Environmental Sustainability Board hosts ICLEI communications workshop, sets Earth Day outreach and working groups

The Los Alamos Environmental Sustainability Board on Feb. 20 hosted a communications workshop led by ICLEI USA and moved to organize outreach and working groups, including a plastic-bag fee working group and a green-building standards group, while also planning Earth Day outreach and a community food-waste campaign.

The workshop, presented remotely by Anne Marie Cleary Raucher of ICLEI USA, covered communication goals, audience segmentation and messaging tactics for local climate and sustainability initiatives. Anne Marie told the board, "For really good and effective communications, you need 5 core ingredients" and walked members through audience journeys, messenger choice and sample campaign concepts such as “Ride and Thrive,” a transportation-focused outreach idea. Angelica, the county sustainability staff member who invited ICLEI, framed the session as an interactive planning exercise to help the board develop education and outreach work groups.

The presentation led into a group discussion focused on a proposed food-waste prevention campaign and Earth Day tabling. Board members and community participants urged messaging that emphasizes practical actions and incentives rather than only data. One participant argued the community often asks for the numbers; Anne Marie and board members agreed that some local audiences will want data while others respond better to human-centered storytelling and clear action steps.

Public comment opened the meeting. Greg White of 600 San Ildefonso Road asked the board and council to temper long-term environmental goals with operational realism, telling the board, "When it comes to having 0 natural gas in the county, that's not a realistic goal in real life for several reasons." He said household stoves and small water heaters are candidates for electrification but added larger building heating and large pools are, in his view, less practical to convert purely to electric with today’s infrastructure.

On board business the board approved the evening’s agenda and the Jan. 16 meeting minutes by voice/hand vote. The meeting then focused on standing up working groups and steering committees: the board created a working group to study a proposed plastic bag fee (members who volunteered: Herman Gephardt Kleinrath, Rebecca Paley Williams and Shannon [last name not on the meeting roster]); a green-building standards working group was proposed (Jesse Derringer and Joe Chandler expressed interest); and a steering role for education-and-outreach marketing tied to the County’s Climate Action Plan will include Joe Chandler as a board representative to help evaluate a forthcoming consultant scope and selection process.

The board also sketched Earth Day outreach: members favored a bright, place-based booth design and reusable promotional items (one suggested item: a lens-cleaning cloth printed with local landscape imagery and short actions). Members supported an interactive booth activity to engage visitors — for example, a hands-on “challenge” in which participants commit to discrete actions (food-waste reduction, transit use, carpooling, etc.). Angelica said the county would move quickly to finalize graphics and giveaways because printing and coordination must be completed before the next meeting.

Staff and liaison updates included a planning note that the county will replace failing public EV chargers in the municipal lot with newer, ADA-compatible level-2 chargers and that a consultant-led fleet-conversion and community EV-charging plan is underway. Angelica reported a January diversion rate of 21 percent and reminded the board of available state rebates and federal tax-credit programs for electrification and efficiency upgrades. Councilor Rin Herman, the board’s council liaison, told the board the county is tracking state legislation and noted resident requests to bring forward yard-trimmings pickup earlier because of dry winter conditions.

Board members and staff left the meeting with follow-up tasks: sustainability staff will circulate ICLEI materials (the communications toolkit and a youth-climate-council guide), finalize Earth Day booth design and giveaways, and coordinate meeting times for the newly formed working groups. A food-composting program remains a longer-term county project; board members emphasized that prevention and education are the higher-priority near-term outreach steps.

The meeting adjourned after updates and assignments.