Burbank Driving Ahead of The Pack on Road to Future: City’s Sustainability Strategy a Model for Other Municipalities. SFV Business Journal: June 8, 2009 by Eric Billingsley“Going green” isn’t a new concept in the city of Burbank. The city began automated curbside recycling in the early 1990s, has powered municipal vehicles with alternative fuels for nearly a decade, and is a pioneer in generating electricity from its landfill.
But government officials and businesses in the Media Capital of the World, population approx. 105,000 and home to production facilities for Warner Bros. Entertainment, NBC, and Disney, want to take environmental sustainability to the next level.
“The need for sustainability isn’t something that’s going away tomorrow,” said Burbank’s mayor, Gary Bric. “It’s about looking towards the future.”
In January 2008, the city council adopted the Burbank Sustainability Action Plan to boost environmental sustainability in areas such as energy, waste, water usage, urban design, parks/open space, transportation, and city business practices.
The plan is based on the United Nations Urban Environmental Accords, a list of action items that can be adopted at the local level to achieve urban sustainability, promote healthy economies, advance social equity and protect the world’s ecosystem.
The city also recently formed a sustainability task force, a 15-member group of businesses, non-profits and residents that will advise the city council on green issues and help educate the public.
“As long as I can remember Burbank has been committed to environmental sustainability, but adopting the action plan has made the efforts more formal and focused,” said Burbank council member Dave Golonski. “We still have a long way to go though.”
The city has an exhaustive list of environmental goals. But it’s already starting to see some results.
Burbank recently surpassed the milestone of generating more than 3 gigawatt hours of electricity from local solar energy, enough to power 6,000 homes for a month. It’s recognized as one of the top ten municipalities in the nation for solar power.
City-owned Burbank Water and Power (BWP) has supported 36 solar energy projects in the area, including installations on carports, residential and commercial rooftops, city pool facilities, movie studio stages, Jay Leno’s green garage, and a new airport hangar.
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