Southeast Iowa Sierra Club pushes sustainability plan

FAIRFIELD — The Southeast Iowa Sierra Club based in Fairfield has unveiled a plan to make the city a leader in sustainability.

The organization, which covers six counties in Southeast Iowa (Jefferson, Henry, Louisa, Des Moines, Lee and Van Buren counties) recently published its Strategic Conservation & Community Resilience Plan for 2021-2024. The plan outlines the group’s goals in the coming years, such as:

That’s not the only outreach the Sierra Club has planned. In fact, the club is planning to honor “Zero Waste Month” with programs every Saturday in July at the Fairfield Farmers Market in Howard Park. Each week will be a different program.

The Sierra Club will give away door prizes at each of these events, and residents will have an opportunity to enter a drawing for a grand prize at the end of the month.

Sustainability coordinator

The idea for a sustainability coordinator in Fairfield is not new. The city had a sustainability coordinator for about five years, Scott Timm, which it shared with Iowa State University Extension & Outreach. Timm’s salary was funded through a grant, and when the grant money ran out about seven years ago, the position was eliminated.

Anne Walton, president of the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club and a retired marine biologist, said huge progress was made on environmental and sustainability initiatives under Timm. She said at least 12 other towns in Iowa have a full-time sustainability coordinator, and believes the position should be brought back.

“We’re just trying to catch up,” Walton said.

Southeast Iowa Sierra Club board member Margaret Dwyer said a sustainability coordinator is needed because the Sierra Club members are all volunteers and can only dedicate so much of their free time to environmental initiatives.

“We want someone who can keep the focus on sustainability for everything the community does going forward,” Dwyer said.

The city of Fairfield has committed $15,000 toward the sustainability coordinator’s salary, and will reassess that contribution after a year. Maharishi International University has committed $15,000 per year for three years. The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors has not committed any money yet, and thus the Sierra Club plans to make up the funding through donations from businesses and individuals, and grants through Pathfinders RC & D.

Commission

The commission the Sierra Club has planned to assist the sustainability coordinator will be similar to the executive committee formed to implement the city’s Go Green plan, which lasted from 2010-2020.

“We’re calling this commission ‘Go Green 2.0,’” Walton said.

The main difference between this new commission and the Go Green plan is that the Sierra Club wants the new commission to do more. The Go Green plan was mostly about coordinating with Alliant Energy to reduce energy usage and winterize homes.

Dwyer remarked, “We’re looking at something broader, covering water conservation, recycling, reducing what goes to the landfill, and air and water quality.”

Four themes

The club’s strategic plan covers four main themes and goals:

• Mitigate the impacts of climate change and build a more resilient Fairfield community.

• Transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy.

• Restore vitality to wildlands, wild waters and wildlife.

• Transition to zero waste through thoughtful consumption, waste reduction and redirection.

A different club member is in charge of each plank, with Walton in charge of climate resilience, Michael Moore for renewables, Steve Taylor for wildlands and Dwyer for zero waste.

Of all the environmental problems the world faces, Walton said she believes the most critical is climate change. She said its effects can be seen in record-breaking heat waves and droughts, in the loss of biodiversity and in the impacts on human health.

On the plank pertaining to renewables, Dwyer said the club’s goal is to gradually increase reliance on renewable energy in Jefferson County so that by 2050, the county will be using 100 percent renewables. She said renewable energy technology is “changing by the minute,” and the only thing holding it back is figuring out how to efficiently store solar energy in batteries. In fact, she sees that technology advancing so quickly that she thinks the county can reach the 100 percent renewables goal before 2050.

Those who wish to learn more about the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club’s plans can email seiowasierraclub@gmail.com, or visit the club’s website at sierraclub.org/iowa/southeast.