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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Bringing home the gold: Tampa’s initiatives to become a more sustainably green city
Posted by Michelle Schenck on Wed, May 13, 2009 at 6:30 AM
Earlier this year, Pam Iorio announced the City’s Gold-level certified Green Local Government designation by the Florida Green Building Coaliton (FGBC). Tampa was only the second city to achieve this award in Florida (Tallahassee was the first) and the local government is wasting no time in starting to get the city on its way to creating greener pastures.
The city initiatives outlined on the Tampa government’s new Green website is focusing primarily on pollution control and conservation via air, ground, and water.
Some of the “air” related initiatives include increasing public access throughout the city to recreation and to non-motorized transportation opportunities. Also, you may have noticed articles and ads throughout city news publications promoting new and improved bus service opportunities to various business parks, downtown locations, and to the Tampa International Airport. These are Tampa’s initial attempts at trying to boost the public transit system that has been heavily scrutinized by residents (with good reason). HART itself has even begun promoting its new Green vision for its company as well in hopes it can join Tampa's efforts and promote the use of public transit and commuting.
Some of the “land” related initiatives include increasing recycling efforts by making it more accessible to everyone in the community. All city of Tampa residents now have access to weekly curbside recycling. Also, within the next few years, a Yard Waste Recycling program will be in effect for all city of Tampa residents, making it easier for people who want to throw out grass clippings and branches, to properly to help reduce the amount of waste going into the waste stream.
Some of the “water” related initiatives include educating people on the importance of conserving water. Also, by using reclaimed water for irrigation because it conserves Tampa’s drinking water.
These are just a few initiatives but please read the Green Tampa outline to see how Tampa is trying to conserve energy and water, promote alternative energy, new green buildings and construction, and increase recycling efforts.
There is also a section of how residents can get involved in the green movement at home by utilizing free energy audits and their how to make their yards more environmentally friendly.
If all this green talk is starting to get a little daunting, please check out the City of Tampa’s green index where they break down some of the key phrases and words surrounded and coined by the green movement. It definitely makes it a lot easier to understand new technologies and environmental advances with this A-Z glossary.
Hopefully these new projects are a sign of things to come in Tampa, and, if executed successfully, this city can be a role model for other cities in Florida.
Comments (3)
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It is great news to hear that Tampa is cleaning up it's act and promoting green initiatives and buildings. It is showing that they have an interest in preserving the future and protecting the environment. Recyling, and conservation of water are two very important steps towards this. Lets hope that other communities in Florida use this as model to improve themselves. As we teach at the University of Vermont's Global Institute for Sustainability (http://learn.uvm.edu/igs) creating a positive, shared vision of the future is something folks can tap into, and move forward with crafting solutions in a creative, engaging way."
I mentioned this on another article and it didn't peak anyone's interest so I will try here. How does anyone reconcile that Tampa's(and other coastal cities) allure of recreational boating with going green? I mean that is like saying a city in TX is going green when they use their SUV's, trucks and ATV for recreation. Seems kind of hypocritical. I am not trying to stir the pot so to speak, just trying to understand the rationale.
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