How can we make your home or neighborhood greener and healthier?
Welcome to SF Environment’s sustainability discussion forum – the Community InSight Project!
Getting Started: Type your idea in the search engine. Your idea will pop up if someone else has already entered it in. If so, you can simply cast your vote for it. If it hasn’t been submitted, enter your idea and vote.
Your Votes: When you submit an idea and sign up to participate in our online forum, you will be given 10 votes to use.
NOTE: This is a forum for public discussion on sustainability and the environment in San Francisco. The ideas and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of the Environment or the City and County of San Francisco. All ideas will be vetted for viability by local experts in early 2012.
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Designers should develop smaller sized napkins that have perforations in the folds so you can take only what you need, saving the rest.
Designers should develop new format of napkin with elegant designs, with perforations in the folds so you can take only what you need, saving the rest for future use. Also, materials could be partially non-forest product-based. Ecor is might be an example.
1 vote -
Contest to promote green anti-consumerism
Let's make it fun. How about a contest - judged with the help of auditors from the Dept. of Environment or elsewhere - to find the "greenest" home: Not just in terms of the products purchased, but also the products NOT purchased and lifestyle factors. The winners would receive beautiful pieces of recycled art. What do you think?
4 votes -
Promote volunteer urban agriculture efforts and transform the landscape!
We can make San Francisco bloom. There are a lot of people out there who would like to grow gardens but - for lack of time, skill, or physical ability - are unable to. There are also a lot of very committed, talented and energetic people who would like to help. Can SF Environment play a role in matching them up?
2 votes -
The City should have hazardous waste reduction goals
Our zero waste goal has been highly effective at focusing the community on reuse, recycling and composting (although we still have a long way to go! Don't stop!). But toxics are always a more challenging subject. Yes, yes, they are part of the 'zero waste' ethic, but we need some metrics to see if we're really making progress on this important subject. How about a separate set of goals relating to hazardous waste reduction?
2 votes -
Make it simpler to buy safer products - or to buy reused ones
We want to do the right thing, and we understand that 'voting with our dollars' can be a powerful force in moving manufacturers toward environmentally friendly products. BUT we don't have time to do a research project on everything we buy. SFApproved.org is a great start, but there must be more that we can do. And we can't forget the option of buying less in the first place!
3 votes -
2 votes
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refilling
soaps and cleaning products refill http://www.shopgreen11.com/
4 votes -
make everyone buy a permit when they buy Propane so the city will have more revenue so they wont need to cut education anymore
I think the city should make everyone buy a $25.00 permit when they buy propane by doing this it would give the city more revenue so they would not have to make as big budget cuts to other important things like education,medical, public safety as an example
9 votes -
ban using gas power tools outher than vehicles on spare the air day's
ban using gas power tools other than vehicles on spare the air day's
5 votes -
Educate everyone about what they can do with materials that can't be recycled or composted (Building Resources, SCRAP, Goodwill)
SF Environment funds so many great projects that help San Francisco reuse materials that can't be recycled or composted. We should do a better job in teaching about reuse and about all these different places that people can donate to.
2 votes -
Windmills using wind energy to deliver water to GGP
Since water will be a hot topic in the near future, return the windmills of GGP to their original function of pumping water to water the park to free up valuable drinking water.
25 votes -
make environmental science a high school graduation requirement
I think the city should make the San Francisco Unified School District make environmental science a high school graduation requirement to educate our youth on environmental concerns and ways to be more green
58 votes -
replace all city vehicles with California fuel cell
Honda FCX Clarity
This newest generation features an advanced Honda "V-Flow" fuel cell stack that is 30% lighter, 20% smaller, offers 100kw output, and a power/density improvement of 50%. Driving range has been increased 9% from 210 to 240 miles, using 5,000 psi gaseous hydrogen. With sub-freezing startup temperatures as low as -22F, it is a practical vehicle for a wide range of real-world applications. Honda continues research on hydrogen refueling solutions right-sized for individual vehicle at-home refueling.
Visit fcx.honda.com for more information.
Year: 2009
PSI: 5,000
Kilograms: 3.9 kg
Range in Miles: 240 miles
Max Power: 100kW
Max Torque:…
4 votes -
environmental tax initiative
Dear, city of San Francisco
I believe the city of San Francisco California should tax all motor parts, all motor oils and fluids and all motor grease and lubricants bought and sold in San Francisco city limits. It would pay for the environmental effects from all motor vehicles it would pay for the city to plant more trees to clean the air it would pay for the city to clean the storm drains from motor oil pollution or any pollution and to clean the oceans,river,lakes and beaches by adding this tax it would just be extra money to pay for…
55 votes -
Reduce use of tape/plastics, join Save the Bay efforts
Have City departments reduce use of plastics as much as possible, including using stick glue instead of tape whenever feasible
4 votes -
1 vote
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Reduce disposables in restaurant take-out and delivery orders
Currently, it's up to a customer to request that a food vendor not include disposable utensils, napkins, and condiments when ordering for delivery or take-out. I've noticed that I remember this about half the time, and my spouse never remembers it. I would estimate, though I haven't done any research on this -- that delivery/take-out food sales are not an insignificant landfill stream. I suggest the city explore a program or an ordinance (or a combination, so that there is buy-in and many restaurant owners are already in compliance by the time the ordinance is passed) that shifts how restaurants…
2 votes -
Prevent local newspapers from adding plastic covers
Some newspapers distributed in SF have plastic covers. This practice is extremely wasteful.
14 votes -
Let people have horses in the city for transportation.
Let residents of San Francisco have horses for transportation.
4 votes -
soil remediation/phytoremediation
Rather than trucking in new dirt and bringing 'old dirt' to land fills, illustrate conscious progressive choice by prioritizing the transformation of the existing soil via phytoremediation. A healthy SF begins with healthy soil! To have the city commit to making all the soil in SF healthy and beneficially contributing to the broader/connected ecosystems. First, do soil testing to determine level/types of toxins and the nutrient composition, then make decisions about what to plant. It is all connected and for our health and well being and those of all future generations to restore and rejuvenate the soil/air/water (which the process…
9 votes
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