In 2008, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s leadership team made a formal commitment to aggressively and passionately pursue environmental stewardship and to develop a strong sustainability program that includes energy efficiency, water usage, storm water management, waste management, sustainable design and construction, and education outreach. This strong commitment towards being green led to the 2010 proclamation by Governor Strickland that stated the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden as being the greenest zoo in America. The Zoo is doing its part to conserve natural resources that are critical to saving wildlife and wild places by greening its daily operations and reducing its impact on the environment.
The Zoo's Go Green initiative addresses:
Water
The Cincinnati Zoo recognizes the importance of conserving water. Even though two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered in water, only a tiny percentage of it is available as clean, fresh water.
Pervious Pavement: In cities like Cincinnati, up to 30 percent of the land surface is covered with pavement, giving us places walk, drive and park. However, when it rains, all that pavement causes water to run off of roads and parking lots into sewer drains, contributing to flooding and pollution.
Learn More: Visit our Green Tips page to find out more about using pervious pavement in your own home. Read this fact sheet to learn more about "Pervious Pavement: When it Rains, It Drains".
Green Roofs: Instead of covering a roof with shingles, why not top it with living plants? That is exactly what a green roof is! Growing a green roof has many advantages, especially reducing stormwater runoff, retaining up to 75 percent of rainwater instead of allowing it to drain through the sewers. The plants on a green roof are very busy, filtering out pollutants as well as taking in carbon dioxide from the air and releases oxygen.
At the Zoo, a 2,400 square foot green roof grows on top of Giraffe Ridge Barn. This green roof is a test garden, planted with a variety of sedum and other plants. The Primate Center is also topped with a green roof, including a variety of plants, bushes, even trees! A sample of a green roof is houses in the Go Green Garden exhibit allows you to see up close what a green roof is planted with.
Learn More: To find out more about green roofs, read "What's Up with Green Roofs?", and visit our Green Tips page.
Rain Gardens: In a rain garden, water thirsty plants are grown in a low spot designed to temporarily collect rainwater from downspouts and pavement. This strategic placement of a garden helps reduce storm water runoff, pollution, erosion and flooding. A rain garden also purifies the fallen rainwater as the root systems of the plants filter out dirt and other particles before releasing it deeper into the soil. Like other gardens, a rain garden provides a beautiful landscape as well as a good habitat for wildlife. At the Zoo, rain gardens can be found at the Go Green Garden exhibit, in front of the Harold C. Schott Education Center and in the Vine Street Parking Lot. The Zoo has some of the most visible and diverse rain gardens in the region, providing a model for other institutions. The information from these test gardens will help determine the best practices for creating other rain gardens in our area.
Learn More: Visit our Green Tips page to find out how to grow your own rain garden and build your own rain barrel: "Filling up with Rain Barrel Knowledge".
Energy Efficiency
Electricity in the United States accounts for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions produced. This includes the energy used in our homes, schools and businesses. All of this energy used contributes to pollution, global climate change and the depletion of our natural resources. The Cincinnati Zoo recognizes the importance of energy efficiency, and is committed to reducing our use as much as possible.
- Upgrading to energy efficient light fixtures to energy efficient ones, as well as placing them on motion sensors so the lights automatically turn off when no one is in the room
- Replacing old equipment and appliances with more efficient boilers, furnaces, water heaters, refrigerators and freezers
- Unplugging any equipment that was not in use on a regular basis
- Using heating, ventilating and cooling systems that employ energy management equipment and software
- Harnessing renewable energy through solar panels, geothermal wells, a wind turbine and biomass
- Switching incandescent lights to LED lights for our Festival of Lights, reducing energy usage by 75 percent
Learn More: Find out how you can join the Zoo in reducing your energy use at home. Visit our Green Tips page for tips and resources on energy efficiency.
Renewable Energy
Solar Energy - What do green leaves, alligator scales, and solar panels have in common? They all harness the sun’s energy! Green leaves use the sun's energy to make food. Crocodile scales harness the sun's energy to stay warm. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity. Solar, or photovoltaic, cells are made of silicon, a semi-conducting element. These cells absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity without releasing carbon dioxide into the air like burning fossil fuels does. Carbon dioxide is the primary culprit of climate change, which is already threatening wildlife and their habitats around the world.
At the Zoo, solar panels have a become a regular sight. ti Zoo. A 20kw solar array adorns the roof of the Harold C. Schott Education Center, providing up to 25 percent of the energy needs to operate the building. 10kw solar panels are at the Go Green Garden Exhibit. These panels, along with the wind turbine, are providing more than a third of the power demands of the Membership and Ticketing Building. The latest solar panel project, a 1.56 megawatt array with 6,400 panels installed on a canopy structure will greet guests as they arrive in the Vine Street Parking Lot. This solar array is the largest, urban, publicly accessible array in the nation. For more information on this latest solar project, visit the Solar Power page.
