Orlando prepares environment-plan update
Rain barrels may return; plastic bags may not
Orlando residents could soon see air quality monitors perched atop light poles along with bans on Styrofoam containers, plastic bags and straws at city facilities and events as well as a return of the residential rain-barrel program.
These proposals are listed in a five-year update of Orlando’s Community Action Plan, which serves as its roadmap of environmentally friendly policies and programs.
The update is expected to be heard and potentially adopted Monday by the City Council.
“This is the next evolution of Green Works,” Director of Sustainability Chris Castro said, referring to the city’s name for its sustainability department.
The recommendations come after Orlando officials for about a year hosted community workshops, roundtable discussions, public forums and online surveys about possible sustainability advancements.
Following a workshop presentation Monday, the City Council is expected to consider a resolution that would adopt the new plan. If approved, work would immediately begin on developing policies to put it into practice.
Some new initiatives could be in place within six months, while others could take longer.
The updated plan is designed to reach residents citywide and across the socioeconomic spectrum, Castro said.
One such addition could allow the city to measure air quality in busy portions of downtown and at a public housing complex where residents have long complained about polluted air.
Air quality monitors, which can be mounted atop Orlando Utility Commission light poles, would allow the city to measure and monitor pollution. Armed with that data, officials could craft policies and make changes to clean up the air.
At Griffin Park — a public housing complex wedged between the interchange of Interstate 4 and the East-West Expressway — this could quantify residents’ complaints that their air is heavily polluted with vehicle emissions and debris from the highways.
Castro said residents in other west-side neighborhoods, including Parramore, Holden Heights and West Lakes, were clamoring for the addition, though monitors likely would be installed throughout the city.
Some who helped develop the plan “felt we needed to start measuring the air quality in the city so we could address it,” Castro said. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
Rain barrels, which catch water from gutters, could again be offered to residents in Orlando, much like how the city distributes composters. Officials say the barrels reduce erosion and pollution, by reducing stormwater runoff. The city once had a similar program, but it ended due to a lack of funding, spokeswoman Jessica Garcia said.
Castro said officials also are considering land-development code changes to require new trees be planted when others are cut down.
Meanwhile, officials also may prepare a policy banning the use of Styrofoam containers — commonly used for takeout and leftovers — as well as plastic bags and straws by vendors at city events and facilities, the plan states.
These containers often ending up floating in waterways and storm drains.
Such bans have grown in popularity by major companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks as well as also some of Orlando’s tourism hubs.
In July, Walt Disney Co. announced plans to remove singleuse plastic straws and stirrers from its theme parks and resorts worldwide, and Rosen Hotels vowed to phase out plastic straws by early 2019.