May 16, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
Green Scene: Philly's Green Czar
Watch where you put your trash -- someone is watching! CBS 3's Carol Erickson met the man whose mission is to make Philly green.
The people we talked to had no idea they were passing by the city's first-ever director of sustainability.
"Director of sustainability?" one said.
"Some type of sustainability of some, uh ..." said another.
"I have no idea," said a third.
Well, here's a hint about the job, right from the director of sustainability: "Nothing aggravates me more than people who double park in bicycle lanes."
Spoken like a director of sustainability! Meet Dr. Mark Alan Hughes, basically Philadelphia's new green czar, hired to keep government and residents thinking and acting green, and forming partnerships to do it.
One of the things that the sustainability director wants: More trash containers so you don't have to go more than 15 or 20 feet before....
"Excuse me, Carol, I appreciate you not throwing that out on the street, but if you put that in the recycling container right over there, it would be even better," Hughes said.
If the sustainablity director is doing is job right, it will feel like he's following you all over the city.
"I'm happy now, very happy," Hughes said. But he'd be happier with double the shade on city streets! It would lower the cost of energy throughout the city, he said.
And Hughes would be ecstatic if everyone used flourescent bulbs: "They'll save money and we'll all be better off," he said.
As for getting around the city, here's a sight the sustainability director wants more of: People carpooling with a bike rack on the back! Hughes called it the "perfect package."
The green czar ("I'm a fairly polite czar when it comes to czars," Hughes said) welcomes all green ideas, as this former professor exchanges his university hood in favor of another hood -- the soon-to-be greener city of Philadelphia.
RELATED LINKS:
Philadelphia Going Green
