City of Long Beach to Debut New 'Green' Efforts During Earth Week

LONG BEACH, CA – To celebrate Earth Week 2009, City of Long Beach events this week include the unveiling a new city LNG fueling site, proposal of a new Green Building Ordinance for City Council approval, announcement of a new Marina Recycling Program, and introduction of Operation Mulch-A-Lot, a program that turns tree-trimming waste into mulch for vacant city lots.

In addition, each member of the City Council will be giving away free compact fluorescent bulbs, which use up to 75-percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs.

These events, featured in the "Celebrate Our World" Earth Week 2009 calendar, are a collection of City and community events designed to raise awareness about the environment and steps to become better environmental stewards.

"Long Beach uses a combination of innovative solutions and simple, yet effective, steps to eliminate waste as we move towards our goal to become a sustainable city," said Mayor Bob Foster. "Our City has already been recognized with many environmental awards, and we continue look for more opportunities to develop and implement more green programs."

In April 2008, Long Beach introduced a new Office of Sustainability to facilitate the process of developing and implementing model sustainability programs for the City of Long Beach.  This office, which reports to the city manager, is responsible for coordinating and implementing sustainability initiatives and has primary responsibility within the City for setting the "green" agenda and working with city departments to jointly implement green projects and programs.

Long Beach has been awarded the No. 1 Government Green Fleet in North America by the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program. The city's fleet contains several hundred CNG, LNG, propane, electricity and biodiesel vehicles, in addition to a growing number of hybrids. The Biodiesel Pilot Program features 10 beach maintenance vehicles, and the City recently introduced four plug-in Toyota Prius hybrids, which have an additional battery and achieve the equivalent of up to 100 mpg.

For the Earth Week 2009 Calendar of Events, visit www.longbeach.gov.