"When I appointed the Clean & Green Task Force, in 2005, I asked them the create a report on how to become a clean, green, more sustainable city. The result of excellent work by the Task Force was these simple guidelines: Save Water, Keep it Clean, Make it Solar, Make it Shady, Clean the Air, Save Fuel, Make it Smart, and Build Green."
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Californians recycled a record 7.6 billion beverage containers between January and June 2008 raising the six-month California Refund Value (CRV) recycling rate to 76 percent. The jump is an increase of nearly 600 million beverage containers over the same period in 2007 when the recycling rate was 72 percent.
– California Department of Conservation

In 2009, Mayor Ron Loveridge gathered together a group of local business leaders and asked them to create an innovative growth strategy for our city. Comprised of members from the Workforce Advisory Panel and the Council of Economic Development Advisors, the group engaged in a planning process aimed at providing residents with an intelligent approach to our city's future.
Spearheaded by Dr. David W. Stewart, faculty at the A. Gary Anderson School of Management at UC Riverside, the group quickly developed a host of solutions to some of the many challenges we face. Their proposal, titled A Vision for Riverside, was completed in 2009 and immediately approved by Riverside's City Council; this laid the groundwork for a comprehensive, city-wide strategy.
Soon after, a steering committee was formed, residents were encouraged to lend their voices, and the mayor's original group of strategists had grown to include leaders from other key segments of our community. Together, they developed Riverside's roadmap to the future, calling it Seizing Our Destiny (SOD).
Consisting of 11 Strategic Routes, SOD helps local leaders take Riverside down the right path and gives us all a glimpse at what's to come.
Strategic Route 5: Being a Green Machine
To help community and SOD committee members meet the goals established for each strategic route, a collection of route-specific "exemplary initiatives" have been created. Strategic Route 5, called Being a Green Machine, endeavors to establish "Riverside as the international magnet and model for sustainable business, environmental innovation and green living with a synergistic partnership of industry, city leadership and residents."
Riverside Public Utilities has become known across the globe for its commitment to and implementation of green initiatives that reduce our city's impact on the environment; this is why we've been called on to aid community and SOD committee members in accomplishing each Route 5 initiative:
Exemplary Initiative 5.1 - Fully implement the Green Riverside Action Plan
Exemplary Initiative 5.2 - Create a "Green Business District"
Exemplary Initiative 5.3 - Implement an action plan for international recruitment of green business
Exemplary Initiative 5.4 - Create a Green Machine inventory and ensure alignment among all Routes