And when it comes to "Green," our City not only leads green efforts in Flagler County, but also in Florida and nationally. City of Palm Coast received award after award for their green initiatives:
Awards From the Florida Green Building Coalition:
- 2009: Silver award for Green Local Government
- 2010: Gold designation for Green Local Government
Award From the Northeast Florida Regional Council:
- 2011: Regional Award for Excellence in Environmental Stewardship
The awards maybe symbolic; but the City is actually walking the walk:
Palm Coast initiated a battery recycling program in July 2009, and to date nearly 2000 lbs of batteries have been collected and recycled. City has collection boxes at 10 locations across the community where you can drop off your batteries for Palm Coast Battery Recycling. Consumer batteries for laptops, cell phones, portable tools, cameras, watches, hearing aids or regular AA/AAA, C, D, and 9 volt batteries can be recycled.
The City also formed a Green Team as a part of Division of Community Development. The Green Team comprises City technical staff including the Landscape Architect, Urban Forester, and Environmental Planner. Through the Green Team, the City of Palm Coast provides a focused group of professionals that cumulatively comprise a diverse resource of environmental knowledge and experience.
What should be next?
I would like to personally see a mandatory recycling program for commercial establishments. It's sad that the there is no requirement for the restaurants, bars, department stores, shops, and office buildings to recycle the paper, alimunim, plastic, and glass. The amount of waste and pollution due to lack of recycling practices by commercial establishments is concerning.
Some of the fellow business owners will perhaps object to this idea; pointing to the economy, or that it's burdensome for business to recycle, or that it'll cost money to the businesses to recycle etc. But as Martin Luther King says:
" The time is always right to do the right thing."
