By SUSAN THURSTON, City Times Editor
Published August 26, 2005
Every week, as I plunk my blue recycling bin on the curb, I sing a little song to myself.
These newspapers, bottles and cans aren't going to the landfill, hooray!
See you the next time around!
(It sounds better in my mind, trust me.)
Every week, I also wonder: Wouldn't it be great if I could get a picture that shows how all my years of recycling stack up in one pile? Just how big would it be?
Mount Everest?
This idea of using and reusing is a main theme of a new group called BEST - Built Environment for a Sustainable Tampa. The group formed four months ago to help make Tampa a leader in creating homes and offices that are kind to the environment, improve quality of life and give the area a competitive edge.
Admittedly, it's hard to get excited about words like sustainable and sustainability. But we should get excited about the concept: Let's develop buildings that meet our needs, as well as those of future generations.
In other words, we shouldn't drain the planet dry and leave a mess for our kids and their kids. We need to tread lightly.
BEST founders Kimberly Finn, Stephen Koontz and Devesh Nirmul brought together a panel of urban planners and developers Tuesday night to talk about the issue. The meeting at the Tampa Convention Center was a follow-up to a packed meeting Aug. 16, called "Tampa's Downtown is Going Green."
Finn, an environmentalist who also works at the Tampa Bay History Center, hopes the events inspire people to demand things like green space, energy-efficient buildings and mass transit.
"We don't want this to be something where we sit around and talk," she said. "We want this to be something where we sit around and talk and take action."
In theory, at least, it seems to be working. After two hours of contemplating Tampa and its future, nearly all of the 75 audience members said they were more determined than ever to make the city a model of sustainable neighborhoods.
And who could disagree?
The survival of our species depends on it, exclaimed panelist Ignacio Correa-Ortiz, an architect and urban planner for HDR Engineering in Tampa.
"We can't divvy up the planet 1 acre per person," he said. "We need to make cities sustainable in order to survive."
At some point, the panelists agreed, we'll run out of natural resources. Streets will become too congested, and we'll all be miserable. Like Atlanta, I suppose.
Here's a wild idea Correa-Ortiz floated. What about having communal cars? Neighborhoods would have a pool of cars available to residents. Need a television from Best Buy? Grab a car and bring it back.
Apparently, it's happening in super-crowded parts of the world.
Gasp!
We probably aren't ready for that.
But we are ready for homes and offices that are built with recycled materials, insulated windows and landscaped rooftops that reduce heat.
Opportunities abound for those who look, said Trent Green, an associate professor at the University of South Florida's Center for Community Design and Research.
Take east Ybor City near Interstate 4, he said. To make the area a vibrant employment hub, you first need to clean up the contaminated industrial sites. Why not use the soil for the I-4 widening project instead of hauling in fresh fill dirt by truck?
Of course, you'd have to encase the soil to protect against further contamination. But you would solve two problems with one action.
In many cases, it's just a matter of asking. Panelists Brooks Bryd and Gregory Minder, who are building downtown residential projects, said developers build what the market demands - and supports.
In creating sustainable neighborhoods, Minder said, we must take into account public art, retail, green space and diversity of people and income. People need stores and services within walking distance so they don't have to get in their cars and guzzle high-priced gas. They need stimulating things to look at and explore.
They also need simple things, such as shade and greenery.
The battle is fought block after block, Bryd said. Project after project.
Gradually, it can happen.
But it will take a lot of screaming from the public. Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, urged the audience to call their elected officials and tell them we want more solar power, more landscaping, more blue bins.
If it costs a little more, so be it. It will cost a lot less in the end.
THE LAST DROP: In the spirit of water conservation, the city is offering homeowners up to $230 in rebates to replace their toilets with ones that use less water. For information, call 288-8805.
