Americana 2009, an international trade show held in collaboration with the Canadian government and the province of Quebec, invited a five-member Atlanta delegation to make a presentation March 19 about efforts to create a “sustainable” city – one that does not buckle under the weight of its own growth.

As a sign of its commitment to the environment, the city of Atlanta has pledged to reduce its greenhouse emissions 7 percent by 2012, Luz Borrero, the city’s deputy chief operating officer, told the Americana audience.

Mayor Shirley Franklin was one of the first mayors in the U.S. to sign an agreement pledging to meet or exceed carbon reduction targets in the Kyoto Protocol, Ms. Borrero said. “We were one of the pioneer cities in this regard,” she said. “We know the opportunities to reduce our greenhouse emissions are great, particularly now with the federal government focus on green job creation and green energy.”

Ms. Borrero explained the Atlanta Beltline project, a 22-mile stretch of historic rail segments around the city that is being transformed into a network of parks, trails, transit and housing.

The project will add 1,300 acres of green space, she said, adding that it will also involve environmental cleanup of contaminated sites in the corridor, she added.

Lynette Young, executive director of the private group, Sustainable Atlanta, recounted that Atlanta in 2007 was named the asthma capital of the United States, in part because of severe air pollution.

“We’re happy to say in 2009 we’re now fourth instead of first,” said Ms. Young, Atlanta’s former chief operating officer. “We’re moving in the right direction but not quickly enough.”

Reducing a city’s carbon footprint by cutting the amount of fuel used, water consumed and pollution emitted, takes the entire community working together she said.

Sustainable Atlanta is soon expected to present to Ms. Franklin a proposed city ordinance on sustainable building standards.

The ordinance would cover the construction of all commercial and multi-family buildings in the city, said Ms. Young. Builders would have to go by one of four sets of standards designed to reduce impact on the environment. One of those is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

“We’re going to face challenges as we move along the whole way,” said Ms. Young. “We’ve got to get everybody trained. We’ve got to get the city staff trained. We’ve got to get developers, builders trained and we’ve go to make sure they’re all speaking the same language.”

Joe Basista, commissioner of Atlanta’s Public Works Department, told the Montreal audience that the city will soon begin a program that offers coupons for those who recycle. Currently only about 40 percent of the city’s 100,000 customers recycle, he said. They are charged $30 a year for the service.

About 10,000 Atlanta households will soon be given larger recycling bins – 96-gallon containers compared to the current 18-gallon bins - which will also be embedded with chips that weigh the material to be recycled. The customer can then go on a Web site and redeem coupons to local commercial establishments based on the amount they recycled, said Mr. Basista.

“I’m convinced that in the single-family market in Atlanta, the children of these families will catch on very quickly,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of children-related coupons. I suspect that will be our main target audience.”

The city expects the pilot program to double recycling participation to 80 percent of households. The pilot program will eventually be expanded to all 100,000 customers, Mr. Basista said.

“Really, the challenge there is one of finance,” said Mr. Basista. “Putting 100,000 bins in the hands of my customers has a price tag of about $5 million.”

There are many other environmental improvements the city would like to make, if only it could find the funds, Mr. Basista added.

For example, the city would like to convert methane gas into energy at its three closed landfills but it lacks the funds.

“We need to be able to have a private entity upfront provide the funding to own and operate that system,” said Mr. Basista. 

A similar funding problem exists with installing energy-efficient streetlights. Atlanta currently has a $7 million annual power bill for streetlights. It has explored converting to light-emitting diode or solar streetlights but doesn’t have the cash.

“Bring your money with you,” Mr. Basista advised trade show participants. “Bring some of those good Canadian dollars with you. What we need is someone who can figure out how to finance an operation like this. They would finance the retrofit of our streetlights and we would pay for that out of the savings generated.”

Robert J. Hunter, commissioner of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, said the city is experimenting with wind turbines to help power the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant, located at one of the highest and windiest points in the city.

Since much of Georgia’s electricity comes from coal-fired plants, producing power with other methods can reduce the city’s carbon footprint, he said.

He also welcomed companies to bid on projects to improve Atlanta’s water and sewer system, The city is expected to spend $300 million to $500 million annually on those projects over the next 10 years.

“There are a lot of business opportunities,” Mr. Hunter said. “We look forward to people coming in with new ideas and projects.”

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