This September, we’re exploring the most impactful actions we can take to be more sustainable. Inspired by Project Drawdown and sponsored by the Bexley Community Foundation, Capital University, and Simply Living, we’re excited to learn alongside you and take action towards a more sustainable future!
Ambitious action is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep the increase in average global temperature below 2—but preferably 1.5—degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Unfortunately, we’ve already raised the temperature by over 1 degree since 1880. The actions must be big, and they must be implemented on a large-scale, worldwide.
Not all actions are equal, and not all actions are applicable. This month, we’re exploring the most impactful actions that can be taken by Bexleyites, and hope you’ll join us!
This Green Bexley initiative invites neighbors to share their garbage toters with residents disposing of dog waste in a tied bag. Participants adhere a sticker to the top of their garbage toter to let neighbors know that they're sharing their trash can!
Stickers are available for pickup at Bexley City Hall and at the Bexley Public Library.
Thank you to the Bexley Community Foundation for funding this initiative and to you for helping to keep Bexley clean!
We are pleased to work with community partners and nearby local governments to offer niche recycling events at various points throughout the year; yard sign (election years only), string lights, and Styrofoam. Each collection has its own requirements; please see our social media pages for more details.
The Frizz can’t join us, but these tours to SWACO’s Landfill and Rumpke’s MRF will be exciting nonetheless. Sign up at bit.ly/GBFallTours.
The Great Green Bexley Independent Study Program is coming to a student near you!
TGGBISC is a self-paced, home-based, differentiated program for students in grades k-12 who live or learn in Bexley. The program has students learning, planning, changing, and advocating for a different sustainability topic each month, with up to eight prizes awarded monthly.
This year, we've added a "lite" challenge to coincide with each month's full program, and thanks to the Bexley Community Foundation, select participants will be able to win a "lite" prize!
The program can be found at bit.ly/TGGBISC21-22.
We’re thrilled to partner with The Sierra Club to bring Bexley the following events in honor of Plastic Free July! Join us in person and on Zoom to learn why plastic free is the way to be!
This program is about collaboration, sustainability, creativity and beauty. It is transforming our underutilized alleys into extended living space for everyone to enjoy, while creating our own Homegrown National Park in Bexley with native plants that support our pollinators and biodiversity.
Participants have the month of May to work on their alleys: planting native plants and rain gardens, adding benches, and installing temporary and permanent artwork in gardens, on fences, and on garages. You could even celebrate your new space you’ve created with neighbors by naming and hanging an alley name sign. This is a chance to collaborate with friends and neighbors to make your alleys greener and more beautiful! There will even be some garden installation teams to assist in creating this vision.
Learn more and register at www.bexley.org/loveyouralley.
Pick up with us, or on your own. Ever bit counts!
You’re got stuff, and we’ve got solutions! Drive by to discard your items that can’t be placed in our curbside recycling in a sustainable manner.
What an amazing world, with so much to explore. Join us at The Kids' Green Bexley Boot Camp as we learn all about the natural world that surrounds us and ways to protect it.
"We will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”
The Green:Bexley Fair is a fun, hands-on festival to celebrate sustainable living. We have an outrageously exciting lineup of partners, including Tesla, Smart Columbus, The Bug Guy, Bring the Farm to You, and so many others!
The fair will be celebrated at Maryland Avenue Elementary school grounds on April 27th from 11 am - 1 pm, and will be the culmination of a week long celebration of the Earth and environment.
In late 2019, we launched our inaugural Green Bexley Boot Camp. This six event series covered numerous topics, all relating to sustainability. Program participants learned new ways to “green” up their daily routine, host a sustainable birthday party, ways they can make their homes more sustainable, and much more. For more information on the program, check out www.bexley.org/bootcamp.
In 2019, the City of Bexley is partnering with SWACO and the Recycling Partnership to provide 96 gallon recycling toters to each residence. The toters will encourage a larger volume of recycling, and help mitigate against recycling materials being lost from open carts due to weather conditions.
Find out more about the new toters at http://www.bexley.org/recycle and recent FAQs at http://www.bexley.org/news/new-recycling-carts-are-on-their-way.html .
In 2019, Bexley expanded curbside residential food waste recycling to the entire community. Bexley is the first community in Ohio to launch a community-wide curbside food waste program. To sign up for service, please visit www.bexley.org/food-waste.
Alum Creek is the western border of the City of Bexley, and is a vital watershed and natural resource to the region. In 2014, the City enacted a riparian overlay for Alum Creek, providing guidelines for development along the creek in order to reduce erosion and runoff, and enhance the quality of the waterway.
The Bexley Arboretum spans neighborhoods, streets, parks, and pockets of oasis throughout our City. What makes our City unique enough to warrant arboretum status? Purpose. For over a hundred years, the nurturing of trees and the evangelism of tree culture has been in our DNA. Our team of certified arborists oversees more trees within the City right-of-way alone than their are people in our City, and we have a proactive program to maintain the health of our tree population, replace trees that have died, and stabilize and diversify our portfolio of tree species.
Take a walk through Bexley and you'll quickly be drawn into the charm. Over 130 species of tree along the street, and our parks highlight the diversity of and quality of our tree collection. We've known for a long time that trees enhance quality of life and preserve property values by providing a critical environmental and aesthetic resource.
Thanks to grants from Nissan USA and the Bexley Community Foundation, the City offers Level II and Level III chargers at Bexley City Hall. Better still, chargers are powered 100% by renewable sources from a combination of onsite rooftop solar at City Hall and renewable wind energy credits from AEP.
Through our Zero Waste Plan, the City is dedicated to continuous and meaningful reduction of our community’s landfill contribution.
The City’s renewable energy efforts have included relaxing architectural review regulations around residential rooftop solar; creating Ohio’s first solar residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program; and installing substantial rooftop solar arrays at City Hall and the municipal service garage.