LIMA, OH (WLIO) - An event looked to spark ideas on how to improve sustainability in our local area.
The Sustainability Summit was presented by the West Central Association of Realtors thanks to a National Association of Realtors Sustainability Grant. The main topics at the summit were the need for housing and how to keep up with sustainability efforts.
The City of Lima knows that housing will continue to become more and more important as the years go by, as a recent study in the United States show that numbers for needed housing units are in the millions.
"We had a study that projected that we need 1,200 additional units by 2030," said Sharetta Smith, Mayor of Lima. "So there are lots of conversations happening across the world about what kind of new products can be used to build houses both to help with production and cost, but also how can we get to net zero."
Sustainability projects are also underway in the city. Light bulbs in street lamps and more are being switched to LEDs, and tree-planting programs are also at the forefront of beautification efforts.
A project would also see the addition of solar panels installed at twin lakes by the city's water treatment plant.
"This would help us meet our goal to reduce our carbon footprint but also eventually allow us to power our water treatment plant from solar," said Smith.
The summit also hopes to promote idea sharing and more to further improve the local area.
"We can start right here small in your home and in your community, with things like rain barrels and growing flowers in just beautifying, and that will lead to other things as well," said Jaylene Smith, West Central Association of Realtors President.
Realtors as well as city officials connected with one another to further see how they can implement changes for the better in our area.
"It’s just very important to know that as one single person, we can do something," said Jaylene Smith. "And as our board of realtors, we want to take that and grow with that and just help our community as much as we can."
