Green Lodge Program

Keys lodging has jumped aboard the state’s Green Lodge curriculum. The Andrews Inn and Garden Cottages is the third hotel in the area to go green. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection program requires participating hotels adopt measurable practices that conserve resources and reduce waste.
The fourth and fifth lodges to join the growing list of Green Lodges are the Old Town Manor in Key West and the Deer Run Bed and Breakfast in Big Pine. The Banyan Resort and the Gardens Hotel were designated as Green Lodges in August.
The Florida DEP reports there are 42 hotel participants in the voluntary Florida Green Lodge program.

Recycling Woes

Where do Key West and the Lower Keys fit into the overall Green scenario? “Only six percent of Key West residents recycle,” said Greg Sullivan, district manager for Waste Management in the Keys.
“Nationwide, the recycling target is 20 percent. About five percent of the businesses in Key West recycle.”
For an island city whose residentsand businesses boast of its concern for the environment and rallies for causes of all sorts, why the low recycling numbers?
“For businesses, I can think of two reasons, right away,” Sullivan said. “Space and costs. Space is at a premium in Key West and recycling takes space, so that space costs businesses.”
Sullivan also mentioned that in the 1990s, there were many state grants that helped with recycling costs.
“With the tightening state budget, most of those grants have dried up,” he said. “A few businesses, like the Hog’s Breath, have continued its recycling program and taken on the costs.”

From the '90 to Today
Charlie Bauer, general manager of the Hog’s Breath Saloon, remembers a recycling meeting at the Pier House in the early ‘90s.
“I don’t remember who called the meeting,” Bauer said, “but Joy Smatt from the Pier House and other businesses in Old Town were there and we listened to explanation on how to recycle. We learned how to separate items for recycling.”
Bauer is determined to do his share in the recycling program. “It was a tough thing for the bar to pull off,” he said. “It cost a lot more than just putting everything in one dumpster. My staff wasn’t excited about the process to begin with, because it meant more work for all of them.”
Ten years later Bauer said recycling is just another part of the bar’s daily routine.
“Businesses should know that it feels like a big deal when they start the recycling process,” Bauer said. “But it soon becomes a matter-of-fact of daily life. If we all just started doing it, we will have a much cleaner island.”

One Percent for the Planet

Bauer and his friend Scott Saunders, president of Fury Water Sports, share a concern for the future of Key West, if nothing is done to help improve the environment. For a while now, Bauer’s club has supplied musical groups to play on the Fury’s sunset sail and the pair share a love of soccer. Saunders, along with Fury general manager Marius Venter, has signed the Fury Water Sports onto the “1 percent for the Planet” program.
“We joined the one-percent program in January,” Venter said.
The one-percent program is based on businesses sales, not profits, Venter said.
A business signs up to donate one-percent of its sales to an environmental non-profit organization of its choice, as long as the organization meets the criteria for being an organization dedicated to environmental projects.
“As the environment becomes more and more a concern for people, especially people visiting our island, they are becoming aware of, and recognize the ‘1 percent for the Planet’ logo,” Venter said.
Saunders and Venter believe involvement in the one-percent program will lead to new business relationships between members and will bring in new customers.
“We expect our displaying the logo that says we participate in the program, will help our business increase because people are aware and concerned about the environment,” Venter said.
Just as guests to the island look for the ZAGAT logo at local restaurants, Saunders and Venter believe visitors will recognize the “1 percent” logo and give their support to the Fury.
Fury Water Sports shows its concern for the environment, especially the reef, in other ways, too.
“We use recycled cups and rubbish bags on our boats,” Venter said. “These items cost more than Styrofoam and regular bags, but it’s something we believe must be done.”
Venter goes future to say that doing anything that helps protect the reef is only good for his businesses, so, he feels, the extra costs helps the reef, which helps his water sports business.
Fury Water Sports uses reusable items on its daily trips, whenever possible and biodegradable soaps in the restrooms and in cleaning the boats.
“This is good for our business,” Venter said, “but it would be better if all the water sports businesses participated in the one-percent program, so I want to challenge them to join us, save our reef and help all our businesses.”
Local artist Letty Nowak has joined Venter and helped changed the Fury’s ticket office at the Westin docks into a new “Fury Surf Shack.”
“We are just opening now,” Nowak said. “Our shop is carrying organic cotton items and we will have a large variety of environmentally friendly products. New stock is coming in weekly.”

Hybrids HIt the Keys

Saunders, who also owns Five Sixes Cab Company, recently announced another commitment to the Key West environment.
“In March of ’08 we will take delivery of 10 hybrid Ford Escapes for the cab company,” Saunders said. “These will be the first hybrid cabs in Florida.”
Saunders said the company’s 45 Crown Vics will eventually be replaced with hybrid Fords. He thinks by mid 2009, most of the company’s cabs will be hybrids.
“There are no hybrid vans available, right now,” Saunders said, “but when there are, we’ll replace our vans too.”

Education, the Next Frontier

Chris Belland, one of the partners in Historic Tours of America, has turned his attention to the environment and the greening of Key West.
“What immediately struck me was the universal interest of everyone in doing more to make our island green, clean, and sustainable,” Belland recently wrote in a letter to the editor of The Citizen.
“It was clear to me that the will exists for Key West to become an example of what can be done to protect and enhance not only our lifestyle but this beautiful place we call home.”
Sullivan agrees. “One of my major projects right now is education,” he said. “If, through education, we can get businesses to reuse plastic cups, it could be a great way to cut down on waste.”
Sullivan recounts a trip to a local hotel to talk about recycling. While at the patio bar, he watched the bartender bring a plastic cup to patrons with each beer.
“Some of the people were drinking from the can, they didn’t use the cup,” Sullivan recalled. “These are plastic cups that will not break up in landfills for years and with each new beer the old cup was trashed.”
Sullivan believes a change in policy for bars would be helpful in cutting back waste. “I wonder if a person would mind reusing their plastic cup, if asked by the bartender,” Sullivan said. “It’s a small beginning, but it has to start somewhere and soon.”

FKCC’s Bio-fuel Future

Florida Keys Community College faculty and students will revitalize the Clark Maxwell Marine Environmental Habitat Center. Bill Trantham and Mark Woods plan to power the facility by using a small wind turbine that will run small ceiling fans and pumps needed to bring its environmental touch tanks back to life, allowing the public to view small native water creatures “eye to eye” without getting wet.
The college is also looking to power its new vessel, Salad Sailor, with bio-fuel provided from campus cafeteria waste. “We have to be in a creative mode to make this work,” Sullivan said. “We need to reduce the need to recycle and there are many imaginative ways to do this and I am anxious to help educate businesses and residents in these ways.”

Liam Fahey
Key West Citizen