By Sharon Aron Baron
The City of Tamarac touts itself as being certifiably a Green City. The Florida Green Building Coalition, Inc. (FGBC) certified the City of Tamarac as a Green Local Government at the Gold level. Only three cities in South Florida achieved this certification, demonstrating their environmental commitment. Buildings such as the Tamarac Community Center, which rely exclusively on solar power, energy-efficient lighting at outdoor facilities, and geothermal pool heaters, show that the city builds with the environment in mind.
With recycling implemented through our city-wide trash hauler, All Service Refuse, most residents are on board regarding recycling. I find it troubling that Tamarac’s Parks and Recreation department is not encouraging recycling like other cities. After checking for recycling bins in many area parks, I’ve concluded that none can be found. With a large amount of bottled water consumed daily, not to mention soda cans, recycling cans will not only cut down on the amount of solid waste but also affirm our city’s level of commitment to the environment. It is also a good reminder to our park users, young and old, always to be aware of the need to recycle.
Let’s indeed be a green city and get more recycling bins. Since our residents already recycle at home, they will quickly adapt to our public parks.
Response from Greg Warner – Director of Parks and Recreation:
Sharon, hope you are having a good day! Saw your article in Tamarac Talk regarding the lack of recycling containers at our parks. You are always a step ahead of us! We currently have two (2) large containers at the Sports Complex and one (1) large container at Tamarac Park. It may have delayed us retaining additional containers, but we wanted to decide on the right type of container. Most recycling containers in parks end up as general trash cans. People often will not take the extra few steps to deposit their trash in a garbage can, so they put it into the recycling containers. With that in mind, we have found the type of container that we feel will encourage people just to use them for recycling. These containers are on order for the remainder of our smaller parks.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks, and have a great day!
Gregory Warner
Director
Parks and Recreation Department
8601 W. Commercial Boulevard, Tamarac, FL 33351-4333
From Sharon:
Parks and Recreation are one step ahead of me. I can’t wait until more recycling cans are seen at every park. May I suggest you order the cans in a bright blue color and ensure they are clearly marked for recyclables? This way, people will notice the difference between these and the trash bins. Please consider ordering enough so that each one stands next to a garbage can. This will also prevent people from putting trash into it. Thank you so much for your response, Greg.
