Fairbanks commission calls for more sustainable practices

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A draft proposal outlines plans for the Fairbanks North Star Borough to become more sustainable by boosting food security, reducing energy consumption and minimizing waste.

The borough is taking public comment on the Sustainability Commission’s plan through Wednesday, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported .

The plan includes goals of increasing local food production, promoting the use of solar panels, and diverting 25 per cent of waste from the landfill by 2025. The plan does not detail how the borough will meet those goals.

The commission hosted a summit on sustainability last week, taking input from area residents.

“It’s clear there’s desire in this community to be more conservative with our food, materials and energy,” said Jimmy Fox, a commission member. “There was good, constructive dialogue around ways we can be more self-reliant by growing our own healthy foods, reducing our energy consumption, reusing materials and retrofitting buildings.”

The Sustainability Commission was created in 2017 to replace and broadened the Recycling Commission.

The plan also aims for the borough government to reduce energy consumption and work toward increasing energy efficiency in homes.

“Sustainability, which is often described as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, is a very wide-ranging topic,” said John Davies, a commission member. “As a start, the commission is focusing on waste reduction, and food and energy security. We hope to develop specific and measurable goals to address these concerns.”

The plan is expected to be finalized in January.

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com