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Climate Action Toolkit

Why We Did It?

After Mayor Bailey signed Chestertown onto the U. S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (USMCPA), it was deemed necessary to hire a person to manage the project. An educational component became a part of the grants that were awarded to the Center for Environment & Society (CES) to pay the coordinator. It was decided to include a basic "tool kit" of items used in the implementation of the Town’s project, and to make it publicly accessible via the web so that other municipalities on the Eastern Shore (and elsewhere) could learn from the Town’s experiences.
According to a recent report, a team led by Tad Pfeffer at the University of Colorado at Boulder published calculations using conservative, medium and extreme glaciological assumptions for sea rise expected from melting of ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, as well as of the world’s smaller glaciers and ice caps, due to global warming. They concluded the most plausible scenario, when factoring in thermal expansion due to warming waters, will lead to a total sea level rise of roughly 100-200cm (3-6 feet) by 2100.
With this report now made public, and many others already produced by recognized scientific organizations, it has become crystal clear that Chestertown, situated as it is on the banks of the Chester River, must help lead the way toward proactive prevention and mitigation of global warming by acting as a model municipality in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

How To Start

Joining a climate action group is not seen as a requirement toward getting started on the path to reducing energy consumption. All it really takes is a committed group of citizens, and some financial resources, to begin the process.
The most important starting point is to understand what your community has the capacity to undertake. A Climate Action Committee was established in Chestertown that meets on a monthly basis to devise ways to make the town greener. Using guidelines set by the USMCPA (read more), the committee has set a Climate Action Plan for the town, and continually revises it as progress is made on certain agenda items. The committee found that it could prioritize items and establish some goals that fit the community of Chestertown (and its surrounds) that might not be as suitable for more urban, or even suburban, ones. For instance, being a rural community, establishing a public transit system is not very likely. However, the town has succeeded in obtaining grant funds to build a rail-trail system, which will encourage more bicycle use as well as an increase in tourism.
One of the more interesting discoveries was that by taking an inventory of the town’s greenhouse gas emissions, the committee was able to focus in on actual figures related to energy use and waste management. It is not unusual for a small municipality like Chestertown to not have the resources to inspect their expenses at the level of detail that is required for this project. But once the project coordinator was on board, the "low-hanging fruit" (expenses that can be easily cut back with a little bit of energy management) was quickly discovered, and work on those items began almost immediately. For instance, it was learned that the town was spending more than $70,000 per year in fees for dumping its trash at the landfill, and more than $90,000 to have it hauled there. So, the county’s recycling efforts were ramped up in order to reduce the solid waste costs. A Chestertown Goes Green recycling newsletter was printed, and mailed to all residents of the town. In it, residents were given suggestions on how to be more involved in the Kent County recycling program. Also, Mayor Bailey offers "green tips of the week" during her weekly radio show. The Kent County News offers "green tips" in some of its weekly editions. "Chestertown Goes Green" banners were produced and are hung at town events. The town has purchased several additional recycling containers for sidewalk use. The town has partnered with the local Rotary Club and distributes green shopping totes at the Saturday morning farmers market on the town square. And recently, the Town was awarded a coveted Green Award by the Maryland Municipal League for towns with 3,000 to 10,000 population.
Enclosed in the Climate Action Toolkit are items listed above, most of them presented in pdf format for viewing only. If you would like to have a particular item in its native format so you do not have to "reinvent the wheel," as it were, please contact Briggs Cunningham at bcunningham3@washcoll.edu, or 410.810.7174.

Download items from the toolkit here.