Tools

Challenges presented by environmental change and concerns require solutions that involve local governments, non-profit organizations, private developers and residents. Here, we highlight a few of the ongoing eco-friendly efforts made by these groups.

Defining the Problems

Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, a council of central Arkansas governments, says the three main environmental issues are global warming, the end of cheap oil and the scarcity of critical natural resources, particularly water. "We do crystal ball stuff here. We do long-range planning. These are some long-range issues that all our communities are going to have to be dealing with," he says. The crystal ball-gazers have a name for it: "adaptation planning." And Metroplan is in the thick of such planning.

"The economic development game of the future is going to be metropolitan areas around the globe competing with each other," McKenzie says. "And the more energy efficient we are, the more competitive we'll be from an economic development standpoint and the more our citizens will benefit from that."

Meeting the Challenges

Metroplan leads a partnership of agencies and private businesses in the "ozone action days effort," in which it informs the public about ozone standards and issues alerts when the area is experiencing high ozone levels.

It also is the sponsoring agency for the Central Arkansas Clean Cities Program, a Department of Energy program focused on developing alternative fuels. Metroplan, which for the last seven years has been using hybrid-electric vehicles, also runs a pilot program with the area's public schools that has some school buses using biodiesel.

Metroplan is working with the Mid-Arkansas Water Alliance to identify new long-term water resources. "I think we'll be in good shape and have the ability to draw people here because we will have abundant high-quality water," McKenzie says.

"In the crystal ball you see these dark storm clouds," he says. "But storms also wash away old things and let new things grow, and there are incredible business opportunities in this change."

Reclaiming and Preserving Green Spaces

Arkansas is known for its abundance of natural resources, so it's vital to maintain biologically diverse wildlife and green space.

Working with a wide range of partners - including the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the state Highway and Transportation Department, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the city of Little Rock, the city of Bryant, Riggs Tractor, Little Rock Wastewater Utility, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey - Audubon Arkansas has targeted the Fourche Creek Watershed to improve wildlife habitat, water quality and public awareness of watershed issues.

The group conducted stream restoration and habitat improvement projects, including the removal of 5 acres of pavement and four buildings as part of a green space creation and stream restoration project at the south end of UALR's campus. The Fourche Creek Watershed partners also have gathered extensive data on water quality, wildlife and rare plants found in the watershed.

Another stream restoration project in Little Rock was completed by ECO, a local environmental nonprofit, on a stretch of Swaggerty Creek in Crump Park. The group removed the concrete channel the creek had been flowing in, restored a natural meander to the creek, and planted native wildflowers and trees along its banks. The result is a more scenic city park that provides a valuable habitat to fish, birds and butterflies and educational and recreational opportunities to local residents and children at the nearby Boys and Girls Club.

The city and county also have completed a series of green projects that seek to encourage people to enjoy the area's natural resources. Projects such as the Big Dam Bridge, the River Trail and Little Rock's ever-expanding network of land and water trails along city creeks improve citizens' health, quality of life and awareness of local environmental resources.

Sustainable Buildings

Nearly eight years ago, the U.S. Green Building Council developed a green building rating system branded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and today Arkansas has nine certified buildings and 35 other registered projects.

The LEED rating system is a tool for designing, constructing and operating buildings that minimizes destructive environmental impact. The LEED system involves all the stakeholders: owners, design professionals, contractors and product suppliers.

The LEED rating has six categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation. The goal is to achieve as many credits as possible in each category, resulting in a healthy building or home that uses as little energy and water as possible, provides natural daylight and views, supports the local economy by sourcing regional materials, restricts interior building products that off-gas toxins, uses recycled or rapidly renewable products, and diverts construction waste from landfills.

Five years ago there were no LEED-certified buildings in Arkansas. Today, the list is growing, and these have earned LEED certification:

  • Heifer International, Little Rock, Platinum
  • William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, LEED New Construction-Silver: the center recently made additional changes and has achieved LEED Existing Buildings-Platinum
  • Camp Aldersgate Commons Building, Little Rock, Gold
  • Winrock International, Little Rock, Gold
  • Fayetteville Public Library, Silver
  • Argenta Community Development Corporation, North Little Rock, Certified
  • Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Little Rock, Certified
  • Innovation Center University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Certified
  • Sylamore Ranger District Office, Mountain View, Certified

Green Neighborhoods

Arkansas is seeing an increase in sustainable homes as well. Several new green neighborhood developments are in the early phases of construction, and the Rock 3 Project, consisting of three green homes in Little Rock's downtown Soma district, is complete.

The visionary behind this small enclave of modern homes is Page Wilson, co-founder of Paul Page Dwellings. The square homes, a contemporary take on the two-bedroom, two-bath bungalow, were designed with cutting-edge and low-tech green materials.

"Until now, environmentally efficient or forward-thinking homes have been available only to the wealthy people who are able to build them," Wilson said in an e-mail interview. "The Rock 3 spec homes were designed and built for average homeowners."

In addition to the homes' smaller size, which means lower heating and cooling bills, Wilson and architect Rick Redden made simple changes to keep energy bills low. They oriented the homes to maximize the warmth of the sun in the winter and placed trees to provide shade in the summer. The homes are lit with CFLs throughout and were finished with low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, primers and stains.

Recycling E-Waste

Current research shows that more than 70 percent of an estimated 220 million tons of electronics and computer products is disposed of in landfills each year. This equipment poses environmental hazards, as PC monitors can contain several pounds of lead, and circuit boards harbor lead, mercury, arsenic and flame-retardant chemicals.

A new law on the books in Arkansas bans all electronic components (computers, televisions, DVD players, VCRs, battery-operated toys, etc.) from landfills by January 2010. The Pulaski County Regional Solid Waste Management District has been collecting and recycling e-waste since 2004.

Today, the district has established five more permanent electronics recycling centers, each of which is equipped with a 16-foot cargo trailer designed to store and haul computers, monitors, copiers, printers, VCRs, DVD players, radios, stereos, fax machines, paper shredders, cell phones, microwaves and other electronic equipment. About 72,000 pounds of electronic equipment are collected at each site every year. Directions and hours, as well as a complete list of accepted items, can be found at Pulaskiswdistrict.org.

Yet another unique local resource is Green-Fed II. This statewide program allows you to print a mailing label off the Web, box up your old computers, video games, cell phones and other electronics, and ship them off to a recycling center. For labels and more info, visit Unicor.gov/recycling/greenfed.

Biofuels

When the Eastman Chemical Co. plant near Batesville began producing biodiesel from soybean oil in 1995, it was the first facility in the state to do so. In 2006, Eastman sold the plant to FutureFuel Chemical Co., which set out to double its biodiesel production. Accredited by the National Biodiesel Board as a BQ-9000 producer, FutureFuel produces 24 million gallons of biodiesel per year, with additional production capacity scheduled for 2008.

According to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Arkansas farmers plant 3.3 million acres of soybeans annually, and the poultry industry in Arkansas generates 11,686 tons of chicken fat each year. These and other Arkansas agricultural products are perfect feedstock for the production of biofuels, renewable fuels derived from natural oils or animal fat.

Two commercially popular biofuels can be found at fuel stations across Arkansas. Ethanol-10 is a blend of 90 percent regular unleaded gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. The other product is biodeisel-20, a blend of 80 percent diesel fuel and 20 percent of a bio component that is acquired from agricultural products. E10 can be used in any gasoline engine with no modification necessary. And B20 can go in any vehicle with a diesel engine with no conversion required.