By Coral Gables Gazette staff
On the day the Coral Gables Sustainability Advisory Board celebrated its sixth anniversary, and received a presentation of its combined efforts over its half-dozen years, board members pushed for improved efforts to get the word out on the city’s extensive sustainability efforts.
At its July 22 meeting, the board received numerous updates on the projects and initiatives it oversees, with a consensus among board members that meaningful impacts are being made. Even so, several board members expressed frustration over the lack of awareness surrounding those efforts and the city’s inability to reach more residents to participate.
Composting pilot exposes an awareness gap
The discussion centered on the city’s relatively new community composting program, which launched in April and has already collected about 3,700 pounds of compost while attracting more than 125 participants. Despite those early results, board member Frank Hercksen questioned why so many residents remained unaware of the program.
“After the meeting on Tuesday and today, I talked to three neighbors,” Hercksen said. “They’re all very interested in signing up and supporting it.” But, he added, “My question really is, how many more neighbors are out there [who] don’t know about this program?”
Hercksen said none of the three neighbors had previously heard about the city’s composting initiative, prompting a lengthy discussion about how the board could help improve public awareness. He suggested the board dedicate time to brainstorming more effective outreach methods ahead of the next composting workshop, while other members floated ideas including homeowner association outreach, expanded social media efforts and additional messaging through utility bills.
City points to newsletters and workshops
Assistant Director of Mobility and Sustainability Matt Anderson defended the city’s communications efforts, explaining that sustainability staff work through the city’s communications department, which determines when and how information is distributed.
“We go through our communications office for everything that goes out,” Anderson said. “I would say anyone that’s interested in anything that’s going on in the city… should be signed up for eNews.” He noted that the city’s weekly e-newsletter reaches more than 20,000 subscribers, although space limitations prevent every sustainability item from being included.
“The reality is very few might read through everything,” Anderson said. “They are very targeted on what they put in there.” In addition to the city newsletter, he said the sustainability division distributes its own monthly digital newsletter highlighting its programs and upcoming events.
Anderson also pointed to recent workshops as evidence the outreach is beginning to gain traction. A “Composting Made Simple” workshop held July 20 drew 27 participants, including Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and featured an in-depth presentation on home and industrial composting. Staff plans another workshop in about three months as the yearlong pilot program continues to build momentum.
By the end of the discussion, board members agreed to continue developing new outreach ideas and bring recommendations to the next workshop planning effort.
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful tallies six years of impact
Earlier in the meeting, Nicole Gautney and Diego Cancel, co-directors of Keep Coral Gables Beautiful, highlighted the organization’s accomplishments over the past six years. Since its launch, the program has hosted nearly 330 events involving about 40,400 participants and volunteers, resulting in more than 1.12 million pounds of litter, recyclables, household hazardous waste and electronic waste being collected.
Funding uncertainty hangs over future programming
The board also discussed concerns about the future of the program’s approximately $15,000 in annual state funding amid uncertainty over broader government budget reductions and potential property tax reforms. Staff said the program maximizes every dollar it receives and supplements those funds with city support and competitive grants, but acknowledged any significant reduction could affect programming.
Climate assessment moves toward public review
Anderson also updated the board on the city’s ongoing sustainability initiatives, including a state-required vulnerability assessment examining future sea level rise, flooding and storm surge scenarios. The draft has been submitted to the state for review, with consultants addressing technical comments before presenting the findings to the board and later to the City Commission
Since you are being considerate-enough to include a photograph to illustrate your article, then why not take the fairly simple extra step to ensure that it is in proper focus.
This is why you pay photographers to do things like that.
It sure seems like a lot of our tax payer $$$ is being wasted on programs that CG residents simply aren’t interested in.