Incessant Expressions

I just found an update, or rather more information, about the move to seek certification via Boca Raton News. It seems that for Assistant City Manager Mike Woika grabbing the lowest hanging fruit is OK. The city is applying for ’silver’ status which is the lowest certification available from Florida. I’m amazed this level even exists, it only requires applicants to meet 20%-40% of about 221 areas of certification. So the city only has to meet 44 points of certification to just squeeze by? I’m fairly certain most booming cities can do this in their sleep and this is both laughable that the level exists and pathetic that our city is aiming so low.

Setting the bar low on purpose

While I’m not privy to any of the city’s plans, they’re more than likely setting the bar low on purpose. I can imagine that this is being done so that in case the city easily passes silver or even gold certification, it’ll look like a great victory. However, if it fails at the lowest level, it’s not that much of a failure when you put it in perspective that the gold certification requires over 60% of points to be met. From what it seems like according to the Florida Green Building Coalition (the non-profit actually putting forth the certification standards Boca is applying for), much of this is aimed directly at the local government and their own municipal practices although I do have a feeling the higher levels of certification will touch on or include many of the gripes from my previous post. I can’t be certain because the full standard is very vague in its language but admittedly, more than likely has to be vague. They cannot specify that you treat — or re-treat — reclaimed waste water in certain ways or use it in certain ways but the use of reclaimed water does earn you a point or two. I see that 1 point is awarded for LEED or FGCB certified buildings per 10% of owned or leased buildings. That’s great but I don’t recall there being any LEED buildings in Boca…yet.

Is it still greenwash?

By all means, yes. It’s greenwash up and down. One quip from Woika is that Boca makes “environmentally sensitive land acquisitions.” Of course they do. That’s why the government is slowly selling off conservation and reserve land to developers for strip malls and multi-family residences. Developers who are concerned about building out and building quickly, not building up (very few buildings in the entire city are over 4 or 5 stories) or building “green”. He also is quick to point out that Boca is a leader in recycling. I’d love to know where he got this bunch of BS. We can’t recycle electronics in this city, we have to go to Broward County or closer to West Palm Beach to do that. Many city-owned and privately-owned malls, parks, and other public areas lack any recycling bins/cans at all. Can you recycle your trash from the food court at Town Center Mall? Nope. Can you recycle your waste at Sugar Sands Park? Nope. That’s both city and privately funded. Are any of the trash cans scattered around the city at various bus stops and grassy areas designated for recycling? Again, no. To become a leader in recycling, you have to make it available to your populace, Mike. Just recycling at home isn’t enough and never will be. At FAU, all trash cans on the Breezeway (the main walk-way on campus, also functions as the campus’s main even area) are flanked by a plastic recycling bin and a paper recycling bin. Both are rarely used for their correct purpose and many of FAU’s on-campus students are from Boca or surrounding areas. Where’s the leadership in recycling there? Since it’s a state facility, the local government exerts its own influence but recycling isn’t one area it does so. However, we — my girlfriend and myself — are going to be working on this in the fall once school starts again.

How to help Woika get his head out of the sand

Residents can help by attending town hall meetings and calling for public dissemination of Boca’s sustainable or environmentally-friendly endeavors. We can also help by calling Woika’s bluff that Boca’s a “leader” in anything but bad drivers and snowbirds (and the go-to destination for old timers in movies). I wonder if he lives in the same city that I do. I frankly don’t see much sustainable anything going on. I don’t see LEED buildings all over the place or even LEED certification being promoted or incentivized (is that a word?). Or gas stations being urged to carry biofuels past E10 or E15 gasoline. There are no stations in this city providing any type of biodiesel, natural gas, hydrogen, or any other alternative fuel source. The most we have are Shell stations providing E10 gas by default these days but at $4.10 average cost per gallon, who cares? By now, we all know that food-based ethanols are, simply put, “pissing on your shoes” in terms of weaning anyone off oil. Why doesn’t the city build more sidewalks, bike lanes, or provide free premium parking for alternative energy source cars? FAU will be providing those in the fall for anyone driving a hybrid or an EV car; personally they should include motorcycles and scooter as well since they’re both very efficient. Or what about sponsoring city-wide bike rallies to increase public awareness of riding a bicycle to work? Most of the city’s Hispanic and Mormon population already have this down pat but everyone else? It’s a lost cause without education rammed down their throats. Increasing public awareness, public and city culpability and accountability will do more for sustainability than a certification will.

I sound like I’m coming down pretty hard on my home of the last 4 years, and I am for good reason, but at least they’re attempting a step in the right direction. My hometown is still stuck somewhere between blacks getting integrated in the 60s and the 80s. Or the town where my Mom lives is some kind of odd mixture of farm culture circa 1940s and early 2000s glitz of strip malls. I’m very interested in where this certification will go but only if Boca’s government truly puts themselves behind it and they make it a green reality instead of greenwash.

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