252 | Business World Magazine |
April 2013
cy to adopt sustainability practices, simply
weren’t an issue in Winston-Salem. Accord-
ing to Sustainability Director Hardin, Win-
ston-Salem city operations only constitute
about two percent of the total green house
gasses emitted in Forsyth County. With
such as the case, Hardin says the city’s ad-
vancements are a byproduct of the proactive
vision of Mayor Joines and the city council.
“They saw what was happening around the
world and said, ‘We need to be part of it, or
be ahead of it.’ They made sustainability a
focus and determined to move forward and
make changes in our city,” he says.
At present, city staff is intently studying
data to allow for comprehensive reporting,
yet they have already identified some major
benefits resulting from their sustainability
initiative. For example, after making light-
ing retrofits in city buildings and convert-
ing city streetlights to L.E.D. systems, utility
rates that had averaged $113,000 annually
have now been reduced by $30,000. That
also equates to reducing green house gases
by more than 380 tons a year. Changes in
residential waste collection have led also led
to greater recycling. In equipping residents
with larger containers and moving collec-
tion to once a week, the community has
helped curb fuel usage for collection, but has
also seen a 25% increase in materials being
recycled which means less going into area
landfills. Ordinances involving runoff from
agriculture/farming has also led to improved
water quality of area streams and waterways.
And through the updating of pumps in mu-
