A pair of city commissioners are looking to revamp the Gainesvilleâs recycling practices in effort to be more âgreen.â Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos told The Sun he plans to present the commission with options to push Gainesville toward becoming a âzero waste cityâ in the coming weeks.
Although he wouldnât talk specifics, Hayes-Santos said he is researching what is being done nationally and would like the city to become a recycling leader in the southeast region.
âWhat weâre currently doing wonât even meet our current goals on recycling,â he said.
Gainesville offers curbside recycling pickup for plastic bottles, cans, cardboard, paper and other easily recycled items. An expansion could include collecting uneaten food or food scraps for composting.
âItâs taking a look and keeping an open mind on ways to reduce waste,â he said.
Separately, Commissioner Harvey Ward proposed Thursday to establish a âGreen Ribbon Panel,â similar to the cityâs Blue Ribbon Panel. Commissioners voted unanimously to send the idea to the cityâs general policy committee, which is made up of commissioners.
Ward said he would like to have commissioners appoint experts to the panel to study how the city could become more environmentally friendly. Ward mentioned recycling, waste reduction, reducing carbon emissions and water conservation as potential starting points for the committee, which would include the cityâs transit service and utility.
âI donât want to claim to have the answers by any means, but there are experts that have the answers,â he said.
Hayes-Santos said his recycling ordinance change would be separate from the panel, but that the two could overlap on occasion.
âI think the Green Ribbon Panel would be good to look at things that we havenât thought of yet,â he said.
For a town that is often seen as environmentally friendly, Ward said, the city commission doesnât often handle environmental issues.
âI want us to be more proactive on that,â he said.
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