100% green energy and 6 other changes Sedgwick County Zoo has for its 50th birthday
The Sedgwick County Zoo will ring in its 50th birthday on May 27 with an unveiling of its new entry building and zoo store, both of which will run on 100% renewable energy. The zoo also plans to announce six additional environmental initiatives to reduce the zoo’s carbon footprint.
“I think the role of the modern zoo and aquarium is more important today than it’s ever been,” said Dr. Jeff Ettling, the zoo’s executive director. “We all need to take action now because we’re seeing the dramatic impact that climate change is having here at home. We really need to walk the talk. It’s one thing to talk about conservation, it’s another to actually put it into action.”
These changes are part of a broader campaign the zoo started on Earth Day 2018, which included eliminating single-use plastic lids and straws and a comprehensive recycling program.
“In terms of solar, wind recycling and composting, these are all things that we can do right here in Wichita, Kansas, and they do have an impact,” Ettling said. “It’s important for us to set the tone for the rest of the community in terms of a conservation effort and what we can accomplish.”
Choosing Kansas wind
As part of their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint, the Sedgwick County Zoo enrolled in a 20 year term with Evergy’s Direct Renewables program to reserve one megawatt of wind energy to offset their energy use.
“Instead of having the zoo powered by a fuel mixed energy, we’re actually paying for the renewable energy that’s being generated via wind here in Kansas,” Ettling said.
Windows birds can see
The new entry and zoo store have Bird 1st windows, which will prevent birds from running into them and dying.
“One of the things that we said we would not compromise on during the design and construction was that we wanted to go with bird safe glass,” Ettling said. “As a conservation organization, it wouldn’t look real good to have dead birds on your doorstep.”
Research has shown that glass accounts for about a billion bird deaths annually.
The zoo partnered with Guardian Industries, a Koch company that manufactures Bird 1st Glass. The glass has UV strips that birds can see, but humans don’t, and can recognize as a barrier that they shouldn’t fly through.
“We’re one of the first, if not the only, in the region to have Bird 1st Glass,” Ettling said. “We’re very proud of that. I think it really does send a signal as a conservation organization that we’re standing behind our principles and we’re going to make every effort to protect our wildlife right here in Wichita, Kansas.”
Investing in solar energy
Through a partnership with Evergy, the new entry building — as well as the canopy over new electric vehicle charging stations — will be primarily powered by 250 solar panels.
The panels are bi-facial, meaning they’ll pick up ultraviolet solar rays from above, and will also be able to pick up rays as they bounce back up from the concrete below.
“They’re very efficient and by having those by facial panels, it will actually boost our energy production between 5 and 30% compared to a normal panel,” Ettling said.
Providing electric vehicle charging stations
The three dual electric vehicle charging stations will serve six parking spaces. The stations will be shaded by a parking canopy covered in solar panels, which will provide electricity to the stations alongside the wind energy.
“If you have an electric vehicle you have access through an app that allows you to find out where all the electric charging stations are on your journey,” Ettling said. “We’ll probably pull some new visitors off of the Turnpike that will maybe be headed to Oklahoma City or if they’re going north towards Kansas City that will stop off and spend several hours at the zoo while their vehicles are being charged.”
Compostable plastic and food service changes
While the zoo already removed single-use lids and straws, other single-use plastics, such as pudding and cotton candy containers, will be replaced with plant-based compostable plastics.
Trays, bowls and utensils will be reusable, and all cooking oil used at the zoo’s restaurant will be recycled and used in the production of biofuel.
Additionally, bottled drinks will be phased out in favor of reusable souvenir cups, which will have a reduced refill cost, and aluminum bottles.
“This will literally eliminate tens of thousands of plastic bottles each year by switching over to aluminum,” Ettling said.
The zoo is also adding more bottle refill stations near drinking fountains for guests to use reusable bottles.
The Green Team
As part of a mission to continually assess their sustainability and environmentally friendly practices, the zoo created The Green Team, a group of zoo employees who lead the zoo in researching and implementing new practices.
“We keep raising the bar for ourselves because I think our ultimate goal is to become a carbon-neutral organization, which is going to take us probably a better part of a decade, Ettling said. “You have to set a goal, or you never get there.”
Recently, The Green Team began an upcycling project of the grain bags used to feed the animals and turn them into tote bags that are sold at the zoo store.
“We’re giving a second life to these bags and keeping them out of the landfill,” Ettling said. “We’re really proud of the efforts of our of our Green Team and I think you’ll see more efforts in the coming years.”
Conserving water at the zoo
One of The Green Team’s first projects was to use water flow meters to measure water consumption in animal areas. Additionally, the zoo combined the zebra, warthog and bongo habitats into one large habitat, removing the moat that separated the habitats and reducing water use.
“The other area that we continue to improve on is water usage because everybody just thinks it’s an endless supply and we know that’s not the case. We realize that water is a limited resource and we want to protect that as well,” Ettling said. “Those older exhibits were built in the seventies when everybody thought that water was limitless.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 4:43 AM with the headline "100% green energy and 6 other changes Sedgwick County Zoo has for its 50th birthday."