Learn More: Visit our Green Tips page to learn how you can harness the clean, renewable and free energy of the sun to heat and power your home; "The Scoop on Solar Panels".
Wind Energy - Wind energy is the fastest-growing and least expensive energy source. It is also one of the least expensive. The way wind energy, or power, works is pretty simple. The sun shines, creating wind as the air warms and rises. Like a helicopter seed blowing in the breeze, the blades of a turbine spin round in the wind, which powers a generator to produce clean energy.
At the Zoo, a 1.2kW wind turbine is installed in the Go Green Garden Exhibit. In 11 mph average winds, it can produce enough energy to run your dishwasher and refrigerator for an entire year (2000 kilowatt hours). Our Windspire wind turbine, along with the solar panels in the Go Green Garden, are meeting approximately one third of all of the power demands for the Membership and Ticketing Building. Learn More: Windspire wind turbines are being used by homes, schools & businesses. Visit our Green Tips page to find out more about how you can utilize this free energy source; also read "Working with Wind".
Geothermal Energy - Geothermal energy comes from the natural heat of the Earth, and can be used to generate electricity or heat and cool buildings without burning fossil fuels and accelerating climate change. To produce electricity from heat radiating from the center of the Earth, wells are drilled and water is pumped through pipes hundreds or thousands of feet into the ground. There the heat turns water into steam. As it returns to the surface, the force of the steam turns the turbines to create electricity.
At the Zoo, 36 geothermal wells use this geothermal heat transfer to contribute significantly to the heating and cooling of the buildings located in Historic Vine Street Village.
Learn More: Visit the Green Tips Pages to learn more about harnessing geothermal energy, and "Gearing Up with Geothermal Energy".
Biomass Energy - Biomass energy is harvested from organic materials made from plants and animals that contain stored energy from the sun. These materials include wood, crops, manure and other organic waste. Biomass can be converted into usable forms of energy such as methane gas (released from rotting garbage and animal waste) or transportation fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
At the Zoo, several options related to biomass energy are being explored, including a small scale anaerobic digester that will generate energy from elephant waste. The train, tram and other diesel vehicles will be converted to use biodiesel, using the oil from our kitchens.
Learn More: To find out more about biomass energy, visit our Green Tips pages, and "Benefits of Biomass" fact sheet.
Solid Waste
The average American generates about 4.5 pounds of garbage per day. That is equal to 1,643 lbs of solid waste every year! With a population as large as the United States, just imagine what that would be equivalent to. What is happening to all of that garbage? About one-third is recycled, while the rest is sent to landfills, burned in combustors or finds its way into the natural environment. The Cincinnati Zoo is committed to diverting as much waste as possible from the landfill, either by making less waste in the first place, or through composting and recycling waste.
Composting: Yard trimmings and food scraps make up about 25 percent of the trash produced in the United States. Why throw all that waste away and take up landfill space when it can be composted into nutrient rich, organic material for your garden? Composting is nature’s way of recycling!
At the Zoo,more than 7 tons of organic material is composted every week. All the food scraps, bedding and animal waste from at least three different exhibits is being composted, diverting tons of waste from the landfill. In addition to composting Zoo Doo, various types of compost bins are set up throughout the park to compost leaves and other trimmings, as well as food scraps from offices.
Learn More: Learn how easy it is to compost in your own backyard by visiting our Green Tips page, and “Crazy About Composting” fact sheet.
Recycling: Recycling may be one of the easiest of the three “R’s”. But reducing and reusing are just as important for diverting trash from entering the landfill. The best way to deal with trash is to make less of it in the first place.
At the Zoo, a recycling bin always accompanies a trash bin. This makes it easy and convenient for our guests to recycle their plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The Zoo also has an Abitibi Paper Retriever dumpster that recycles all of our paper. Other items like cardboard, batteries, cell phones, electronics, light bulbs and Styrofoam are also recycled rather than thrown in to the trash. Many Zoo animals receive enrichment items made from cereal boxes, old, clean blankets and sheets, cardboard tubes, even kitty litter buckets, giving these items a second or third use. By finding alternative ways to dispose of our trash properly, as well as investing in items made from recyclable materials, the Zoo is reducing their everyday contributions to the landfill.
Learn More: To find out more about recycling in Cincinnati, visit the Green Tips page, and “Ready, Set, Recycle!”.
