What’s your green zoo IQ? Many of our green features are hiding in plain sight. Maybe you already knew about our waste sorting bins or our famous Zoo Doo program, but did you know we have an official zoo gnome in charge of the magic that happens in the compost yard or that some of our pavement is water permeable? Check out the top 17 greenest things at your zoo—how many do you already know about?
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| Wait, you don't know ALL the GREEN THINGS happening at the zoo? We can fix that. |
1. Welcome to a green oasis
When you walk through our West Entrance, you’re seeing
sustainability hidden in plain view. The
buildings and entrance area are covered with Forestry
Stewardship Council certified wood. The buildings’ windows and skylights
take advantage of as much daylight as possible to keep energy use down. The gently sloping pavement that directs storm
water to a 975,00-gallon underground tank.
This tank allows the water to slowly drain at a pace that the sewer
system can absorb, reducing the chance of overflow going straight into Puget
Sound.
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In 2011, the zoo’s Historic Carousel received the first
solar array installed at the zoo. The 9-kilowatt array powers the turning of
the carousel year-round, showing our guests how solar power works even on
cloudy Seattle days.
Storm water runoff on hard surfaces sends surface pollution into
storm drains, which empty into local waterways. During an overflow event, that
pollution can even go straight into Puget Sound. But there’s a better way. Next time you’re in the Banyan Wilds watching
our Asian small-clawed otters take a swim, or taking in a Penguin feeding by
our keepers, take a moment to look under your feet. That’s no ordinary pavement! The permeable pathways allow rainwater to
trickle through into the ground, where the soil filters out pollutants before
the water reaches the Sound.
4. Hanging Around Sustainably
Our orangutans, gorillas, and animals in the Tropical Rainforest
building enjoy climbing on vines in their habitat. But wait—those aren’t real vines! They are used fire hoses donated by the
Seattle Fire Department, and painted, embossed and cured by our exhibits crew
to replicate the animals’ natural habitats.
Smart reuse using is just one of the mad skills of our very creative exhibits
team. Thanks exhibits crew!
5. Renovation Destination
The Key Arena renovation goes up—and trees come down. Where
did they go? Some of these local trees
have become tables, benches, perches for sloth bear, lemur and primate habitats,
and enrichment for all kinds of animals right here at the zoo.
6. Trash Collecting Trash
When you toss your recycled items into a bin at Woodland
Park Zoo, you’re participating in a bigger recycling loop than you may
realize. The waste containers at the zoo
are actually made from recycled milk jugs! #MindBlown
7. Dedicated Staff
Woodland Park Zoo has an elite team of staff members who
have the specific job of helping the rest of the zoo staff move toward our
zoo’s zero waste goal. So far, 81% of
the zoo’s waste—from guests, staff, and animals—is diverted from landfills. Now
we are working on the last 19% by conducting waste audits, getting better at
tracking our current waste processing, and working towards new initiatives to
reduce waste--like recycling gloves and composting paper towels.
8. ZooDoo
Our animals produce a lot of poo. What do we doo with it? It gets composted into Zoo Doo, which can then be used for
gardening. Our current Zoo Doo facility has
been transforming the magic our animals make into local gardener’s ‘black gold’
for over 30 years, and it’s about to get a facelift. Our
new facility will be able to handle more material more efficiently, monitor
compost temperature more accurately and circulate underfloor air without the
piles having to be flipped as often. Doodle the Doo Gnome supervises the
construction process daily.
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| Doodle knows what's up with ZooDoo. |
9. Driving Change
Electric vehicles put the zoo in zooooom! During opening hours, only fossil-fuel free
vehicles and bikes cruise the zoo grounds.
This not only reduces our carbon output, but keeps the zoo quieter and
healthier for our guests and animals alike.
10. Feeding on Solar Power
Every day, our commissary building helps prepare food for
over 1,100 animals, and our Rain Forest Food Pavilion provides treats to
hundreds of humans. The cherry on top of each is a solar panel roof. They were funded by local residents who
received power discounts in return from Seattle City
Light and Washington State. The panels also help power our electric
vehicles. Going green all goes together!
11. A Bedspread of Roses
Many of our amazing animals bed down in a wood chip mix. When they’re done with it, it is transformed
via composting into a Bedspread product at our Zoo Doo yard. Much of that goes
out to our pesticide-free Woodland Park Zoo Rose Garden. The roses can then
spread their leaves in a sustainable garden. Full circle? Many of the animals
enjoy organic rose petal treats as special summer enrichment.
12. Charging Ahead
Your zoo wants to encourage guests to make sustainable
choices. That’s why we’ve installed
electric vehicle charging stations in our parking lots, and it’s free to park
as long as the car is charging. If you
choose to come to the zoo by bike or bus, show your helmet or Orca card to get
$2 off your zoo entrance. Our staff are working on their transport choices,
too. Over 10% of our staff take public transit to work, a further 10-15% of the
staff regularly bike or walk, and we offer 10 carpool spaces to encourage our
team to team up while driving.
13. Water Water Everywhere
To encourage staff and guests to use less plastic, we’ve
installed water bottle filling stations throughout the zoo. We want to make it easy for everyone to make
sustainable choices while visiting our awesome animals. Have you tapped the
Northern Trail water station yet? Ahhh… so refreshing!
14. We Speak for the Trees
Trees absorb carbon, provide homes for wildlife, and keep us
cool on our zoo adventures. The zoo’s
luscious canopy has increased by 400% since the 1950s.
15. On Top of the World
In 2006, our Zoomazium was the first LEED (Leadership and in
Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certificated building in any zoo or
aquarium in the U.S. Its roof is
literally green. Topped with native
plants, it helps absorb rainwater and carbon, and provides habitat for animals,
too.
16. Save the Birds
We care for all the animals that live in our zoo, including
the many wild birds that make it home. In
places like the Jaguar Cove, Banyan Wilds and Zoomazium, decals and marks on
the glass called fritting prevent birds from thinking the glass is open air,
saving them from a nasty bump.
17. Penguin Paradise
Our Humboldt penguins need a lot of water to practice their
ace swimming skills. Our closed-loop
system filters the water multiple times, including through a constructed
wetland, before returning it clean to our penguin friends. By recharging with rainwater and reusing even
our backwash water, we haven’t had to refill their pool for 10 years! Not only that, but geothermal energy from 320
feet down keeps the water at the penguin-perfect 55 degrees our penguins love,
saving energy year-round.
So what was your green zoo IQ? Now it’s your turn—what can you do to green
up your home or lifestyle? Visit the zoo,
check out the tips on our website, or
follow our social media for ideas all year round.
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| Everyone peng-wins when we all go green! |
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