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Additional Areas of Concern <br />During the course of our work we discovered some areas of concern that fell outside our scope. <br />Nonetheless we feel it is important to call attention to these areas and urge Roseville to address <br />them. <br />Establish a permanent advisory commission to address environmental issues. There has <br />been tremendous change in solid waste, recycling and other environmentally related issues in the <br />past decade. Serendipitous timing has allowed this committee to hear presentations on two <br />groundbreaking studies (on single- stream collection in Brooklyn Park and on methods of collec- <br />tion and their impact on behavior in St. Paul) as well as Ramsey County's investigation of public <br />collection. If a committee had not been formed, Roseville residents may have missed out on <br />opportunities to be aware of and respond to opportunities that would ensure they receive the best <br />and most cost - efficient recycling and garbage service. Additionally there are other areas just <br />beginning to be addressed such as organics collection and electronics collection. We feel that in <br />order for the City to be fully involved in discussions of such major issues a permanent committee <br />must be established. <br />Urge the City of Roseville to become a role model in sustainable business practices. <br />We applaud the City's forward thinking practices such as the use of organic fertilizer at parks and <br />the golf course and use of the rock screen that filters debris out of rock collected during street <br />sweeping so the rock can be reused. We feel the City should investigate more practices that can <br />lead to environmentally friendly policies. Some examples: more use of recycled products, <br />composting of lunchroom wastes, more efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. To sustain this <br />suggestion we urge the City Council to make it a policy that the City of Roseville use environ- <br />mentally preferred practices. We also feel the City should do more to share with other cities the <br />benefits of our systems. <br />Urge the City of Roseville to use green building practices as dermed by the MOEA when <br />building new and expanding existing facilities. Green building practices will save the City <br />money in the long run through decreased heating and cooling bills, lower water usage and re- <br />duced maintenance. These savings will more than offset the additional time needed for planning <br />and design as well as certain up -front costs that may be higher. We urge the City Council to <br />explicitly state the City will use green building practices when building new and expanding <br />existing facilities. <br />Work with businesses to reduce waste, increase recycling and reduce the toxic/hazardous <br />character of their waste. The amount of garbage and recycling produced by Roseville busi- <br />nesses surpasses the amount produced by residents. The State and County run numerous free <br />programs to help businesses reduce waste, recycle more and reduce the toxic /hazardous character <br />of their waste. By following these practices businesses can save money and help save the envi- <br />ronment. <br />It is fully in keeping with Roseville's stated environmental goals that the City should work with <br />businesses to encourage them use more environmentally friendly business practices. For instance <br />less toxic practices will result in fewer future brownfields that require taxpayer dollars to make <br />attractive to development and reduce potential harm to City parks. <br />70 <br />