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In 2017, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums honored the Philadelphia Zoo's sustainability program with their prestigious Green Award. This reduces local flooding and gives the zoo extra water to use for landscaping and other applications that use non-potable water. It’s also removed large swaths of pavement and replaced it with rain gardens and infiltration basins to capture rainwater. Over a five-year period from 2009 to 2014, the zoo decreased water use by 64 percent. These are great examples of changes that save water without negatively impacting the zoo experience. For instance, to reduce water consumption, it’s installed waterless urinals, and it collects rainwater to flush toilets. Two of the zoo's major sustainability goals involve water conservation, and it’s created innovative approaches to achieve them. Its current focus is on sustainability, and it’s created an ambitious set of goals to continually drive down energy expenditures and water use. The Philadelphia Zoo has been around for more than 150 years, but it’s still coming up with innovative solutions to worldwide problems. Philadelphia Zoo: 2017 Green Award Winners Maintenance managers should just remember to provide assistive lifting devices when asking workers to handle awkward, heavy loads. Zoo maintenance workers can also divert soiled animal bedding from the landfill and send it to the composting facility. By partnering with a nearby facility, the zoo is able to solve a waste management problem while creating nutrient-rich soil and local jobs in the process.īy collecting food scraps in their kitchens, the zoo adds even more useful organic material to their haul of compost. For instance, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the animals produce about two tons per day. Zoos have the unique opportunity to be such prolific composters due to the large amount of animal manure produced. That's 1,728,000 pounds of food scraps, animal manure, and bedding! It has an innovative composting program that sends 864 tons of material to a local commercial composter. However, the Ohio zoo takes its commitment to the Earth a step farther.
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With Jack Hanna on the board of directors, you'd expect the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to have a top-notch collection of animals. Let's take a look at some innovative institutions to see what they're doing and how they're doing it.Ĭolumbus Zoo and Aquarium: Leaders in Composting Thankfully, America's zoos and aquariums are up to the challenge. The public expects these institutions to offer comprehensive recycling and compost programs to demonstrate their commitment to the Earth. Zoos and aquariums face tremendous opportunities (and expectations) for creating eco-friendly waste management programs. It was originally posted on the Solus Blog on May 14, 2018. Today’s Guest Blog is by the Marketing Team of NERC Supporting Member Solus Group.