#InternationalWomensDay: A Q&A with Deborah Stone, a woman warrior for the environment
What better way to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay than by sharing an interview with a Cook County woman who is dedicated to saving the planet, Deborah Stone. Deborah is Cook County’s Director of the Department of Environment and Sustainability and our first-ever sustainability officer.
I’ll be sharing stories of great Cook County women throughout March for Women’s History month, but wanted today to post this Q&A with Deborah, as she explains how she got interested in environmental work, why it’s important to Cook County, and why girls and young women should want to pursue careers in environmental science, urban planning and government.
It’s an added bonus that more than half of the staff at the Department of Environment and Sustainability is female, meaning that many smart and talented women are leading the way to help preserve our environment.
So without further ado, meet Deborah!
Where did you go to school?
I graduated from Beloit College and the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, and am an urban planner by trade.
What made you go into your field?
I have always been interested in how people interact with the natural environment, and how making cities, the economy and nature all stronger can be mutually beneficial instead of in conflict. A more sustainable urban area is also more pleasant to live in, easier to get around by bikes, walking and other alternative modes, and grows good green jobs in fields like renewable energy, weatherization of homes and habitat restoration.
What are your goals in the work you do?
Our goal is to make Cook County the most sustainable county in the United States! President Preckwinkle has pledged to reduce harmful greenhouse gases by 80 percent by the year 2050, to help minimize the negative effects of climate change, like flooding, stronger storms, and changes in temperature bringing new pests and diseases. We have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions from County facilities by 25%, far exceeding our targets. And when the Federal administration decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, Cook County, along with many other state and local governments and private businesses, declared our continued commitment to fighting climate change by joining the #WeAreStillIn movement.
Why do you think serving the residents of Cook County is important?
With more than five million residents and 130 cities and villages, Cook County makes up about 40 percent of the state’s population and an even greater portion of the state’s economy. When we take action, it is on a big scale and can improve the lives of many people. For instance, we began a program to reuse or recycle building material from demolitions in suburban Cook County, which has led to diverting over a million tons of materials out of landfills, which helps protect our air and water. More than that, it puts valuable materials back in to the economy, which has helped the startup of several building material reuse retail centers, each providing dozens of jobs.
What do you want the residents of Cook County to know about you or your job?
We have a unique opportunity here at Cook County to innovate and provide thought leadership. A perfect example is our work on community solar, which is solar electric power that provides energy savings benefits to multiple community members through subscriptions. With community solar, the solar panels do not need to be on or even connected to your property. This way, renters, condo dwellers, people with shaded roofs, and people who for financial or other reasons choose not to install panels on their own roofs, can still benefit from renewable energy.
We also have a strong commitment at Cook County to equity and fairness, and protecting communities with fewer resources, many of which have literally been dumped on in an environmental sense/ have suffered from economic disinvestment. A perfect example is our work to assess brownfields in several west suburban communities, formerly developed sites that may be contaminated from past activities and which are vacant or not contributing as they could to the local tax base and jobs. By assessing conditions on 30 sites and developing cleanup plans, we helped put five sites totaling more than 117 acres on the path to redevelopment, with the potential to create over 200 jobs.
What message would you have to young girls or women interested in your field?
There are a multitude of opportunities for women in environmental fields. In the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability, more than half our staff are female. Women in our department serve in roles from chemists monitoring our air quality and engineers inspecting industrial facilities for environmental issues, to outreach educators helping county residents make their homes more energy efficient, policy specialists working on legislative initiatives, and a hydrogeologist supervising landfill and waste transfer station inspectors. If you love it, go for it!
