Dependence on fossil fuel energy sources is a continued threat to the long-term sustainability of our community. While most people know that wind, geothermal, and solar energy are fast growing industries in California, few have the knowledge or background in these areas to make a career in alternative energy. In fact, with a stagnant economy and high unemployment, renewable and alternative energy careers (so called “green tech” jobs) are one of the few areas of job growth in the country.

Most county residents assume that to use your local library, you need to get in your car (or bike or bus) and head to your local branch. And while your local library is still a fantastic resource for hands on learning and research, you can also access a lot of the same information right from the comfort of your home.

Based on semiconductor technology, LED’s have many advantages over traditional light sources including the widely used incandescent bulb and the newer (and energy efficient) compact fluorescent light.  LED’s use less energy, last longer, are smaller, and can be changed more quickly.  They do not contain mercury.  Their disadvantage, as with many new technologies such as solar energy, is greater up-front cost for the user.

How do the decisions made by grocers impact the overall sustainability of your food choices? What can we do to increase the sustainability of our day-to-day grocery shopping?

Aged or obsolete electronics should not be thrown away along with your normal garbage. Most electronics contain hazardous substances such as mercury or other heavy metals like lead or arsenic. These compounds, if introduced to municipal waste streams, can cause contamination of groundwater and soils. For more information on the hazards of electronic equipment, go to the EPA’s website.

By replacing conventional lawns and gardens and cutting back on the use of exotic water-intensive decorative plants, native landscaping reduces water use and weekly maintenance (usually done with gas-powered, polluting equipment and noisy leaf blowers), cuts the use of synthetic fertilizers, and reinforces the natural beauty of the native California landscape.

On bicycle boulevards such as the one in Palo Alto along Bryant Street, the use of traffic calming devices like chokers and diverters eliminates most auto traffic while permitting bicycle and pedestrian through traffic. The result is significantly reduced auto traffic and much higher bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

Bottom Line: Experts from all branches of science meet monthly to discuss a wide variety of topics with interested community members at SRI International in Menlo Park.

When Roger Whiting and Nancy Peterson founded Café Scientifique Silicon Valley in 2004, science cafés were nearly unheard of in the U.S. For its first event, Café Scientifique invited Stanford physicist and Nobel Laureate Doug Osheroff to discuss "The Columbia Accident Investigation and the Future of Human Space Flight.”

Bottom Line: The City of San Mateo and Shelter Network team up to renovate a city-owned single occupancy hotel to help get chronically homeless people off the street.

In 2007, the City of San Mateo and Shelter Network, launched a new program to help meet the needs of the chronically homeless population in the city (those who typically do not benefit from traditional shelter services due to multiple barriers including mental health or addiction). The centerpiece of the program is the newly rehabilitated Vendome Hotel. This single-occupancy hotel, owned by the City of San Mateo, was renovated with the help of local community members and businesses, and is now operated by the Shelter Network.

Bottom Line: City governments make it easy for residents and businesses to stop the flow of junk mail to our mailboxes.

Junk Mail is a big problem. We all get it, and 9 times out of 10, that piece of junk mail goes right to the recycle bin. Every year about 42 billion pieces of unsolicited mail are sent to unwilling recipients in the US. This plethora of unwanted mail has immense costs. It robs our forests of over 100 million trees every year. Then it costs us $320 million annually nationwide to dispose of it all. According to San Francisco Department of the Environment’s calculations, it costs each American about 234 minutes a year to sort through the junk.