Broward County employees incorporate green practices in their day-to-day routine to reduce their carbon footprint, and encourage other employees to "go green" at work and home.

“I have a 50 mile commute each day and last month gave up my premium gas guzzler for a hybrid car. Now I purchase regular gas every two weeks, drive in the HOV lane and enjoy a better commute. I’m very happy and so is the environment!

I’ve also changed my habits with mobile device rechargers. I no longer let rechargers sit in the outlet unattached to a charging device. Now that I understand how rechargers act as vampires of electrical power, I never leave the recharger in the wall.

Last, I am a convert to reusable shopping bags. No longer do I shop at Publix and exit with plastic bags. I have a permanent stash of cloth bags that I empty and keep in my trunk.”

Shelly Turetzky
Senior Writer/Administrative Manager
Office of Public Communications

Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

“I am contributing to cleaner air by bicycling to work every day. My commute is 6.8 miles one way – it takes me about 40-45 minutes each way to get to work. I have been doing this for over 3 years now, and the benefits are not only for myself – I am in excellent health – but this is also a great way to keep Broward beautiful. Before I started biking, I had many health issues like rheumatoid arthritis, pain in my back and knees, weight gain etc. Now, after 3 years, I enjoy my bike ride every day, it is my way of winding down after work, getting my exercise and feeling good about the environment. Please spread the word – biking is like a miracle drug – it really works!”

Ilse Lampner
South Regional Library

Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

As a member of Broward County’s Pollution Prevention, Remediation, and Air Quality Division, I take pride in “practicing what I preach.” While I have not reached the level of efficiency I aspire to, I do my fair share to reduce my impact on the environment. I drive a fuel efficient vehicle. I walk, take public transportation, and carpool whenever I can. I look for and use energy efficient appliances, electronics, and consumables (especially CFLs) in my home. I use programmable timers on the central air conditioner and water heater so they are working very little or not at all unless people are home. I use trees and shrubs (outdoors) and heavy curtains (indoors) to minimize heat entry into my home to further reduce A/C usage. I turn off electronics, lights, and appliances when I leave a room. If weather permits, I dry clothes on a clothesline until almost dry before giving them a final tumble in the dryer for added fluffiness. I use water-conserving toilets, as well as aerators for faucets and showers with mid-stream shut-off valves…I even use a water conserving car wash kit. Additionally, when I no longer need things that are still useful (i.e., functioning electronics, clothes, towels, etc.), I donate them to agencies that can provide them to people or animals that will benefit from them. I recycle ANYTHING that can be recycled, whether it is recycled by my local waste collection agency at work or at home, or specialized recyclers. While I do not compost for myself, I collect food waste than can be composted for several of my coworkers as well as the Broward County Government Center West garden. I hope to be able to incorporate solar panels and rain collectors into my master plan minimize my impact on this earth sometime in the future. That is the goal. 

Ana Suarez
Natural Resource Specialist II 

Posted: Thursday, February 7, 2013

I believe everything we do to help the environment makes a difference, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. If we all make one change in our daily routine the results can be substantially large. I bring my own bags to Publix to help save with the use of all the plastic bags we consume daily, after I realized one day I had 14 plastic bags in one grocery run at the store. Also, I pay all my bills on line to avoid receiving paper statements, it saves energy as no letter needs to be delivered to my house or the company I am sending the payment to, as well as the savings from paper including all the advertisement companies include with the bills.

Ileana Suarez-Hale
Broward County Chemist II 

Posted: Monday, November 7, 2011

Congratulations to Robert Hickey of Broward County Transit, winner of Pollution Prevention, Remediation and Air Quality Division’s Greening the Holidays Challenge. Hickey persuaded his neighbors to use their holiday lights every other night (i.e., odd numbered addresses one night, and even ones the next) and purchased energy-efficient bulbs for his tree. He made 80 percent of his decorations and reduced shopping trips by purchasing gifts online, and installed a new air conditioning unit for his home.  

Robert Hickey
Broward County Transit

Posted: Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I bring my own plastic container for leftovers whenever I go out to lunch or dinner. That way, I help save money, calories, and the planet all at once! I always turn off my power strip and light over my cubicle when I am leaving my cubicle to go out into the field, which is most days of the week. I re-use the back of blotter calendar pages, for posting charts for facilitations and presentations.

Andrea L. Zabel, M.Ed.
Child Care Quality Technician
Community Partnerships Division

Posted: Monday, December 13, 2010

"I have biked to work for my entire Broward County career of six years, and with training from the Broward County Naturescape  Program, I converted my back yard, front yard, and boulevard area into a Florida friendly yard.  Kestrels, Hummingbirds, Swallowtail butterflies and much more are now my neighbors."

Elizabeth Falkenhagen
Equal Opportunity Investigator
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Professional Standards

Posted: Tuesday, November 30, 2010

“I feel fortunate to work for environmental protection because for me, saving the planet is not just a job, but a real passion. Some examples of what I do at work include using mugs and silverware instead of throw-away plastic; print almost everything on the backside of scrap paper; print only on the “draft” setting to save toner (this is easy to do); walk to lunch or the library instead of driving; carpool twice a week; and shut down my computer each night instead of simply logging off. I even turn my power strip off each weekend which eliminates any vampire power. I share these ideas with others and hope that they can learn from my example.”

Scott Strauss
Natural Resource Specialist II
Pollution Prevention, Remediation and Air Quality Division

Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010 

“I have a reusable lunch kit. I brought a fork, spoon, knife, plate and bowl from home to use at lunchtime. This eliminates having to use plastic silverware, paper plates and Styrofoam cups. I also have mismatched cloth napkins that I picked up at a clearance sale, so I don’t need to use paper napkins or paper towels. Here at the Long Key Nature Center we try to make double-sided copies whenever possible. However, we keep a box near the copier and laser printer where we place any paper that still has a usable side. Everyone in the office is able to use this paper as a substitute for notebooks or sticky notes. I cut the paper into eighths and keep the scraps in a pretty box on my desk. In this way, we are able to reuse the paper before we recycle it.”

Kelli Whitney
Parks Naturalist II, Long Key Nature Center
Parks and Recreation Division

Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010 

“Greening your work place is the right thing to do whether you believe in global warming or not. One of the things that I do on a personal level is manually turning off my computer monitor when I go away for lunch or a meeting. I also use misprints as notepaper before recycling them, and I enable the energy savings mode on the copy machine immediately after use if nobody is waiting behind me. I digitize documents for record keeping and sharing purposes, and I use task lighting only when necessary.”

David Cabrera
Energy Engineer
Facilities Maintenance Division

My husband worked hard on renovation projects at home. It was the year that we went “green”― really “GREEN." After much research, we added 5.3 kilowatt solar energy panels on the roof. The panels are thin, flexible and adhere to our metal roof. Our “green” initiative continued when my husband replaced all of our home light fixtures with compact florescent or LED lighting. Our 17-year-old air conditioner was replaced with a high efficiency 16 SEER unit. Finally, my husband bought two induction-cooking burners that heat pans and skillets. The pan gets hot very quickly and cooks the food faster, while using less electricity than traditional cook-tops. Believe it or not, the burner stays cool! With all the new additions, our recent electric bill dropped 66 percent from the same timeframe the previous year.

Leslie Stout
Media Services Manager 
Office of Public Communications

Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010