REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

The City of Aventura Promoting Green Initiatives and Enforcing County Code on Solid Waste

I like the steps the city of Aventura is taking with the City Programs to Promote Green Initiatives. Let me comment on your very last point which says, “An article in the next newsletter will address promoting individual condominiums and homeowners associations to institute or expand recycling programs. We also intend to feature and recognize successful programs in upcoming newsletters.” In parallel with promoting Green Initiatives, the city of Aventura should be enforcing what's already law. As said in this Conscious Recycling vflyer, Miami-Dade County has a code which requires all rental property owners and condominium associations to provide recycling programs.

Please refer to http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=10620&sid=9, Sec. 15-2.2. Recycling programs required for multi-family residential establishments. (a) No later than nine (9) months from the effective date of Ordinance Number 91-123, every multi-family residential establishment shall provide for a recycling program which shall be serviced by a permitted hauler or the appropriate governmental agency and shall include, at a minimum, the five (5) materials listed in Section 15-2.2 below.Recyclable Materials: Multi-family

(1) Newspaper
(2) Glass (flint, emerald, amber)
(3) Aluminum cans
(4) Steel cans
(5) Plastics (PETE, NDPE-natural, HDPE colored)(b) The failure of a multi-family residential establishment to provide a recycling program or a modified recycling program pursuant to Section 15-2.4 hereof shall constitute a violation of this section for which the property owner(s) shall be liable, provided, however, that in the case of a condominium or cooperative apartment having a condominium association or cooperative apartment association, said association, rather than individual unit owners, shall be liable for any such violation.(Ord. No. 91-123, § 4, 10-15-91) The core of the problem is that the government has not been enforcing the law as strictly as they should have. New laws and programs that set the conditions for a greener more sustainable world should be always welcome, but it’s equally important to begin enforcing those regulations that already exist. Otherwise, why wasting tax dollars, human resources and brain power to create them in the first place?

Submitted by:

Sebastian Aroca
Conscious Recycling Action Team

Have a Green Week, Sebastian

The City of Aventura has organized GO GREEN AWARDS. Have you seen the little signs all around town? To find out more information about how to vote check out the City of Aventura website. Click to get the GO GREEN application.

I think this is a very important CALL TO ACTION that the city is trying to promote. My concern is that not enough people will hear about it or those that do won't take the time to participate. Please pass it on, spread the word and VOTE!

City of Aventura, Fl. 33180 Fashion Report

Fashion Against Global Warming Available Right here in Aventura, Florida 33180

While many companies begin to “go green,” clothing companies have started taking responsibility for their contribution to the degradation of our environment. One company taking a step forward to raise awarness is C&C California. This corporation realizes the strong influence it has on a large consumer base. C&C California introduced Limited Edition Organic Tees. Their design contains written slogans of simple solutions for the everyday excesses that contribute to global warming.




Help demonstrate that style and sustainability make great partners. There are many boutiques in the City of Aventura that make these great pieces available - start influencing those around you.

Jessie's Boutique
20533 Biscayne Blvd
Aventura, FL 33180
United States of America
305-933-8198

TUPELO HONEY
3585 N.E. 207 ST.
AVENTURA, FL 33180
United States of
305-936-9300

Submitted by: Valerie Kwaterka

I like the idea that fashion and environmental awarness can come together. Like everything else, going to the extreme can get out of hand. Check out the movie clip.

Habitat for Humanity at Greynolds Park

The Greynolds Park Gods were smiling this past Friday because of the Lumpy Sue Music Festival. The City of Aventura has parks, such as Founders Park, but Greynolds Park is in a league of its own. Greynolds Park is one street over from Aventura, off of West Dixie Highway. Click on this link to learn more about this amazing local park - Greynolds Park. I encourage all Aventura residents to embrace Greynolds Park as their own.

The Lumpy Sue Festival has been going on for over ten years and helps raise money for Habitat for Humanity. This year's Lumpy Sue was a great time of music, family, friends, fun and sun. Greynolds Park is the perfect atmosphere for a mellow festival. Everyone who attended added to the positive experience.

There were lots of local musicians sharing their tunes and words of wisdom with the crowd. Everyone enjoyed the music and danced under the sun.

Here's a list of some of the musicians that played.

Yoni
Ellen Bukstel
Andy Waks
Jacob Groten
Mary Huddleston & Michael Waxman
Shauna
Diane Ward
Ratt

One of the greatest things about having the festival at Greynolds Park is the castle. This castle is rumored to have magical powers to make your wildest dreams come true. Visit the castle and see for yourself - the Wizard is there on Tuesday afternoons. Here's a photo of some of the crowd hanging out by the castle while listening to the live music.

This really was a huge success and I'm excited to attend next year's Lumpy Sue Festival. I had a great time with my friends and even made some new ones. I'd like to share a few of the photos I took that day. Hope you get an idea of the great time we all had.




Watch a clip of Habitat for Humanity in action.








As you can tell this Festival was a blast! Everyone had a great time and lots of money was raised for Habitat for Humanity. I'd like to thank all those who were involved in the planning and preparation for this event - THANKS FOR MAKING THE FESTIVAL A REALITY!

