Michael Poole: Sustainable communities

We are in the emerging era of sustainability. Individuals, businesses, communities, and nations are catching on to the virtues of sustainability. Even the World’s Fair in Milan this year is based on sustainability with the theme, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life."

Sustainability focuses on three main pillars – environment, social/culture, and economic. The concept is to bring into balance these sometimes-competing elements to create a place where the life we enjoy today can be experienced by others for generations. The practice of sustainability is to understand the integration that our community systems are integrated and how our decisions impact the health of our environment, residents and economic wellbeing.

The city of Winter Park approved its first Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) this year, recognizing the need to develop plans to preserve and enhance the community. The experience of creating and now implementing the SAP has been both exhilarating and educational. Sustainability requires us to think and do differently, in another word, “change”; a concept that sometimes involves things that are good for my neighbors but not for me. Many times to encourage change we look for the WIIFM — “What’s in it for me?”

For example, in Winter Park one of the driving issues is traffic (pun intended). One obvious solution is to create streets that are more pedestrian- and bike-friendly, which would encourage folks to drive less. This concept has worked well in many communities, and is gathering acceptance slowly in Florida. However, this takes money and changing the aggressive behavior of drivers. Many folks like the idea of no bikes on the road.

Another example of sustainability is managing our trash. We could all save money if we recycled more, which reduces trash going to the landfill. Some communities have even started to charge residents based on the amount of trash thrown away – a “pay for what you throw” concept. Or some have reduced trash pick up to one day a week, reducing traffic and saving money. You can see merit in all these concepts, but not all folks see the same value of that change.

Each month I plan to explore different areas of sustainability, providing insight into the issues and how you can make a positive change in your community.

Michael Poole is a member of the Keep Winter Park Beautiful and Sustainable Advisory Board.