by: Trevor Sanders
Within the state of Florida, there is an entire town that is making strides towards sustainability like none have done before. This town is making environmentally friendly decisions and setting positive examples for future developments across the country. This town is called Babcock Ranch and is located near Ft. Myers, Florida.
Babcock Ranch has been developed on over 18,000 acres of land! This project was a dream of a retired NFL player Syd Kitson. This gentleman wanted to create a sustainable replica of the small town that he grew up in. This tends to be a dream of many people and the fact that Mr. Kitson is accomplishing this dream is a wonderful thing! Both for the environment and residents of this town.
Babcock ranch is a small town that is nearly 100% solar powered. Within the grounds of the small town, there is a Solar Energy Plant with 700,000 panels that are used to power the town. On top of using a sustainable energy resource for power, all homes in Babcock Ranch are built using sustainable materials. Not allowing any other types of homes to be built within the town will ensure that the sustainable focused mindset stays around for decades to come.
Within the town of Babcock, you can find car charging stations all over the place. There are initiatives set in place that are inviting residents to start using electric vehicles as their way of transportation. Mr. Kitson understands the pollution that is caused by transportation around the world today and he hopes the shift from gas powered cars to electric will have a positive impact on the environment. There are also electric busses that are used by Babcock residents to get to and from all the different shops, activities, and restaurants that are within the community.
Residents of Babcock Ranch can enjoy a downtown area with restaurants, grocery stores, and plenty of entertainment within the town. All of these amenities are powered by the solar power plant on the 18,000-acre property. Having these amenities so close for residence also helps cur down on transportation pollution that usually happens from doing daily travel to and from grocery shopping and other activities.
In addition to the shopping and restaurants, people living in Babcock Ranch can enjoy miles and miles of hiking trails, bike trails, fishing, boating on the lake, kayaking, canoeing, and many more fun outside activities.
Babcock Ranch is setting an example that can be followed by other communities in the future. Having a whole community running on a renewable energy resource is something that can have a widespread positive impact on the environment.
