'Green' practices, policies in vogue in Orange

By Jason King
Assistant Communications Director

Many organizations boast of "going green." Orange County Government truly "walks the talk," as officials like to say. County commissioners and staff led a workshop Aug. 29 to highlight the county's environmental sustainability efforts, discussing the policies, practices, performance and perseverance involved in the county's conservation initiatives.

The framework behind the county's policies includes 10 objectives that incorporate action strategies. The county also has an Environmental Stewardship Action Committee, which consists of 21 county employees representing each department.

Board of Commissioners Chair Valerie Foushee said the county continues to attempt to educate and involve others in its conservation efforts. The school board, for example, incorporates many of the county's philosophies in its policies and practices.

"Always do something – even if it's the smaller things" such as installing energy efficient lighting and low-flow toilets and making greater use of daylight, said Pam Jones, the county's director of purchasing and central services.

The county justice facility, for example, makes major use of daylight, Jones said, but also incorporates a geothermal heating and cooling system put in place during a recent two-year expansion project.

The county also attempts to make use of existing buildings when possible. The county's new Department of Social Services facility, which is slated to open in January 2010, will be housed in a renovated Wal-Mart store.

If an entire building can't be reused, Jones said, the county attempts to save what is reusable during demolition of houses and buildings. Finding materials, such as hardwood flooring and siding, reduces the county's construction costs and also extends the life of a county's construction and demolition waste (C&D) landfill by reducing what is thrown away.

"Why were we throwing away old buildings?" asked Commissioner Barry Jacobs. "Use what you've got. Deconstruction was a great example of that."

The Board of Commissioners has been a driving force behind the initiatives, adopting successful policies such as the Regulated Recyclable Materials Ordinance (RRMO), which since Oct. 1, 2002, has reduced disposal of C&D waste by more than 26 percent. The RRMO requires recycling of clean wood, cardboard and clean metal.

The county also levies an annual Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3-R) Fee that varies from $19 to $52 per unit to help fund the county's $3.3 million recycling budget. The county made a major commitment to reduce the waste stream by 61 percent from 1991 levels. The county currently is at about 57 percent of 1991 levels, according to Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson.