Check out Car2Go the next time you're in Austin

Erin Lyons is True Blue Leader at SaatchiNY. She was also one of our SXSW contingent a few weeks back. Below are some of her thoughts on how well Austin is integrating True Blue into city planning and day-to-day life. For more info on Erin you can follow her on twitter (@esavestheworld) read her on Tumblr or connect with her on LinkedIn.

EMPHASIS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
I was sent down to Austin to explore and strategize opportunities in the SXSW film, interactive and music festival, but my lenses are always keenly trained on opportunities that a city, company or individual can implement to become more conscious of their impact on their environment and society. From composting and the Zero Waste Plan to the LEED Gold certified Austin City Hall to Car2Go to the Greenbelt, Austin’s commitment to innovating sustainable and eco-friendly principles in building, infrastructure and city culture is apparent.

Austin began promoting environmental principles in the early 1990s and has a variety of functional programs in place to make living True Blue simple and economical – two traits vital to ensuring a continued commitment to sustainable principles in both corporations and individuals.  (If sustainability doesn’t make simple, smart business sense, it won’t stick. End of story.)

Now, twenty-plus years later the city has recommitted to its principles by expanding the scope and budgets of their public commitments and are providing valuable incentives to homeowners and businesses who are interested in moving towards “zero-waste” operations.  (Incentives – also key in the continual and successful engagement of communities. – i.e. WIIFM: what’s in it for me?)

TRUE BLUE MOMENTS
My first – let’s call them Blue Moments – came at brunch at the lovely La Boite Café (pictured on the front page), which takes “reuse and recycle” to the next level by operating out of a refurbished boxcar (their organic almond croissants are to die for, but I digress).  Having the option at the end of my meal to trash, recycle or COMPOST left me feeling all warm and fuzzy – and not only from the delicious coffee.  When you realize that everything in your hands could be composted, and thusly biodegrade within just a handful of months into useable organic matter . . . it makes it a whole lot easier to sleep at night.

My second Blue Moment came during an amble along Lady Bird Lake, which divides downtown from the beautiful neighborhoods of south Austin.  There I encountered City Hall and learned about its LEED Gold status.  This is a top-notch environmental rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, and is also the rating we at 375 Hudson recently attained through the fantastic efforts of our property manager Tishman Speyer.  When Austin’s City Hall was built in July 2006, developers aimed for a LEED Silver certification, and did so well at incorporating “local and recycled materials, native plants and trees, efficient water and energy appliances, and water efficient landscaping” that they exceeded their initial goals and obtained Gold status.

ECO-NOMICAL
Scattered throughout the city you’ll find tons of adorable Car2Go’s – small, low-emission, fuel-efficient vehicles that are part of a car-sharing program being tested in the city.  For a $35 registration fee you have dozens of eco-friendly cars at your disposal for $0.35 per minute, day or night.  This little car packed a big Blue Moment after seeing them literally EVERYWHERE and realizing the big impact they had in enabling Austin-residents to be mobile without having to own a vehicle.

And to end, I loved the amount of green areas integrated throughout the city of Austin. The Barton Creek Greenbelt winds its way through the city and offers residents everything from hiking to rock-climbing to freshwater swimming holes.  While walking through major downtown areas, one stumbles upon small creeks and parks well in use by residents and vital to the integration of an eco-minded culture, even in the midst of a large urban center.

Austin has shown an amazing commitment to the principles that embodies True Blue.  The city-wide focus on zero-waste and providing smart sustainable solutions to its residents allows for a culture that remains mindful of the needs of people and of its environmental impact, even in the midst of a major festival.