ReGreen Tulsa
Join residents across Tulsa as we “ReGreen Tulsa”. 20,000 Trees by 2010!
December 2007’s devastating ice storm destroyed or heavily damaged Tulsa’s beautiful tree canopy. The ReGreen Tulsa program is a joint effort of Mayor Kathy Taylor, Tulsa’s Tree Advisory Committee and the local non-profit organization Up With Trees, to reestablish our tree canopy.
Program Goal:
Plant 20,000 trees by December 2010 on both private property and public sites. Program efforts will focus on the two areas most devastated by the storm, neighborhoods and parks, and will include educational efforts encompassing how to plant trees so that they thrive in Tulsa soils and how to care for them so that they survive Tulsa’s challenging climate.
Read More: ReGreen Tulsa
Water Quality
Water is Life. Water covers two-thirds of the Planet Earth, and makes up nearly two-thirds of our bodies. And there is no new water! All the water on the planet is constantly being recycled. We must take care of this resource.
The City of Tulsa supplies drinking water to more than 133,500 metered accounts in the City and more than 500,000 people in the metropolitan area.
Pipes bring raw water from our source lakes Eucha, Spavinaw, Oologah and Hudson. Professionals test this water before it enters our two drinking water plants. Those tests provide information that tells us the quantities of chemicals needed for treatment.
Tulsa's two water treatment plants treat between 90 and 190 million gallons of drinking water a day. City employees' work begins before the raw water enters the plants and continues long after the finished water is pumped to faucets in homes, businesses and schools.
City employees work long hours to keep Tulsa’s drinking water and storm water safe and clean. Employees staff our treatment plants 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. These trained professionals not only monitor the results of computerized tests but also conduct tests themselves every two hours.
Treatment plants, distribution lines, and other infrastructure have been built and upgraded over the years to keep pace with Tulsa’s growing need for high quality drinking water.
Read More: Water Quality
More information about Water Quality programs in the Tulsa area can be found on the INCOG website.
Stormwater Education
The City of Tulsa has an extensive education program with a goal of reducing pollution in storm water runoff. This program targets the public, as well as commercial and industrial owners and operators within Tulsa.
Education of the public is accomplished by the Public Works department through public presentations at conferences and seminars, and presentations at local schools and neighborhood gatherings.
Staff members distribute educational materials at events and public locations, and press releases and articles inform the public about environmental concerns, including ways to reduce pollution in storm water runoff. Information is also provided to the public through articles included in the monthly utility bill stuffer.
Another part of the Storm Water Education program educates commercial and industrial owners and or operators about their responsibility to reduce the pollution in storm runoff.
Read more about the storm water aspect of Tulsa’s water quality program. The site includes links to tips that tell how to reduce pollution from storm water runoff.
If you see something other than storm water that has been disposed of or dumped into a storm sewer or local water way, please contact the Mayors action line at 596-2100. Someone will investigate. Remember, storm drains are for rain.
Air Quality
Tulsa is a partner in the INCOG Ozone Alert program.Ozone Alert online
The Ozone Alert! Program brings citizens, business, industry and government in the Tulsa Metropolitan area together to voluntarily reduce ozone-forming emissions on days vulnerable to high ozone levels.
- The City of Tulsa is also a member of the Blue Skyways Collaborative
BlueSkyways Collaborative online
The Blue Skyways Collaborative was created to encourage voluntary air emissions reduction in North America’s heartland. The idea started in 2004 and with the help of CenSARA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the collaborative celebrated a kick-off meeting in February of 2006.
Through partnership with non-profit and environmental groups, private industries and international, federal, state and local governments Blue Skyways strives to improve air quality. Participants of the collaborative pledge to make that goal possible through active and meaningful participation in planning or implementation of projects that use innovations in diesel engines, alternative fuels and renewable energy technologies. Working together allows members to leverage funding, share technology and professional expertise.
Today Blue Skyways incorporates ten states, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico, and the area along the borders with Canada and Mexico. The collaborative envisions a future where organizations will work together to reduce air emissions and make the heartland of America the Central Corridor of Innovation.
Energy Conservation
One Tech
On March 16, 2007, Mayor Kathy Taylor entered into a 90-day option agreement to purchase the One Technology Center. The visionary plan to move City Hall was approved in September 2007.This is a unique opportunity that will allow many city offices to be consolidated and serve as a major development opportunity for the BOK Center and the Convention Center.
Highly energy efficient, the building will require 30% less in energy costs than the existing costs in city office buildings, figured on a square foot basis. The One Tech Center eliminates the environmental air quality concerns of the existing office buildings. It also has a state of the art mechanical system which reduces energy demands at peak consumption hours. Finally, it offers long-term savings for the taxpayers.
Read More: One Tech
CNG and Hybrid Vehicles
One CNG Refuse Collection Truck has been purchased. Cost supplemented by grant monies from ODOT.
Hybrid vehicles to be purchased when ever possible, after considering requirements for job performance.
Mass Transit
Tulsa Transit is a public trust of the City of Tulsa, established in 1968. Tulsa Transit's General Manager, Bill Cartwright, reports to a 7-member board of trustees appointed by the mayor. Tulsa Transit has approximately 170 employees including bus drivers, mechanics and administrative staff.
The mission of Tulsa Transit is to be the Premiere Transportation Provider, Committed to Safe, Professional, Efficient, Reliable, Accessible, Quality Service.
Tulsa Transit's bus service is available throughout the City of Tulsa, and extends into Jenks, Sand Springs and Broken Arrow.Visit the maps section to see our complete system map.There's also a section on using maps to determine your travel plans.If you already know the number of the route you wish to see, click on Routes by Number to view any individual route schedule and map.For trip planning assistance, call 582-2100.
The current schedule book, which includes all our route maps and schedules, is available in print form at one of the bus stations for 50 cents.
Tulsa Transit
GreenTraveler
INCOG’s Green Traveler program includes a match program, where City of Tulsa employees can find others traveling the same route to work. Commuting alone can cost time and money. When you become a Green Traveler, you reduce congestion, reduce emissions, reduce stress, and reduce your commuting costs. Green Traveler is a way to find alternatives to driving alone to work, school, and other destinations.
Whether you carpool, ride your bike, or take the bus, all three are easy alternatives you can implement a little at a time.Alternative transportation can provide a lot of savings - just carpooling twice a week would save the average commuter over $1,500 a year!
Green Traveler
Recycling
Recycling conserves natural resources, protects the environment and reduces litter. It's easy for all Tulsans to recycle. All City of Tulsa customers with residential trash service can sign up for convenient curbside recycling of newspaper, junk mail, magazines, office paper, plastic, glass and aluminum. Tulsans also can take those and other recyclables to one of the 12 free drop-off sites in the area operated by the Metropolitan Environmental Trust. And, you can recycle many household pollutants at one of the twice annual Household Pollutant Collection events.
In 2008, Tulsa began a Master Recycler Program. Tulsa Master Recyclers receive at least 30 hours of instruction in reduction, reuse and recycling of solid waste. Instructors are local experts in solid waste from the City, business, and non-profit sectors. In exchange for the training, the Master Recyclers spend at least 30 hours during the next year assisting existing recycling programs, starting new recycling projects at schools and businesses, staffing information tables, doing research on waste management issues, and advising the City's Recycling Coordinator.
The first class of Master Recyclers graduated in April 2008. The next class is tentatively slated to being in January 2009. For more information, contact the City of Tulsa Recycling Coordinator at LGilroy@cityoftulsa.org or 596-2859.
Read More: Recycling