Earth Day event addresses plans for a ‘green’ Maricopa

Maricopa City Council member Carl Diedrich hosted a meeting Friday to get ideas from the public about what they would like to see the city do in order to become more sustainable and eco-friendly.

“The Earth Day Network has created this policy advocacy program called the Global Day of Conversation,” said Diedrich, who got the idea during a trip to the National League of Cities Conference in Washington D.C.

“Any day in April, city leaders, civic leaders, business owners can get together and talk about how they can implement conservation and environmental green technologies into their communities.”

Diedrich decided to hold the event on Earth Day after meeting Christina Cernansky, associate director of advocacy for the Earth Day Network, during his trip.

“In talking to (Cernansky), it sounded like a really interesting idea,” Diedrich said. “Maricopa has such a diverse population with the families that have lived in Maricopa for a long time and the new people that live in the subdivisions.

“I thought it would be nice to put this together, using my contacts, to put together a very casual luncheon where people can start talking about ways Maricopa might be able to improve their green living.”

During the event Diedrich talked about some of the ways that businesses around Maricopa are utilizing green technologies. He pointed out new buildings that will be built with LEED technologies that make them more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

His goal during the meeting was to have people in the community sit down at a table with other members of their community and be able to think about improving the future and sustainability of Maricopa.

Diedrich held the meeting at the Veterans Center, off the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, since it is in the Historic District and has been a large area of redevelopment. He plans to take the ideas that were generated during the luncheon back to the council at the strategic meeting in the fall.

“If it’s the smallest idea that can blossom in the future, that is what I am looking for,” Diedrich said. “If everybody takes a little bit of time today and thinks about what they can do by putting a can in the recycling bin instead of a trash can or walks instead of drives, and, if those things happen, we can be successful.”

Photo by Ash Friedrich