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Business View Magazine
108 Business View – October
Infrastructure
reduce the amount of returned mail by purging mailing
lists, and more field staff across city departments are
using computers rather than paper.
Atlanta is already meeting EPA standards for its use
of green products and a new green cleaning policy
ordinance, alternative materials are being considered
for all new procurement. City Hall’s cafeteria is working
towards replacing all its Styrofoam cups and containers
with alternative materials. The city is also reducing the
size of its fleet, revoking take-home policies, launching
a shared car program and seeking more fuel-efficient
cars and applying for a grant to buy alternative fuels for
its diesel fleet.
The Clean Air Campaign and the downtown TMA
are partners to promote programs such as commuter
rewards, RideSmart and teleworking. The city also
subsidizes MARTA fares for its employees and conducts
various outreach events such as “Walk Day” and “Give
Your Car the Day Off.”
The city built the first municipal green roof in the
Southeast in 2003 as part of a pilot program intended
to raise awareness of green roofs and demonstrate
the possibilities of incorporating them into Atlanta’s
urban landscape. Most major city parks have an onsite
compost facility for used yard waste, and various
locations collect Christmas trees for chipping as mulch.
All new city landscaping incorporates native and
drought-tolerate plants.
Eleven new playgrounds were installed in 2007
by a certified environmentally-responsible company
that uses at least 80 percent recycled, recyclable
and biodegradable materials. The city’s Watershed
Department is planning to harvest rainwater for the
grounds of all of the city’s recreation centers and
maintenance facilities.
The 2006 BeltLine project will be realized in a 22-
mile loop of parks, green space, trails and transit around
the city and ultimately serve as a bundle of solutions to
the very challenges that threaten to limit Atlanta’s health
and prosperity – traffic, deficient green space and
recreation and inequitable economic development.
Transportation planners are developing the city’s first
