City of Alpharetta – Green City Program

The Alpharetta Green City Program’s primary objective is to enable the community to reduce its environmental impact and promote sustainability, Through implementation of various projects, the community as a whole reduces waste, increases recycling, encourages pedestrian and bicycle activities, creates energy savings, increases greenspace, saves water, reduces emissions and educates one another about green opportunities.

• The program does not use a set of stringent environmental policies or ordinances, rather it promotes green behaviors that can be molded to fit the community’s need.
• The City has collaborated with the Alpharetta Arboretum, Inc. to create a 34-bed community garden and 3 arboretums in city parks.
• The City’s implementation of a traffic control center resulted in the reduction of over 100 tons of vehicle emissions and a savings of 223,000 gallons of fuel for drivers.

Contact: Bob Regus – 678.297.6012 or bregus@alpharetta.ga.us

Cobb County – Keep Cobb Beautiful Medication Disposal Program

(CREATE Overall Honorable Mention)
Keep Cobb Beautiful partnered with Kaiser Permanente of Georgia to offer a Medication Disposal Program (MDP) to Cobb County residents. This program provided a legal and proper means of disposal for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, sharps, and other pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), in order to keep them out of the landfill and water supply.

• This program was the first of its kind in Georgia.
• At the two 2010 MDP events, KCB and its partners collected and incinerated over 3,100 pounds of medications, sharps and PPCPs.
• Through partnerships with other organizations, the net cost of disposal to the County was only 4-cents per pound.

Contact: Gwen Baldwin – 770.528.2504 or gwen.baldwin@cobbcounty.org

City of College Park – Innovative Stormwater Management Program

The City of College Park through its engineering consultant developed a comprehensive plan to redesign its stormwater infrastructure. This project was part of a larger initiative to redevelop the area near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The project elegantly combines multiple innovations into a single unified sustem in which each component contributes to the efficiency of all other components.

• The program uses aesthetically appealing TreePod biofilters that treat initial runoff and filter out impurities.
• It consolidates the scattered collection system into a centralized, state-of-the-art piped system.
• The City’s golf pond was renovated to hold clean, sediment-free stormwater.

Contact: Jackson Myers – 404.669.3763 or jmyers@collegeparkga.com

City of Doraville – Efficiency Doraville

Through Efficiency Doraville, the City is building upon initiatives, such as its LED Ordinance and green purchasing program. The program is multi-faceted and includes a LED Retrofit Project, LED Business Incentives Program, and Residential Energy Auditor Training Program. The City’s objectives for implementing the program include promoting the City’s new and evolving green image and to provide “green collar” job training.

• In November, Doraville became the first city in the southeast to retrofit all of its facilities with LED light fixtures, a change that will result in $33,000 annually in energy costs.
• The City is currently awarding $7,500 rebates for businesses that undertake their own LED retrofits.
• The City is using federal stimulus money to train and equip 3 residential auditors who will perform free energy audits for residents.

Contact: Luke Howe – 770.451.8745 or luke.howe@doravillega.us

City of Dunwoody – Team Food Pantry

Dunwoody’s Team Food Pantry grows and donates fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need and speaks out about ways cities can allow others to grow more food for their families. The initiative is support through produce from several community gardens, greenhouses and residential gardeners.

• In 2010, Team Food Pantry donated or inspired the donation of more than 1,100 pounds of food, for a donated value of approximately $6,000.
• As of January 2011, the program is growing knowledge and food at 1 public park, 2 private community centers, 2 places of worship, 2 schools and 6 home gardens.

Contact: Kimberly Greer – 678.382.6700 or lkimberly.greer@dunwoodyga.gov

Gwinnett County – Solid Waste Plan

Last July, Gwinnett County started a new recycling and trash collection program for all households in unincorporated areas, which were previously served by several private haulers and recycling options Prior to the new collection program, recycling options were limited and illegal dumping was a big problem. Today, all Gwinnett homes in the unincorporated areas have service that includes bulky items and single-stream recycling of 35 materials.

• Recycling opportunities have increased five-fold and are being celebrated through various events.
• Traffic, road wear, noise and air pollution have been reduced, saving the County and taxpayers money and time.
• Private industries still provide the service under contracts with the County.

Contact: Heather Sawyer – 770.822.7035 or heather.sawyer@gwinnettcounty.com

City of Johns Creek – Newtown Park Senior Center

The City recently preserved and rehabilitated the historic Newtown school in Newtown Park for use as a senior center. The historic school building was once an active Milton County school, and later a Fulton County school from 1929 to 1980 and had been vacant since 1991. The end result of the renovation is an economical way to house services and programs for seniors while preserving the historic building and reducing the building’s environmental impact.

• The project was completed using several funding sources, including CDBG, City of John’s Creek general fund and Newtown Park Community Foundation support.
• The senior center is situated among and nearby existing community resources, such as the community center, community garden and an established commercial node.

Contact: Susan Canon – 678.512.3278 or susan.canon@johnscreekga.gov

City of Kennesaw – Smith-Gilbert Gardens

Smith-Gilbert Gardens is a premier metro Atlanta botanical garden and learning center located in Kennesaw, Georgia. It is a collector's garden with a wide variety of plant material including different outdoor contemporary sculptures and the historic Hiram Butler House. Once a private garden, it was acquired by the City in 2007, and has become a key element in the City’s cultural portfolio.

• Care and maintenance of the gardens is provided almost entirely by over 100 volunteers.
• Centered around the historic Hiram Butler House, the garden has over 3,000 species of plants and 30 sculptures.
• Smith-Gilbert recently received recognition from two prestigious national gardening organizations.

Contact: Darryl Simmons – 770.590.8268 or dsimmons@kennesaw-ga.gov

City of McDonough – Alexander Park Revitalization and Expansion Plan

The Alexander Park Expansion project is a result of the ongoing visionary efforts by the City of McDonough dating back to 1947, when 12-acres of the Historic Alexander Park land was transferred to the City. To date, an additional 143 acres of greenspace have been acquired for the site, which is located near Historic Downtown Square and creates multiple connectivity points throughout the City.

• The project has involved many partners, including the Georgia Urban Forest Council, Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
• In addition to its obvious environmental impact, the park is envisioned to have an economic impact by encouraging in-fill and redevelopment around the site.
• The Master Alexander Park Plan emulates Olmsted’s work as carried out in Central Park in New Your City and Piedmont Park in Atlanta.

Contact: Rodney Heard – 678.432.4622 or rheard@mcdonough-ga.gov

City of Norcross – Sustainable Norcross

Sustainable Norcross is a publid-private partnership to advance sustainability in Norcross and further differentiate the community as THE place to live, work and play. Activities of the partnership are focused on “preserving our future by living smarter today.”

• The project started as a grass roots effort by citizens who wanted to see their city improve its environmental record and opportunities.
• The Sustainable Norcross advisory group and volunteers undertook projects that were identified as important to the City’s residents, expanding services with little impact to the City’s budget.
• Partners include the Norcross Business Association, Georgia Environmental Protection division, and local churches and civic groups.

Contact: Tixie Fowler – 770.842.2551 or tfowler@norcrossga.net