Message from the City Manager

Do you know your carbon footprint? I’ve been seeing a lot on this in the news recently and thought I should look into this topic further and see how I personally contribute to this phenomenon. What I found was a carbon footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, usually measured in tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). In other words: When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2. When you heat your house with oil, gas or coal, then you also generate CO2. Even if you heat your house with electricity, the generation of the electrical power may also have emitted a certain amount of CO2. When you buy food and goods, the production of the food and goods also emitted some quantities of CO2. Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2, which are induced by your activities in a given time.

Now that I know what a carbon footprint is, I still needed to find how my lifestyle creates greenhouse gas emissions, but more importantly, how can I reduce these emissions? The first step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to identify how much your household emits. There are a number of websites that can provide this information; however, I recommend using the Personal Emissions Calculator found on the EPA’s website:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
What is nice about this calculator is that after calculating your household emissions, you can explore options to reduce your carbon footprint. Give it a try…you will be surprised at what you find.

Across the nation, we recently celebrated National Volunteer Week. I want to thank one of our community’s most valuable assets… our many volunteers who offer their time and talents to create a positive and lasting change in our community. The spirit of charity has been a part of our country’s character well before we were an independent nation. Those of you who have volunteered your services understand how you gain by giving. Volunteers give freely of their time and expertise in order to make a difference.

 Why volunteer? Volunteering can help you:

• make important networking contacts

• learn or develop skills

• gain work experience

• build self-esteem and self-confidence

• improve health

• help you meet new people

• feel needed and valued

• make a difference in someone’s life

• express gratitude for help you may have received in the past from an organization

Whether it is important to you to solve a community problem, advance a worthy cause or to develop as a person, volunteering offers many benefits in appreciation for the gift of your time and expertise. Quoting Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we do…but we make a life by what we give.” We are truly grateful for our community’s volunteers and their countless acts of giving and kindness.

Many of you have heard me convey the great work that the staff do for the citizens of Mill Creek. Recently, one of our staff received national recognition for his lifetime achievements. Our Community Development Director, Bill Trimm has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). This is one of the highest honors conferred upon planning practitioners in the country. It recognizes the Fellow as a model planner who has achieved professional excellence and significantly contributed to planning and society. Bill was inducted into the College of Fellows at the AICP national conference in April… Congratulations Bill!