MAYOR HOPES TO INSPIRE PHOENIX KIDS

Have you ever wondered what Phoenix is doing to conserve water, or to reduce food waste? Did you know that Phoenix has more solar on city buildings than any other city in the country? I discovered the answers to those questions when I interviewed Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego.

Have you taken the light rail for a Suns or Diamondbacks game? One of the things Gallego says that she’s most excited about is the city’s mass transit system. She said that they’re trying to connect the whole city and build triple the light rail (42 miles of new light rail stations). She stated that when she was first elected to the City Council, she drank too much coffee and had a very bad seizure at City Hall. In Arizona, when you have a seizure, you lose the ability to drive for several months while your doctor makes sure that you aren’t epileptic and that you can be safe behind the wheel. As a result, she spent a lot of time using the public transit system.

Gallego wants to create programs for Phoenix citizens that impact their lives for the better. She started a program called The Mayor’s Birthday Book Club, and in the month of your birthday you’ll receive a book as well as a note from the mayor. “We hope you get excited about both reading as well as government,” she told me. “…and that the mayor is a real person who cares about kids, and maybe people will be inspired to get more interested in government as well.” This year’s book is “The Magic School Bus Builds the Statue of Liberty.” You can sign up for it on the city’s website.

I asked what sustainability means to her and what challenges we face specifically in Phoenix. Gallego said that she wants to support our natural ecosystems, take on climate change and leave the planet better than we found it. She also cares a lot about programs like recycling, and making sure that we don’t leave a lot of landfills behind. The city is working to make sure that we have greener buses and get off traditional fuels and reduce emissions.

Phoenix also has a cool pavement program, where they put a lighter colored sealant on the city streets, and instead of black asphalt absorbing heat, the cool pavement reflects it. ASU has found that it can be 10 to 12 degrees cooler.

The city has also invested in a big composting project, so if you go to the convention center for an event and you don’t finish all your food, the city can compost it and help our parks become greener. “We also have a center for businesses that have ideas to take things that used to go in the trash, and turn them into new business products,” she said. “We call it ‘circular economy’, because you’re trying to keep products in the economy and not be wasteful.”

Also, for Super Bowl LVII, Phoenix’s waste division achieved net zero. In order to do this they had to make sure that the majority of the waste was either recycled or composted. The products that were composted helped to make parks like Hance Park in downtown Phoenix become greener.

In Phoenix, the buildings and transportation system are big challenges for reducing emissions, so the city is trying to build greener buildings and integrate more solar energy, but also make sure that we use less energy. At Sky Harbor Airport, there are very advanced windows that can shade themselves, and when it gets really hot, keep out some of the heat.

For the NFL Green campaign, many trees were planted at the riverfront, the Phoenix Zoo, and areas in northern Arizona that were impacted by fire. “We had more NFL Green events than any other Super Bowl host community ever,” she told me. “They really made it a priority as part of the event.”

Maricopa county is the fastest-growing county in the country, so I asked her what steps Phoenix is taking to ensure water for future generations. “We are really trying to make sure we use our water responsibly,” she told me. “We are a desert city and we take that very seriously.” Arizona, California, and Nevada reached a tentative agreement where each would cut their water use from the Colorado River by 10%. The majority of the cuts will be from Arizona.

Before she ran for mayor, Gallego worked in the water rights world. “It’s my background, and I think [it] may be one of the reasons people elected me to the job.”

Phoenix is also working on a program to remove grass that’s not needed. The city is also going to start a billion dollar water recycling plant to make sure it is as efficient as possible.

Lastly, I asked her what the best way is to educate Phoenix residents and families about the importance of sustainability. “We really need kids to help us with that,” she said.

I appreciated the time the mayor spent answering my questions and I hope that it will encourage you and your family to help Phoenix become a more sustainable city!

 

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