OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) Sedona Community Forum (formerly Lunch and Learn) will host McKenzie Jones, Sedona Sustainability Coordinator
Sedona AZ (October 3, 2019) – Can you picture what Sedona will look like 50 years from now? That is hard to imagine, especially if you consider how much has changed over the past 50 years. But it is the job of McKenzie Jones, the City of Sedona’s new Sustainability Coordinator to envision and enhance our community far into the future.
Everything we do today has possible long-range consequences on aspects of our environment, such as clean air and water, road safety, and the flora and fauna that surround us. She tries to identify how current choices might detract from the lives of future generations and how we can best sustain our local quality of life.
Wonder how she does it? Find out when McKenzie Jones will be the guest of honor at the OLLI’s Sedona Community Forum on Wednesday, October 16, from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., in room 34 of Yavapai College’s Sedona Center (on Cultural Park Place, across Rt. 89A from Red Rock High School).
Since she is Sedona’s first Sustainability Coordinator, she is creating a new path in her efforts to review city practices and ensure that we are being wise and efficient with our limited natural and financial resources.
She has spent much of the past six months developing a municipal sustainability plan, which will determine where we are regarding sustainability issues and serve as a road map guiding us to where we want to go and how we will get there.
To do so, she has assessed the city’s water and energy usage, waste management, resiliency, and employee health and safety. For example, she is collecting data on how much energy City Hall used last year; how many gallons of fuel it takes to power its fleet of vehicles; and how many recyclables they divert from the landfill.
She uses this kind of information to establish goals for the city related to resources like water, energy, and waste, as well as plans for achieving those goals, such as retrofitting city facilities with efficient lighting, plumbing and HVAC systems, improving recycling signage and education at city facilities, assuring that the city uses the most efficient and effective vehicles to accomplish its tasks, increasing water bottle refill stations in public spaces, and improving how we respond to extreme weather and natural disasters such as wildfires and flooding.
Bring your lunch or purchase your lunch at the Sedona Café and join us at 12:30 p.m. to meet McKenzie Jones and to learn more about Sedona’s Sustainability programs. Sedona Community Forum is an enjoyable, informative, weekly community event that is free and open to everyone in the community.
OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) offers academic, not-for-credit programs for adults 50 years old or older at program sites at Verde Valley Campus, Sedona Center, and Camp Verde Library. OLLI at Sedona/Verde Valley is a program of the Division of Lifelong Learning at Yavapai College. Fall Term starts October 7 and we are accepting registrations now until October 25. For information about OLLI at Sedona/Verde Valley, contact Linda Shook, Associate Dean Sedona Center and OLLI Director Sedona/Verde Valley, at the OLLI office, 928-649-4275, ollisv@yc.edu or visit the website at www.yc.edu/ollisedonaverde.