Mayor Debbie Bertlin proclaimed April 22 as Earth Day at the April 3 Mercer Island City Council meeting, and invited all residents to celebrate by attending the city’s annual Leap for Green Sustainability Fair on April 14 at the Community and Event Center.
The proclamation recognizes that the city of Mercer Island takes sustainability seriously, and strives to address environmental considerations in all municipal decisions, according to a press release.
Mercer Island is also committed to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction targets of 80 percent below current levels (i.e. 2007) by 2050, in alignment with King County targets, and works closely with King County climate staff, the King County Executive and many other regional cities to achieve this goal as part of the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C). The city’s Sustainability Manager Ross Freeman is currently in the process of drafting a comprehensive, 6-year Sustainability Plan and Climate Action Plan, in consultation with an informal advisory group of engaged residents, known as “Sustainable-MI.”
The Mercer Island Leap for Green Fair began in 2008, celebrating Earth Day by promoting environmental practices and activities for kids and adults and raising general awareness of local sustainability resources. Every year, the fair includes children’s activities such as arts and crafts, educational exhibits, live music, nature-based programs, food trucks, vendor booths, giveaways and more. This year’s event will occur rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 14 at the Community and Event Center; attendance generally tops about 1,500. See www.mercergov.org/GreenFair for more.
The 2018 fair theme is “On The Move” – helping residents learn more about traveling around the Island and the region more sustainably. Many of the exhibitors will focus on providing alternative transportation information (King County Metro), rail construction updates (Sound Transit), offering electric bike demos (LimeBike), displaying the City’s alternative-fuel vehicles, and promoting the city’s new rideshare pilot program (Lyft and Uber).
Bertlin presented the proclamation to an array of local sustainability supporters, including Elizabeth Hardisty, who retired from a long nursing career in 2006 after viewing the documentary movie “An Inconvenient Truth” and joined the Climate Reality Project led by former Vice President Al Gore. She used her subsequent training to deliver educational presentations dozens of times around the Island, and has helped form or staff several local environmental groups.
Also receiving the proclamation was Yve Sharples, a junior at Mercer Island High School and a devoted environmentalist and global citizen. She home-schooled herself during seventh grade as her family traveled through 12 countries for the year; as a sophomore, she attended The Green School in Bali, Indonesia. Today she participates in classes at both MIHS and Bellevue College through the Running Start program and is a member of Sustainability Ambassadors. Representatives of the group “MI Ready for 100” also spoke about their current work advocating for a transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources.
Read the full Proclamation online.
