Tag Archives: pollution

From 1996 to 2016, Gainesville had lost 11 percent of its tree canopy. But green spaces like Cellon Oak Park, home to Florida's largest live oak, help keep biodiversity alive in the city.

Gainesville got a little cleaner this past weekend as about 160 volunteers collected 19,121 pounds of trash during the fifth annual Clean Creek Revival, according to Megan Black, executive director of Current Problems, a nonprofit environmental group.

The City of Gainesville passed a plastic ban earlier this year. Some local scientists see this ordinance as a good first step, but don't think it goes far enough. Here are their proposals:

Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos has throughout 2018 driven the effort for “zero waste” Gainesville.

A local pastor has experienced firsthand the conflict between efforts to protect Gainesville's water systems and tight personal budgets.

About 150 volunteers with Current Problems Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting water resources in North Florida, recently collected 6,590 pounds of trash from creeks around Gainesville. Most of the trash likely came from flooding during Hurricane Irma, said Megan Black, executive director of Current Problems.

Megan Black said that nearly all creeks in the Gainesville area are considered “impaired.” This classification indicates that the water body has become so polluted that it no longer does its job properly, and county officials are taking notice.