City of Delray Beach, FL
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Programs and Projects
The mission of the Office of Sustainability and Resilience (OSAR) is to prepare Delray Beach for climate challenges through outreach, education, and mitigation initiatives. Recent programs can be found below.
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program (EPP program) helps consumers understand eco-label certifications and what different products are available. You can easily search for products on their website and find more useful information by going to epa.gov/greenerproducts/about-environmentally-preferable-purchasing-program.
Sustainable Food Ware Options
Visit our Sustainable Food Service Ware Guide page to help you begin your search for single-use products that are more sustainable alternatives for disposable food ware containers. You will find items such as “to go” containers, utensils, cups, plates, and more.
Green Events
The Parks & Recreation Department approves all event permits and works with the OSAR to encourage events to reduce single-use plastics, choose sustainable alternatives, and increase recycling efforts.
Plastic Straw Ban
As part of the global push to reduce the use of single-use plastics, the Green Implementation Advancement Board (GIAB), unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the City Commission consider an ordinance that would limit the use of single-use plastic straws at food establishments in Delray Beach. The Office of Sustainability partnered with the Sandoway Discovery Center to initially implement a Skip the Straw campaign. In January 2019, City Commission approved Ordinance 10-19 which requires food and bar establishments to provide single-use plastic straws only upon the customer’s request. Effective January 1 2020, only straws that are not made of plastic can be distributed in food and drink establishments in Delray Beach, unless a plastic straw is requested for medical purposes.
To assist businesses with phasing out plastic straws, Skip the Straw Starter Kits are available now for download!
Starter Kits for businesses about Ordinance 10-19:
Legislative Priorities
The State of Florida preempts cities from regulating polystyrene products (commonly known as Styrofoam©) and plastic bags (F.S. 403.7033, F.S. 403.708(9), F.S. 500.90). During both the 2020 and 2021 State Legislative sessions, the Delray Beach City Commission has approved resolutions in support of repealing and amending these Florida statutes.
Trees are critical green infrastructure that provide ecosystem services including storm water management, reduction of the heat island effect, wildlife habitat, reduced air pollution, and increased property values. To quantify the benefits and better plan where trees should be planted, the City conducted Tree Canopy Analysis in 2019.
The report determined that Delray Beach's canopy has an average of 23% coverage, with some neighborhoods maintaining 29% canopy and others as low as 15%. The report recommended establishing a goal of 10,000 new trees in five years to raise the average canopy to 28%, reducing the disparity among neighborhoods and maintaining the health of the current urban forest through proactive maintenance, and increased training of city staff.
Click here to see the Tree Canopy Analysis.
This map shows all the trees that were inventoried, and by clicking on an individual point, the information for a tree can be displayed.
The City adopted the “10,000 Trees by Year 2025” goal in 2020. By the end of the first year of this goal, the City planted 300 new trees in parks, 250 trees at local schools, 200 trees in rights-of-ways, and gave away 1,000 trees to residents at giveaway events. The project was substantially completed in June 2021.
An inventory of all the trees on City property was conducted and a report of this data, along with an Urban Forest Management Plan has been completed. The Tree Inventory and the UFMP provides background information useful in maintaining existing trees, and identifying remaining planting locations on City property.
- Delray Beach Urban Forest Management Plan (Part 1 of 2)
- Delray Beach Urban Forest Management Plan (Part 2 of 2)
For more information on the Tree Planting Program, go to the following page: Delray Beach Trees
Officially formed in 2019, the Coastal Resilience Partnership (CRP) of SE Palm Beach County consists of the City of Delray Beach and seven neighboring jurisdictions. Together, the CRP is completing a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, to identify and better understand the threats from climate change that our community will be facing.
Vulnerability Assessment Final Report
Vulnerability Assessment Report Update 2022
Vulnerability Assessment Final Report Appendix 9
More information on the partnership and this critically important study can be found by going to www.coastalresiliencepartnership.org