September: Sarah Palmisano

CITY OF PITTSBURGH
Sustainable City Fellow

Sarah’s work as an SCA Sustainability Fellow in the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency generally falls into four categories: education and outreach, continuing personal education, internal work, and volunteering.

Education and outreach work includes things like hosting or tabling at appropriate events, symposiums, or conferences as a representative of the Mayor’s Office or the SCA. Education and outreach for September: Participated in the City employee wellness fair to educate employees on new recycling plan for the City-County Building and general sustainability initiatives.

Continuing personal education includes attending various conferences, symposiums, workshops, or classes to increase awareness and understanding of a wide variety of sustainability and environmentally-related topics.
Personal education for September: Attended the Rachel Carson Legacy Conference on to learn about consequences and alternatives to Marcellus Shale; attended a networking cruise on the Gateway Clipper.

Internal work describes work being done within the Mayor’s Office to incorporate sustainability into City operations and services.
Internal work for September: I am continuing to conduct interviews and compile information for a series of case studies on the City’s environmental projects. Also, significant progress was made in retrofitting recycling in the City-County Building. Changes include:
• Collection of “mixed paper” (rather than just newspaper) and plastics #1-5, glass, and certain metal products (rather than just soda bottles and cans);
• More recycling bins (including 5 recycling stations);
• Improved signage; and
• Outreach to city employees.
Next steps include monitoring the bins, continuing to work with employees and cleaning staff to ensure higher recycling rates, and retrofitting other city-owned buildings based on this model.