Santa Monica: In just five years, one award has grown to define what it means for a community to become the best it can be… and what's the award? $20,000 worth of trees of course.
This year's winners of the Siemens Sustainable Community Award are Chicago, Santa Monica and Purcellville, Virginia. Each community was recognized for its effort to help improve their society and environment.
“One of our great initiatives is to create an opportunity for people to use mobility systems other than automobiles to get around. That obviously reduces our carbon footprint. But, it also has the side effect of making our citizenry more healthy. Because they are walking or biking to work instead of driving in their own car,” Santa Monica's Mayor Pro Tempore, Gleam Davis.
Siemens' Alison Taylor says these communities are winners because they take a comprehensive approach to sustainability as a lever to overall success.
“We love to get best practices and stories out there, so that communities can tell each other what they've been doing and get great ideas. Because that way, they can go back home, and everybody can start doing even more in their community,” Taylor added.