Eco-Friendly Home Improvements: Save Money Now, Make Money Later

Cool real estate article about improving your home and pocketbook with green energy! The residents of the City of Aventura, Florida 33180 can make a difference and adapt some of these changes in their Aventura condos.

read more digg story

Aventura Condos, Sunny Isles Condos, Golden Beach Homes Make Energy Change

I found the details about the first step people can take to save energy in either their Aventura Condos, Sunny Isles Condos, or Golden Beach Homes. The answer is LED light fixtures. The difference between incandescent and LED is the following: incandescent lighting consume 5,135 Watts (65 W per bulb), while LEDs consume 948 Watts (12W per bulb).




According to LED Lighting Fixture, Inc.’s, “On average in the United States, running a 65-watt light for 50,000 hours would cost $325 in electricity alone. Because the LR6 uses only 12 watts, running the light for 50,000 hours will cost only $60 under the same scenario. In addition, you will no longer spend time or money replacing lights. Over the lifetime of one LR6, you will save $265 dollars or more on your electric bill alone."

These numbers are very clear if you can make the change you should. If you cannot make the change you should pass the information on to others because maybe they can and will make the change. Spread the word. So if you are buying or selling a Aventura condo, Sunny Isles condo, or Golden Beach home make sure to consider LED. Aventura is striving to "go green," changing the lighting would be an excellent start. Imagine if the Aventura Mall changed it's lighting. How about if all real estate in Aventura was lit by LED? The change would be tremendous.

Let's make the first change in the places we live!

Solar Power in our homes

I believe that where we live and how we live are directly connected. The fact that we are in South Florida and are known as the "Sunshine State," should hint to a great resource - the sun. We get a lot of sunshine and it can help save us MONEY and ENERGY. This is a technology that has been around for many years, but most do NOT fully understand it. Today there was a great article I found at CNN.com on that subject and it gave me a full overview of the issue as it relates to our homes.

Here is an excerpt from the piece.

This weekend, Sacramento-based homebuilder Tim Lewis Communities is opening Amberleigh at Madeira, a new community of energy-efficient, solar-powered homes in Elk Grove, Calif. The planned 61 homes will feature building-integrated solar-electric power systems from SunPower Corporation , a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, commercially available solar cells, solar panels and solar systems. Tim Lewis Communities expects that the solar power systems, combined with the energy-efficient features, will save homeowners up to 60 percent on their electric utility bills.

Each of the new homes will be equipped with a 2.3-kilowatt SunPower SunTile(R) system that blends seamlessly into the roof and features the most-efficient solar panels available on the market.

"Recent studies have indicated that new homes equipped with SunPower systems are selling at about twice the rate as comparable homes in the same neighborhoods," said Bill Kelly, general manager of the New Homes Division at SunPower. "Energy prices are increasing, and Tim Lewis Communities recognizes that combining high-quality, energy-efficient features with SunPower systems will result in significant savings for homeowners."

read more click here

GREEN AVENTURA

Our first post back in September was about Aventura "Going Green." Click here to refresh your memory. This city is making a change and putting great methods into action. Everything the city does to make a difference and along with changes each individual can do will make a difference in our environment. Below is a recent article in th MiamiHerald.com reporting on this topic and a perfect update to the start of this blog.

Aventura leads by environmental example

BY ANDRES AMERIKANER
The city of Aventura can't force its residents -- particularly condo-dwellers -- to recycle, so it's choosing the next best thing: leading by example.
City leaders hope the city's Go Green initiative, which includes cutting down on paper use, buying hybrid cars and installing energy-efficient light bulbs, may persuade residents and neighboring cities to follow in its path.

''It's just a beginning, but it's an effort to show people in the community that we are making the first step,'' Mayor Susan Gottlieb said.

The city will reach out to schools -- through the science curriculum at the charter school -- and condos -- through a yet-to-be-determined set of awards and incentives -- to promote environmental awareness.

In the past six months, the city has reduced paper use significantly, said City Manager Eric Soroka. Documents such as agendas for meetings, records and backup information are being scanned and archived, many of them posted online on the city's website.

By scanning old documents, the city has saved 1,500 square feet of storage space, Soroka said.

The city also plans to replace its community services and code enforcement vehicles with a more energy-efficient fleet, and has been reducing energy costs by replacing light bulbs and other building materials.

Over the next few months, the city will begin implementing environmentally preferable purchasing, which means it will seek out goods and services that have less of a negative impact on health and the environment, Soroka said.

''This is something we all believe in,'' Gottlieb said.

Still on the back burner: Laptops for all city commissioners, which would reduce the need for paper even further.

In their September workshop meeting, commissioners passed around a sheet of paper with the new Go Green logo on it.

''It's the last piece of paper you'll ever see,'' joked Commissioner Zev Auerbach.

Aventura Going Green

I did some research on the City of Aventura website and discovered that Aventura is trying to "Go Green." The City Manager, Eric Soroka, signed an initiative to promote GREEN in our city. This link will take you to the pdf file on the city website City Programs to Promote Green Initiatives . This is a great start!

If you have any questions or concerns take a walk to the Aventura City Hall. It's located right near the Aventura Mall. The address is 19200 West Country Club Drive, Aventura, FL 33180 or call 305-466-8900. Here is the contact information of Eric Soroka, ICMA-CM City Manager 305-466-8910 FAX 305-466-8919 esoroka@cityofaventura.com


In case you cannot find it, look for this building.