Living Green

What can you and your family do to be a part of the Green Tampa? There are countless opportunities to make meaningful efforts toward responsible, conscientious choices that will preserve our quality of life today and for generations to come. Links throughout this Web site will show you easy steps toward becoming part of the Green Tampa.

City of Tampa residents have the ability to reap the rewards of a stewardship approach to environmental, economic and social issues.

What is Sustainability?
Principles of Sustainability
Today's choices influence the tomorrow we will all inherit. To achieve the balance necessary for a sustainable community, our choices must be:

• Economically viable: we have to be able to afford them, today and tomorrow.
• Environmentally sound: they should have no negative impact on the environment.

• Socially equitable: they should be accessible to all groups, without favoring one class over another.

Make Living Green fun. Get the whole family involved! It is easy to achieve and to teach. For instance, what does reduce, reuse, recycle mean to you? To your family?

Why Living Green is important?
Our appetites as consumers are often much greater than our planet's capacity to support those appetites. We see all around us that climate change is real. We know we cannot continue to alter the forces of nature without devastating effects. We need to discover new ways to respect and work with nature more effectively.

As individuals, we can make these changes one choice at a time. The products we buy, the cars we drive, the places we choose to live and work and play all influence tomorrow's possibilities. Our role in living green is a very important one for a sustainable Tampa!

What You Can Do

• Drive less - Bicycle/walk more  - Walking, bicycling, taking transit, and carpooling all reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially and also save money and improve local air quality.

• Get on the Bus - View information on routes and fare from HART. 

• Drive Smarter - Drive a fuel efficient car. Don't idle your engine more than 30 seconds.  

• Buy fuel-efficient cars -A growing number of hybrid and other highly efficient vehicles are now available, some of which get over 50 mpg.  Before you buy a car, compare the efficiency of different vehicles and choose the most fuel-efficient vehicle that meets your needs.

• Buy green power - Residential and small business customers of  Tampa Electric Company (TECO) can buy electricity generated from renewable resources. The green power offerings can be purchased for all or a portion of your electricity use. Find your utility's green power program. 

• Save money and energy. Have you ever wondered just how much energy you are using and how much it is costing you? Use the energy/appliance calculator to find out.

• Reduce, reuse and recycle - Recycling generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than throwing things away, but reducing waste in the first place is an even better way to reduce emissions and conserve resources. See the City of Tampa's Solid Waste Recycling Division website.

• City's Curbside Recycling Program Expands!
     PREPARATION of Recyclables:
       Please remove caps and lids and discard
       Please place all paper in a brown paper grocery bag
       Please remove the vellum windows from all envelopes
       No need to remove labels
       Please rinse all containers before placing them in your bins

• Plant trees - In addition to improving water and air quality, trees remove CO2 from the air as they grow. The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods and Florida Friendly Yards websites provides information on trees that are appropriate to plant in Florida.  The non-profit organization Florida-Friendly Landscaping also has a variety of  information to help people plant, care for, and learn about trees and landscapes.

• Conserve Water - Call the City's Water Department to ask how you can reduce your use by using water more efficiently. Customers may be eligible for rebates, programs, and materials which can help them lower their water bills. Visit the city of Tampa's Water Conservation Section's website for more information. The Tampa Water Department's Water Conservation Program  is designed to reduce demands on Tampa's water supply by increasing the efficiency of water use within our service area. Our award winning programs are compromised of various components including both indoor and outdoor conservation efforts.