

Green Neighborhood Council Achievements
1. Green Neighborhood Scorecard. To identify what makes a neighborhood green and create a baseline for measuring sustainability progress.
-Developed and distributed the first Green Neighborhood Scorecard in Douglas County
-12 Neighborhood Associations or Sewer Improvement Districts (SIDs) applied
-Glenbrook Neighborhood (SID) was the 2008 Green Neighborhood winner.

2. Monthly Green Living Workshops.
-Hosted 10 Green Living Workshops, reaching over 400 people.
-Topics covered: Rain Barrels & Rain Gardens (46 present) - January ; Green Cleaning (45 present) – February; Green Lawn Care (35 present) – March; Green Your Trash (25 present) – April; Getting Around Green in the Big ‘O’ (30 present) – May; Growing Up Green (70 present) – June; Green Your Eating (35 present) – July; Recycling (40 present) – August; Composting (70 present) – October; Permaculture (70 present) – November

3. Media Outreach. Establish a monthly Green Homes column for print materials, i.e. neighborhood newsletters, local daily and weekly newspapers.
-Established a monthly Green Home article written by various local experts.
-Printed in over 15 Neighborhood and organizational newsletters reaching over 10,000 residents throughout Metro Omaha.

4. Green Home Tour. Highlighting sustainable homes in area neighborhoods and demonstrating practical, low-cost, DIY projects to make your home and lifestyle greener.
-2008 Green Homes Tour was a huge success on September 6, 2008
-40 volunteers; 10 planning team members
-261 paid participants
-Over 15 sponsors and event supporters
-Media coverage by 8 print and TV news outlets

5. Home Energy Education and Outreach. Develop a neighborhood education and outreach program using existing materials.

6. Neighborhood Recycling Study and Outreach. Develop a process to identify current recycling capture rates and develop an outreach program to increase recycling rates in neighborhoods.
To date through the Mini-Recycling Center Project, five containers have been placed strategically in the downtown and midtown neighborhoods. The plan is to establish 50 drop-off centers. Sites will include strip malls, shopping centers, schools, churches and others with maximum public access.

7. Food Choices Committee - Local Food Education and Outreach. Encourage the production, preparation and purchase of local food through hands-on workshops, education and networking events.
-Farm-2-School committee – researching and working on ways to get local, healthy food into schools. Partnering with Activate Omaha Kids to make contact with School Wellness programs.
-Community Garden Workshop committee – developing a Community Garden Panel – “From Here to Community Garden” - to help residents and businesses learn about the concept of and start community gardens in their communities. Scheduled for January 24, 2009.
-Developed a draft resource for local foods – everything from farmers markets and community gardens to local farms. The goal is to develop a Local Foods Resource Booklet.