Sustainability

Alachua County has over a decade of initiatives and programs dedicated to creating a more sustainable community stretching from the 1999 Alachua County Sustainability Projects Ad Hoc Committee, to the most recent, Energy Conservation Strategies Commission in 2008. In each endeavor the County, representatives of the business community, local institutions and private citizens have met to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of our great grandchildren to have the same quality of life.

On this site you will find resources to programs dedicated to, or having an important role in promoting sustainability within Alachua County. Every resource on this site might not meet the three-way sustainability test of having long term social, economic and environmental benefits. However, they are still included for the community's consideration and discussion. It is hoped that these ideas may be modified over time to better meet the three-way test and as part of an Alachua County government's direction towards sustainability. We encourage you to read Alachua County's Declaration for a resource-efficient and resilient community. It represents a summation message of sustainability that is being shared and discussed at an international level based on this community's collective work. (see attachment)

The term "sustainability" is used in Alachua County to describe activities that include, but are not limited the following goals:

• Tend to improve social conditions for all kinds of people
• Increase economic opportunities
• Improve environmental protection or restoration efforts
• Will continue to have these effects for the foreseeable future

Sustainable decision making strives to achieve a triple bottom line of benefits for all citizens that enhances the environment, economy and society.

Using the diagram on the left, a triple bottom line approach shows that the greatest benefit for people, profit and planet is achieved in actions that are overlapped by all three spheres. These areas of overlap, as seen in in illustration, represent critical areas for collaboration and dialogue in the community.