Green Building:
In the United States, buildings are the main contributor to our carbon footprint, from electricity, water, materials used in the building as well as where the building is located. Green building is an eco-friendly way to construct structures, using processes that are environmentally responsible as well as resource-efficient not only during construction, but through the entire life of the building. The U.S. Green Building Council has developed a rating system that is an industry-recognized, voluntary standard for sustainable building design. This rating system is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, or LEED, and has four levels of certification – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
At the Zoo, we recognize that the majority of an organization’s carbon footprint lies in its buildings and utilities. Because of this, the Zoo is committed to building all new projects to LEED Silver standards, the first Zoo in the country to make this commitment publicly. The Zoo currently has more LEED buildings than any other Zoo in the nation, with three more projects underway:
- Harold C. Schott Education Center – LEED Silver, 2006
- Historic Vine Street Village – LEED Platinum, 2009
- Zoo Pavilion – LEED Gold, 2009
- Zoo Gift Shop – LEED Gold, 2010
- African Savannah – anticipated LEED Platinum
- Cat Canyon – anticipated LEED Gold
- Distribution Center – anticipated LEED Silver
All the materials used to build each of our LEED projects are sustainable as possible. Some features of these projects include no or low VOC paint, bamboo flooring, 100% recycled carpet, strawboard countertops, recycled steel, recycled drywall and plastic lumber. The Zoo has also gone through existing buildings to green them up as much as possible.
Learn More: Find out how you can incorporate green building into your new or existing home. Visit our Green Tips page to learn more, and the fact sheet “Green Building, Give it a Go!”.
Community Projects
The Zoo is committed not only to greening its own operations, but engaging its community to do the same. The fourth pillar of our Mission Statement is “Serving Community”, which recognizes our responsibility to partner with diverse and economically challenged communities in our daily work. By providing our community with the resources and tools they need to go green, we not only strengthen our relationship with them, but empower them to save money, save resources and instill pride within their homes and neighborhoods.
Green Space & Community Gardens – Community green spaces are more than just lots with grass and a few flowers; they are meeting spots for neighbors, recreation areas for youth, refuges for wildlife. They bring a part of the natural world into the urban environment- to contrast the harshness of the concrete jungle and stimulate the senses. Community spaces foster connections not only with wildness, but between residents, making friends from strangers. Community green spaces can be as simple as a grassy lot, but they can be more: parks, playgrounds, gardens and more.
Community gardens can be found just about anywhere. While providing spaces for residents to gather and connect, community gardens can provide healthy foods. Food deserts are areas where healthy, affordable food cannot be obtain. Food deserts can occur anywhere, though are most common in urban settings. These communities do not have the same accessibility to quality, healthy, affordable food. Throughout Avondale, the Zoo has assisted with many projects that encourage green space and community gardens, contributing healthy food environments in the middle of a food dessert.
- Forest and Vine Gateway: The corner of Forest Avenue and Vine Street was the site of three vacant and deteriorating houses. With the help of the Cincinnati Zoo, local company Building Value deconstructed these three homes. Approximately 85% the material from the homes was salvaged to be reused or recycled. The site is now a welcoming gateway into Avondale.
- Northern-Larona Park: The Zoo teamed up with the Avondale Avenue District Block Club, Avondale Community Council, Local Initiative Support Cooperation (LISC), Chase Bank and other community partners to turn a vacant lot in the heart of the Avenue District into a safe and vibrant park. Future features of the park could include a community garden with raised beds, a shelter built from deconstructed materials, and a walking path.
- Gabriel’s Place: A church on Reading Road has been converted into a community garden, community kitchen, a meeting place and market. The Zoo has been integral in assisting with the initial build and upkeep of the community garden and hoop house. As Gabriel’s Place grows, the Zoo will stay involved to assist with programs, garden tasks and other projects.
Home Weatherization – The Zoo and its community partners are reaching out to their surrounding neighborhoods to provide the education, awareness and resources needed for homeowners to save money and energy and to create healthy, comfortable living environments through home weatherization projects. Some of the home weatherization projects include:
- Avondale in Action: In August 2011, the Zoo, People Working Cooperatively (PWC), the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA) and Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) worked together with community volunteers to offer six Avondale, making them more energy efficient and more comfortable for residents.
- Green Your Home Contest: In the summer of 2011, residents of the five Uptown neighborhoods had a chance to win a grand prize of $7,500 of home energy upgrades made possible by the Zoo, the GCEA and the Uptown Consortium. Additionally, one winner from each neighborhood received a free home energy audit.
Community Partnerships – The Zoo has formed partnerships with many businesses and organizations to work together and engage our communities in sustainability practices. Some of those include:
For more information, or if you are interested in getting involved with these and future projects, please contact gogreen@cincinnatizoo.org.
90-Second Naturalist 
