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Environmental FAQs
Athens Experts Offer Advice on Living a Greener Lifestyle
W ith our carbon emissions creating a
climate catastrophe and our plastics
piling up in landfills and in the oceans, life
on Earth is in trouble. The problems can
seem overwhelming, but they’re not—yet.
So, from biking to recycling, Flagpole asked
local experts to weigh in on how we can all
live more sustainably, and what the local
government and the University of Georgia
are doing to help, too. [Blake Aued]
How will climate change specifically affect
Athens?
Pam Knox, UGA agricultural climatol
ogist: Climate change is already affecting
Athens’ weather and climate—it’s not
something that will just happen
in the future. Since about 1970,
temperatures in Georgia
have increased by more than
3.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nighttime temperatures
are rising faster than
temperatures during the
day. Scientists think that is
due to a combination of increased
urbanization (more concrete and
pavement) and higher humidity, which
make it hard to cool off once the sun goes
down. Hot nights are a big problem for us in
Athens, because humans (and our pets and
livestock) need cooler temperatures at night
to recover from the daytime heat stress in
summer. If we don’t get that relief, health
suffers, and death rates of vulnerable popu
lations go up.
Annual precipitation in Athens has
really not changed over the last 100 years,
although there is a lot of year-to-year vari
ability due to El Nino and La Nina, as well
as tropical activity. What has changed is
how the rain is falling. The heaviest rain
events, which we define as at least 2 inches
in a 24-hour period, have increased nearly
30%. More frequent heavy rains mean that
floods become more likely. We are also
experiencing longer dry spells between
rain events. That means more water stress
on plants and crops and more demand
for water during those dry spells. As tem
peratures get warmer, droughts are also
becoming more frequent due to increases
in evaporation from lakes and streams and
evapotranspiration from plants.
With the projected continued increases
in temperature and more variable precip
itation, the future Athens is likely to see
more heat waves and warmer winters, and
more variable weather in general, including
more floods and more droughts. How high
the temperatures rise in the future depends
on how we change our emissions of green
house gases, something that is much harder
to predict than weather or climate.
I know climate change is real, but some
of my friends and relatives don’t believe it.
How can I convince them?
Marshall Shepherd, director of the UGA
Atmospheric Sciences program: The
climate crisis is the challenge of our gener
ation, yet the narrative has been polluted
with special interests and political maneu
vering. It is not about “left” or “right.” It
is about our food, water, health, national
security, energy and infrastructure. We are
living through the results of climate change
now, and the impacts will accelerate.
Three things must happen to move
people forward on climate change under
standing: First, they have to move beyond
confirmation bias (consuming information
consistent with what they believe). Second,
we have to increase climate literacy. Too
many people think a cold day refutes
global warming or utter the cliche
statement, “The climate changes
naturally.” Well, duh. Grass
grows naturally, too, but
fertilize the soil, and it
grows differently. Third,
the connections must be
made between kitchen table
issues and climate change,
not abstract concepts. It is not
about some polar bear or the year
2080.
Recycling can be confusing. What are
some things I can recycle that I might not
know about, and what are some things
people try to recycle that end up contami
nating the stream?
Joe Dunlop, ACC waste reduction
administrator: Athens-Clarke County
has the best waste diversion programming
in Georgia. Residents and businesses can
divert more than 90% of their “waste” if
they take full advantage of local landfill-
diversion programs. After you send your
stuff to the mixed recycling collection
(curbside, dumpster or drop-off), CHaRM
(Center for Hard to Recycle Materials),
composting and Teacher Reuse Store or
area thrift stores, there’s just not much
left. And if greening your footprint isn’t a
good enough reason, try greening Georgia’s
economic impact—most of your recyclables
stay in Georgia. Of course, remember that
recycling comes after reduce and reuse. So
rethink your stuff.
Easy to recycle, but often landfilled:
• Cardboard. It’s not exciting, but about
750,000 tons of plain old cardboard
boxes still get landfilled in Georgia every
year (last we knew—the state of Georgia
stopped funding this sort of research).
• Aluminum cans. Duh. Ours go two
counties away to Novelis Aluminum in
Greensboro and find their way into prod
ucts like Ford F-150s. That’s just ’Murican.
