Ben Short TCC, Will Ranier CRS, Perry Cook TCC, Jean Cox, Lisa Bright TCC, Lauren AEC, Mayor Buddy Choat, Jaime Anderson TCC, Alan Taylor TCC. (Friends of Pinchgut Creek / Facebook)

The City of Trussville is leading the way in environmental efforts thanks to a new proclamation that will eliminate the purchase of styrofoam by city government. Read on to find out what this means and why it’s a win for the city.

Trussville’s Proclamation

On May 19, Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat signed a proclamation that showed the city’s commitment to no longer purchase styrofoam for use at any municipal facilities. The initiative aims to protect Alabama’s waterways and ultimately our health and the environment.

During the signing, Lauren Guillebeau, a board member from the Alabama Environment Council, presented the city with a certificate of recognition.

What led to the proclamation?

It’s all due to the efforts of the Friends of Pinchgut Creek—a local organization dedicated to protecting the Pinchgut Creek and Cahaba Headwaters watershed through stewardship, education, community involvement and advocacy.

While the organization just got their 501 c(3) status in January 2022, they’ve been organizing clean up events and taking care of Trussville’s creeks since 2018 and have had up to 100 volunteers at each event.

“I am really proud of the city for making this commitment. I think that we’re setting a great example and I hope that other cities follows suit. It’s really important to us to get rid of as much styrofoam as possible because we’re working in the creeks and in the rivers cleaning it up and it is the worst form of litter that we deal with. So we want to stop it from getting there in the first place.”
Jean Cox, Vice President + Volunteer Coordinator, Friends of Pinchgut Creek

What it means for Trussville

Here’s a deeper dive into what Proclamation No. 2022-15 means.

The City of Trussvilile will no longer purchase styrofoam for use in any municipal facilities. This includes places like city hall and the police department. While eliminating styrofoam in these places is.a start, the biggest impact will be seen at the city’s concession stands.

If you didn’t know, Trussville’s parks and recs facility is located directly on the banks of the Cahaba River. This is where the city has its soccer, baseball and softball fields, plus lots of concession stands.

“To know that we’re not going to have any styrofoam products going out the windows of those concession stands—that’s where it’s going to make the biggest difference.”
Jean Cox, Vice President + Volunteer Coordinator, Friends of Pinchgut Creek

It won’t just make a difference in Trussville, either. With a lot of municipal facilities in other nearby towns also directly on the Cahaba, Trussville’s change at the concession stands, other areas will likely benefit as well.

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