A new and detailed 200-page assessment of the Cranberry Township government’s green practices, prepared by Sustainable Pittsburgh in close cooperation with Township personnel, has outlined an ambitious series of steps that local officials plan on taking to bolster the community’s current assortment of conservation initiatives.

The report, which was prepared by an independent ten-member team representing a variety of technical specialties, was commissioned following the formal adoption of five broad sustainability principles by Cranberry’s governing Board of Supervisors in April. The study project’s charge was to provide specific recommendations, including expected costs and benefits, that could either save money, make money, or increase efficiencies, while enabling the Township to become a better environmental steward.

The team was specifically directed to focus on actions that the Township could take now and continue into the future which would “create a culture of innovation, conserve resources, achieve cost savings, maximize human creativity, and infuse sustainability in municipal policies, programs, and management,” according to the report’s introduction.

“Our primary goal in deciding to undertake this initiative was to continue improving the quality of life for Cranberry’s residents,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Dick Hadley pointed out. “But along the way, we should be able to reduce the cost of providing services, build property values, and enhance our natural environment.”

In preparing their assessment, the study team was given broad access to a variety of municipal facilities, personnel, and data. Their objective was thoroughly review both the ways in which Cranberry is already putting sustainable policies into practice and to find opportunities for it to go even further.

Study recommendations were organized by topic areas – energy, recycling, purchasing, stormwater, hiring, etc. – and then grouped into three tiers, each corresponding to the length of time and level of Township resource commitment which would be required to produce significant results. The study findings, and the Township’s initial responses to them, were formally presented to Cranberry’s Citizen Advisory Panel – a group of 70 residents who have been working with Township staff on revising the community’s long-range plan – at their August 12 meeting.

Steps to implement many of the report’s recommendations are already underway, according to the Township’s Chief Strategic Planning Officer, John Trant, Jr.

For more information, visit the “Greening” page on Cranberry’s planning Web site.