While sustainability may not be the foremost concern during a disaster, what about in between disasters? Does sustainability even have a place in the planning and mitigation phases of emergency management? If not, what is the reason? Is it that green measures present an alternative that is cost-prohibitive? Or could it be that sustainability simply has not been placed high on emergency managers’ lists of priorities? In 2008, BioCycle magazine reported increasing efforts and federal incentives to recycle vegetative debris, primarily wood, either by composting it or shipping it to Europe for use as biomass fuel. Others saw a practical use for the debris right here at home. In its December 2009 newsletter, Behind the Hammer, the Mennonite Disaster Service highlighted the ways it reused debris, (or “reclaimed building materials” as it called it) to help reconstruct disaster-ravaged homes. These examples are a great start, but more can be done. What about materials being used during the response phase? How is the emergency management community greening its practices? Moreover, is there a market for sustainable emergency management products that will provide both efficiency and environmental friendliness?
We can count environmentally safe firefighting foam agents, continued development of the solar powered EOC, and the introduction of the cargo bike as an eco-friendly method of transporting supplies during disaster response as just a few small victories in the green movement. Still, we have so much further to go. It’s time to tap into the ingenuity of this new generation of emergency managers. It’s time to re-evaluate traditional response practices and see how they can be refined to satisfy not just the needs of the public, but of the planet as well. Sustainability should not be an afterthought — rather, it should be incorporated as a part of the emergency management community’s best practices. In order for this to occur, we must change the way we think about sustainability. We must view greening as less of a fad and more of a fact of life. It cannot be an afterthought, but rather must be incorporated into the way we think about every phase of emergency management.
It is no accident that this commentary presents more questions than answers. One person, or group of people, will not provide the definitive solution. Rather, it is with dialog and an open exchange of ideas that the emergency management community will bring sustainability to the forefront of our efforts to protect our respective communities, as well as provide eco-friendly assistance to these same communities in times of a crisis.
Charisma Williams is an emergency management analyst in Crystal City, Va. She is currently completing her M.S. in engineering management at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.