Conservation

Great Parks completed an MEP audit in August 2023 to identify the utility baselines for each 2030 District destination. It also allowed for an update to the inventory of existing MEP equipment, its associated efficiencies and determined potential increases in efficiency and related reductions in utility use.

Great Parks has reduced its fleet overall, replacing older, less efficient vehicles with hybrid models. The fleet is 12% hybrid, with additional vehicles planned for purchase in the next few years. When practical, Great Parks is replacing carts and equipment utilizing internal combustion engines with all-electric utility carts and hybrid or electric equipment, including all-electric off-road vehicles to assist with natural resources management tasks.

Great Parks is testing a moisture meter at The Vineyard Golf Course to reduce water consumption and save labor on hand watering and studying the use of a water retention and penetration agent at Little Miami Golf Center. This agent will reduce utility consumption up to 30% (water and electric) and reduce chemical treatments needed for poor turf conditions and turf diseases.

Great Parks installed a 176-panel rooftop solar array at the Winton Woods Central Services maintenance building in 2016. The 52-kilowatt system is expected to generate an annual average of 63,000 kilowatt hours of energy, reducing the facility’s annual energy consumption by 95% and offsetting approximately 2.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years.

In December 2024, Great Parks brought a second, 46-panel solar installation online at Mitchell Memorial Forest. To-date, this installation has produced 4.5 megawatts of renewable energy and has offset this site’s energy consumption by 95%.

Winton Woods Campground

The Winton Woods Campground Office, built in 2009, features many green building practices, such as geothermal heating and cooling, dual flush toilets, sensor faucets, high-efficiency hand dryers, recycled metal roofing (reflective material decreases energy costs for cooling), certified lumber and wood products and rain gardens to filter parking lot runoff.

Miami Whitewater Forest Campground Shower Building

The Miami Whitewater Forest Campground shower building incorporates many green features, such as low-flow plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient lighting fixtures, natural lighting, high-efficiency water heaters, a water bottle filling station, green building materials and low-VOC paints and adhesives.

Great Parks partners with:

• Queen City Commons and GoZERO to divert food waste
• Rumpke Recycling to divert more than 65 tons of recycling annually
• Cohen Recycling to divert electronic waste and holiday lights
• Cincinnati Recycling and Reuse Hub to divert plastic film
• Matthew2Ministries to divert old uniform pieces

Great Parks practices "mindful mowing" in the park’s public areas. Reducing the amount of mowing reduces associated fuel and labor costs, which can be directed towards more detailed care of our many recreational facilities and outdoor education areas. These more natural areas also serve as woodland, meadow and grassland habitats for local wildlife.

Great Parks is a proud leader of the regional Taking Root reforestation campaign. The initiative was created in response to the ongoing threat to our region’s trees created by hostile bugs, invasive plants and destructive fungi. By planting trees, we reduce the threat and help grow a healthy and diverse tree environment. Great Parks pledged to plant 60,000 trees by 2016 as part of the overall goal of two million for the region by 2020. On October 22, 2016, Great Parks exceeded that goal by planting its 100,000th tree. Since then, the total has risen to approximately 137,000 trees planted.

Bioswales were installed at Winton Woods and the dog parks at Otto Armleder Memorial Park and Miami Whitewater Forest. Rain gardens were installed at Winton Woods, Shawnee Lookout, Farbach-Werner Nature Preserve and Sharon Woods. These spots serve as filters for stormwater water to keep pollutants out of our local streams, rivers and lakes.