March 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 14

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
BGo Green With Us
* Through food waste diversion,
donation
and
y Kelsey Davis
ecently, Tennessee State Parks were the recipients of the National
Association of State Park Directors' 2022 President's Award for
its Go Green With Us (GGWU) initiative. GGWU began in 2015
as a recycling initiative. Today, it's a comprehensive program that
implements sustainable practices throughout park operations and provides sustainable
options for park guests.
Participants of a Go Green With Us
annual training pose for a photo.
Creating the GGWU Program
Before
the
program launch,
encourages participation in other
sustainability programs, such as the
Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA's) Food Recovery Challenge,
Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary
Program, Groundwater Guardian
Green Program and more.
In the first year of the program,
no park reached Platinum, and only
three parks reached Gold. Five years
later, however, continued dedication
and lots of hard work led to 22 parks
reaching Gold and 28 achieving
Platinum recognition.
a
GGWU Committee compiled a
comprehensive guide outlining
actions staff and visitors can take
to effectively incorporate environmental
sustainability into all aspects
of park operations. During
the first year of rolling out its
guidelines, GGWU was a voluntary
program. As of October 2018,
the implementation of the guidelines
became mandatory for all 56
Tennessee State Parks.
Tracking Progress
Through Data
The program uses nine metrics for
evaluation. Through this process,
parks can earn Bronze, Silver, Gold
or Platinum recognition levels. Parks
accumulate points for completing
designated tasks within the GGWU
guidelines. Additionally, GGWU
14 Parks & Recreation | MARCH 2 0 2 3
Program Impacts
The program has had a significant
impact on environmental stewardship
and carbon footprint reduction.
A few examples include:
* Energy efficiency upgrades -
including LED lighting retrofits;
heating, ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC) replacements;
building envelope improvements;
low-flow water fixture installation;
water heater upgrades and EPA
Clean Air-certified wood burning
stoves - resulted in savings of $1.8
million, 18,685,662 kilowatt hours
and 14,576 tons of carbon dioxide
emissions through fiscal year 2021.
* Major recycling upgrades made
in 2018 helped capture and recycle
394 tons of material in 2021
and more than 1,068 tons of recycling
since installation.
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
R
composting,
Tennessee State Parks have diverted
208 tons of food waste
from landfills.
* Four Tennessee State Parks used
recycled tires to replace or renew
pathways, diverting more than
50,000 tires away from landfills.
* More than 300 cigarette butt
recycling receptacles have been
installed through a partnership
with Keep the Tennessee River
Beautiful to reduce waste and
keep waterways clean. This will
result in an estimated 16,365 cigarette
butts recycled annually.
* More than 40 water bottle filling
stations have been installed
across parks, leading to a decrease
of an estimated 647 million
single-use bottles annually
- the equivalent of 59,138 tons
of carbon dioxide prevented and
66.7 million gallons of water
saved in just the first year.
* Tennessee State Parks are partnering
with Rivian to install electric
vehicle charging stations.
GGWU improves the overall sustainability
of Tennessee State Parks
while simultaneously leading by
example and encouraging others
- such as park visitors, staff and
surrounding states - to join the
initiative. The biggest program results
have come from the dedicated
efforts of park staff who work every
day to reduce our environmental impact
and share enthusiasm and best
practices with park guests, all while
keeping the parks running smoothly
and protecting park resources.
Kelsey Davis is Sustainability
Coordinator for Tennessee State Parks at
Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation (kelsey.davis@tn.gov).
PHOTO COURTESY OF TENNESSEE STATE PARKS
March 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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