• Paper for packaging and reading—not
eating or wiping. Most of Georgia’s paper
mills use at least some recycled content.
• Clean, rigid, plastic containers that are not
Styrofoam or other brands of foam plastic.
Caps can stay on.
• Glass bottles. Still recyclable in Athens’
mixed recycling collection.
Top Five “Joe’s No’s”:
• Plastic bags. Keep recyclables loose.
• Styrofoam. It’s got that No. 6, but cannot
survive the sorting process, and is too
light to efficiently ship to market.
• Food. Leftovers smear the clean paper.
• Scrap metal. Like a lot of items, your dead
lawnmower, worn drill bits and bent fry
ing pan are absolutely recyclable. Just not
in the mixed recycling collection.
If in doubt, throw it out. Better yet, ask
the experts by emailing recycle@accgov.com.
How can I make my home more energy
efficient?
Michael Songster, homebuilder and
environmental activist: If you think your
house uses too much energy, you’re proba
bly right. Don’t worry, you can fix it. I’m not
going to give you the top 10 things you can
do—go ahead and search the web for that—
but here are two easy ones.
Change your light bulbs to LEDs. Yes,
most folks have done this. If you haven’t,
don’t wait for an old
incandescent bulb to
burn out. Just change it.
Start with the fixtures
that you use the most.
Air seal and insulate,
starting with the attic.
There’s lots of informa
tion online about how
to go about this, and
when it comes to the
insulation part, get a
quote from an insula
tion company. They may
be able to do the job for
less than you can.
Now, for three that
don’t get talked about
much but can have a big impact: Replace
your water heater with a hybrid electric
heat pump water heater. They’re not cheap,
but they save so much energy, they pay for
themselves pretty quickly. Tired of cold
floors in the winter? Encapsulate your crawl
space. This means sealing the walls and dirt
with plastic sheeting, then insulating the
walls. Again, there’s good info on the web
about how to do this, and companies that
specialize in the work.
The real truth is, your house doesn’t
really matter. Everyone’s houses together
do matter, though, so either individually
or by joining a group, get involved in advo
cating for policies to reduce energy use
broadly, like programs that support low-in
come weatherization. Georgia is not great
on this front, and a widespread “pay as you
save” program would help a lot. Or policies
that encourage greater housing density,
because more people living in smaller
spaces use less energy. Policies that improve
energy codes for new construction would
save energy and lower the cost of home
ownership.
Does Athens-Clarke County have any
plans to improve its bike lane and side
walk network?
Hillary Essig, ACC bicycle, pedestrian
and safety coordinator: There are so
many projects and opportunities to look
forward to in 2020 for Athens in Motion,
the plan that guides our pedestrian and
bicycle projects. One of the most exciting
developments is our citizen-led Athens in
Motion Commission. It is the first of its
kind in Georgia and provides a standing
citizen committee focused on bike and
pedestrian transportation in Athens-Clarke
County.
As far as specific projects go, we already
have four projects approved for concep
tual design from the Athens in Motion
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan that the
Mayor and Commission approved in 2018.
Riverbend Road (College Station Road to
South Milledge Avenue), Cherokee Road
(Lexington Highway to Beaverdam Road),
and Jefferson River
Road (Old Jefferson
Road to Vincent Drive)
are all approved for
sidewalk concepts.
Additionally, the
ACC Transportation
and Public Works
Department is analyz
ing these roadways for
improved bike facilities
through our Complete
Streets Policy. One
other project, Barber
Street (Boulevard to
Chase Street), has
already been approved
for both bike and pedes
trian concepts. Each of these projects are
serving as pilot projects to test TPW’s new
public outreach process. We completed com
munity walk audits along these roadways to
get more community perspective for TPW’s
conceptual designs that will be presented to
the Mayor and Commission this spring.
Though not specific to Athens in
Motion, the Firefly Trail section near the
Lexington Road Loop 10 interchange is
definitely something to be excited about.
The Firefly Bridge over Trail Creek will also
provide even more convenience to those
who bike and walk. I’m excited for this year
and hope to see readers at the monthly
Athens in Motion Commission meetings
on the fourth Tuesday each month at 4
p.m. at 120 Dougherty St. To learn more
about Athens in Motion, visit accgov.com/
athensinmotion.
Pam Knox
6 FLAGPOLE.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2020