The City of Hilliard Sustainability Plan

Hilliard Sustainability Plan$50 for a 5 by 50 ft. section at a local home improvements store.Sturdier bins can be built with concrete blocks, which range in pricefrom $1.19 for concrete construction blocks to $2 for decorativegarden blocks, and wooden palettes, which can be secured for freefrom local businesses that are disposing of them. 108 Constructionmaterials could be donated by contacting local home improvementstores and organizing a partnership between them and the City.Still, the city should use a variety of materials to build differenttypes of compost bins in order to showcase diversity of aestheticand cost.» City administrators should begin identifying products in theiroperational stream that have biodegradable replacements. TheBiodegradable Products Institute maintains a list of approvedproducts that safely decay in the environment and in composting.These products include bags, food service items such as coffee cupsor plates, resins, and packing materials. A complete list is availableat the Biodegradable Products Institute website. 109 Switchingto biodegradable products that can be composted in the City’sown bins or at a composting facility would reduce the amount ofharmful plastics and other chemicals that enter the environmentfrom Hilliard’s own waste. Parties responsible: The Mayor andCity Council should work with each division of municipal publicservice to identify ways that biodegradable products can be easilyintegrated into operations. Cost: There is no cost associated withidentifying products that can be used in government operations.Compostable products may be priced higher than their noncompostablealternatives. For example, BioBag’s package of30-gallon heavy-duty garbage bags, which are made from corn,includes ten bags measuring 30” by 41”, costs $13.95, 110 and couldbe used in trashcans across the City.» In print and electronic publications, the City should promoteFranklin County’s existing composting facilities, such as theKurtz Brothers’ Central Ohio facility located on 2850 RohrRoad in Groveport. Parties responsible: Mayor’s Office, CityCouncil, and the Environmental Sustainability Commissionshould do this through their print and online publications.Cost: The responsible parties should use existing resourcesto publicize the existence and benefits of compostingfacilities in order to minimize costs. These promotionsshould be integrated into existing communicationsstrategies so that no new costs are incurred for printingor publishing. Aside from personnel costs associated withwriting and editing these promotions, which may beeliminated with the use of volunteer writers, this strategyof promotion through existing resources will not requireadditional funds.Medium Term (3-5 years)» Hilliard’s Mayor and the Environmental SustainabilityCommission should negotiate, partner, and collaboratewith the Franklin County Agricultural Society to makefood scrap waste containers and composting binsavailable at the Franklin County Fair. See sidebar “FranklinCounty Fairgrounds” for more information. Because theFairgrounds is used year-round by a variety of groups, itshould be equipped with indoor and/or outdoor disposalunits that can be emptied into onsite composting bins.Biodegradable bags and liners should be used to makethis process as clean and easy as possible. The AgriculturalSociety could then require County fair vendors to divertECON. EXECUTIVEENERGY DEV. &SOCIAL SUMMARY WASTE EQ.REDUCTION31