30 Oct, 2009
Sebastopol, California’s Nuclear Free Zone is Ecology Minded
Posted by: Beach Reporter In: beaches| california
Sebastopol, California advertises (as you enter the city) that it is a Nuclear Free Zone. Of course it is also the proud home to the Analy Tigers.
While many of us live near nuclear power plants in major cities along the California coast from San Onofre in San Diego to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, it’s a real eye-catcher to drive into city and read a welcoming sign that announces that the place is nuclear free.
Not only did Sebastopol in Sonoma County, California, approx. 52 miles north of San Francisco and 20 minutes from the scenic Sonoma coast, declare in 1986, that it “Nuclear Free Zone”, but the city also does not use pesticides in city landscaping, and bought a hybrid vehicle instead of a standard police car for law enforcement.
So extensive are the efforts to be green, the city and its residents have spent more time an effort to use conservation methods, than we can find in any other city or place in California. A few items include:
- A new skate park that was constructed to include a community garden
- Community seed bank where citizens can exchange seeds and plants free of pesticides and GMO-free
- Mandatory Green Building Program for commercial and new home construction
- Energy Independence Program
- County Land Conservation Program
- Adopt a Landscape Program
While this is a small sampling of the eco-movement going on in Sebastopol, it’s worthy of your attention and you plot your course to begin using resources more efficiently. It saves money, reduces pollution and creates a healthier lifestyle for all of us as we strive to eat better and live better. Read more about Sebastopol’s efforts.