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Team Scott celebrates Earth Week!

  • Published
  • By Col. Michael Hornitschek
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Commander
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  With gas prices hovering around the $4 mark implying that fuel use and its environmental impact will likely be dropping accordingly, Team Scott's celebration of Earth Week this year could not have arrived at a more appropriate time. Of course, Earth Week is about the conservation of all resources (not just oil) and the protection of our whole planet, something we all must have thought of as we witnessed the multiple Earth Week events around base or as our kids returned from school with Earth Week activities.
During the last month, Team Scott has taken multiple steps to make our showcase base even greener than it already is - and I'm not just talking about the grass. Whether it was putting in a new bike rack at the Scott Clinic in late March, a tree planting at the Youth Center yesterday, educating the base populace about how to save energy or any of the other Earth Week activities--the 375th Civil Engineer Squadron has been hard at work ensuring this year's Earth Week was second to none.

One of the biggest items accomplished as part of this year's Earth Week is the base's new carpool parking policy which you can read about in this week's paper. The Scott Clinic is the first organization to take advantage of this new program. Carpooling conserves fuel, saves money, and reduces CO-2 emissions and competition for parking spaces in our congested lots. The policy encourages ride-sharing by designating at least one carpool parking spot at each work center with 50 or more employees. This spot will be conveniently located near the work center entrance and designated for anyone with a legitimate carpool of two or more employees. Facility managers, in coordination with their commander, will identify designated parking and coordinate marking those spaces with our 375th Civil Engineer Squadron. Enforcement will be via the honor system, peer observation, and facility managers with a ticket book (if that's what it takes). As the number of base personnel who carpool increases, we will work to increase the number of designated spots to meet demand. If you have any questions about the program, please contact Dan Schloesser of our Civil Engineer Squadron at 256-4279. I sincerely hope you will take advantage of this incentive.

Along with car pooling, I'd like to remind and encourage each of you to take advantage of other Earth-friendly transportation options such as RideFinders and MetroLink whenever you can. More information about each of these programs is also available in this week's paper as well.

Tomorrow we'll also host the first base-wide hazardous waste and materials collection day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Items can be turned in to the 90-day Consolidated Accumulation Storage Site at Bldg. 3306. (please check to see if this turn-in also applies to base residents)

Of course our efforts to help our planet don't stop here. Each month, I host the Scott Energy Conversation--an open forum to which all are invited to attend --where we discuss energy topics including how we can improve at Scott, where we feel energy conservation as a whole is going, and new technology that could help us as a society use less energy and decrease our carbon footprint (watch the Scott-All bulletin for scheduled dates, times, and locations). Additionally, we work to raise awareness of our energy consumption through cost stickers on energy-consuming items around base, like computer monitors and light switches to remind users of the energy and money we save if those items are turned off when not in use.

As we move forward from Earth Week, I ask that each of you take a look at your day-to-day work and personal activities to find where you can reduce your resource consumption and environmental impact. Do you leave lights on or let the TV serve as background noise when you're not in the room? Maybe you go for long drives to unwind from a long day or improperly dispose of household items like paint and cleaning agents. Do you litter, or do you volunteer for organized street clean-up crews? Do you waste water or do you save it? Whatever Earth-conscious habits you find in your lives, see if you can find ways to promote them; the Earth, future generations of Americans and Airmen, and your wallet will thank you.