SUSTAINABLE INTOWN

From recycling to green building, the city has embraced the eco-movement

By Collin Kelley INtown Editor

When Atlanta INtown began covering the sustainability movement more than a decade ago, most of our coverage was centered around April’s celebration of Earth Day. But there was also a growing sense of urgency about the city’s air pollution, traffic and the amount of waste going to local landfills.

Atlanta and the metro region was already under the gun from as far back as 1998, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brought sanctions against the city for its smog level, meaning the loss of millions of federal dollars for highway projects. In 2004, the EPA still classified Atlanta as a “severe non-attainment” zone for failure to meet ozone standards. It wouldn’t be until 2013 that the EPA declared the city was in compliance, but by then the tide toward sustainability was already in full swing.

Six years ago, INtown created a regular monthly section called “Go Green” and earlier this year published our annual “Green Issue” in April. We embraced the eco-friendly movement to chronicle what local leaders, organizations and residents were doing to make the city more sustainable.

We reported on homebuyers who had decided to spend the extra money for green roofs, rain barrels, lowflow fixtures and recycled building materials.

Keep Atlanta Beautiful and other organizations stepped up efforts to recycle electronics, and the city of Atlanta implemented new recycling guidelines.

The local food movement exploded with urban farmers raising their own vegetables and restaurants shifting away from frozen and processed to food grown just hours away. The number of local farmers markets grew from a couple to dozens.

Atlanta Recycles, an advocacy group made up governmental, corporate, nonprofit and environmental entities, helped shape the city’s move toward larger recycling bins for residents, and expanded collection of recyclables at city buildings, recreation centers, and police and fire stations.

Atlanta Recycles was also instrumental in the development of the Downtown Zero Waste Zone. Focused on the foodservice industry, members pledge to recycle paper, plastic, metal and glass, compost food scraps and reuse old grease from their kitchens.

In 2010, Mayor Kasim Reed announced his goal of making Atlanta one of the top 10 sustainable cities in the country. Four years later, there have been significant strides in making the city green and there are more, exciting changes to come.

The city’s Office of Sustainability, led by Denise Quarles, said the greening of Atlanta has been possible through the unprecedented collaboration between stakeholders citywide. The most notable collaboration has been with the business community, which has signed on as part of the Better Building Challenge to make 20 percent of Atlanta’s commercial buildings energy and water efficient by the year 2020.

“We have 200 buildings now participating in the challenge,” Quarles said, “and 76 of those are municipal buildings.”

Midtown created its own EcoDistrict, and has made substantial moves in recycling, energy, and promoting sustainability among its residents and businesses.

Last month, the Midtown Alliance announced its inaugural EcoDistrict Luminaries, comprised of 19 businesses and buildings that have made a significant commitment to sustainability practices. Buildings and busineses include:1180 Peachtree, Federal Reserve

Bank of Atlanta, Fifth Group’s Ecco and Lure restaurants, One Atlantic Station, Perkins+Will, Working Buildings, Heery International, Invesco, Jamestown, Lord Aeck & Sargent, Triage Consulting Group, 1075 Peachtree, Bank of America Plaza, Promenade, Centergy One, Lowes Atlanta Hotel, Viewpoint and South City Kitchen.

Dan Hourigan, Director of Transportation and Sustainability for Midtown Alliance, said Atlanta’s air quality issues were a wake up call to the city to make better decisions and face environmental issues head on.

“We’ve made great strides in the last decade or more,” Hourigan said. “Climate change is now in the news and people are learning how they can make differences in their own communities. There’s a much broader desire for a healthier place to live and work.”

Company plants 80 trees to help create BeltLine Arboretum

Georgia’s Own Credit Union commemorated its 80th anniversary by endowing 80 trees to Trees Atlanta. The donated trees were planted to create the first stretch of the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum.

David A. Preter, Georgia’s Own president and CEO, was joined by city, state and community leaders for a ceremonial first tree planting event along the BeltLine Arboretum. Following the ceremony, over 80 Georgia’s Own volunteers continued planting the donated 80 trees –performing more than 240 service hours – to complete the initial phase of the Arboretum.

Ultimately, the BeltLine Arboretum will be a curated collection of trees providing countless environmental benefits like cleaner air, storm water collection and much-needed shade for those enjoying the trail and its surrounding greenspace. It will be a 22mile linear tree museum – the longest in the world.

MOSAIC’S SUCCESSFUL REMODELING PROCESS

Communication

Justin Larrison is a team player. Coordinating, tracking, researching, and supporting your project from design to production. Making calls and running interference on anything that might get in the way of your exceptional remodeling experience.

PROJECT COORDINATOR. FIELD SUPPORT. AND THE GUY WHO HAS YOUR BACK.

Special photos

To mark the recent National Drive Electric Week, the oldest drive-in met the newest cars when Georgia Power EV drivers took over The Varsity in Midtown for the first ever EV Cruise In The event was designed help educate and inspire customers to purchase electric vehicles. National Drive Electric Week, formerly National Plug In Day, has grown with the popularity of EVs into a full week of events.

The Atlanta Community ToolBank is hosting its annual Tool Rush Sale on Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the ToolBank warehouse, 410 Edgewood Ave. The general public is invited to shop thousands of new, and some gently used, tools and supplies –all priced 50 percent off retail. There will be a special “early bird” event from 8 to 9 a.m. with a donation of $10. Every dollar spent immediately and directly benefits Atlanta Community ToolBank.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been presented with Southface Energy Institute’s highest honor, the Argon Award, for his commitment to sustainability. Under Reed’s leadership, Atlanta, which is ranked among the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest percentage of green commercial real estate, has earned national credibility for its stewardship to foundation and federal awards aimed at advancements in sustainability. As a result, Atlanta was selected as one of three cities to pilot the national Better Buildings Challenge, a presidential initiative that challenges cities to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020. Past Argon Award recipients include Ray Anderson, Ted Turner, Arthur Blank, TOTO USA and The Coca Cola Company.

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity installed 20 recycling bins designed specifically for placement at Atlanta Habitat’s different building sites, for their main offices and ReStore, as part of a national recycling bin grant program made possible by Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and The Coca-Cola Foundation. In its ninth year, the Coca-Cola/KAB Recycling Bin Grant Program is providing nearly 4,500 recycling bins to colleges and universities, nonprofits and local governments, with more than 65 percent of the total designed specifically for permanent, ongoing use in heavily-trafficked public spaces and events. “Having the recycling bins at our build sites mirrors our mission of building green homes for working families,” said Geneva Hall-Shelton, Atlanta Habitat’s senior sponsorship manager. “We are proud to report that since we received the bins in July, we have collected more than 500 pounds of reusable materials.” Hall-Shelton also mentions how the volunteers who come out and build appreciate the recycling bins. A full list of the spring 2014 Recycling Bin Grant recipients and further information about the grant program is available at bingrant.org.

The Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the city’s lead hazard control program, Lead Safe Atlanta. The program, which launched in 2011, is designed to identify housing built before 1978 where lead-based paint is present and reducing a child’s exposure to it. In children under age six, lead has been linked to several behavioral and health risks, including aggressive behavior, hearing loss, hyperactivity and learning disabilities.