This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, as well as the 10th anniversary of the GreenStep Cities program.
Earth Day recognizes the movement that brought environmental stewardship into the realm of modern day public policy, and the victories for our health and future that we've accomplished along the way.
GreenStep is our own homegrown challenge and recognition program for cities and tribal bodies who want to walk the walk, and move the needle on greener, cleaner, more efficient, and vibrant communities.The foundation of what was to become GreenStep Cities was presented to legislators in a report in February of 2009, outlining key building blocks of the program that sound a lot like what over 130 cities are participating in today. Planners hit the ceremonial "green means go" button the following year at the LMC Annual Conference!
Do you have to be a GreenStep City to do great work in sustainability? Heck no. But survey data shows time and again that the program's structure and technical expertise sure do help.
Here's just a few of the achievements that Green Step Cities have notched recently:
- Rogers is saving $15,000 a year on an energy efficiency and wastewater system project, and is on track for a five-year payback.
- Milan launched a free community bikes program using donated used bikes. They installed bike racks at the library and a city park, which also has a bike repair station.
- South Saint Paul converted lights in the city’s arena to LEDs and is now saving $36,000 a year in energy costs and $6,000 a year in maintenance. Return on investment was just 18 months!
- Bemidji took advantage of the state’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Program and an Energy Savings Performance Contract to complete $2.45 million in upgrades to eight city buildings, its wastewater treatment plant, and the city’s streetlights. The city's upfront costs were only $273,000 in previously approved capital improvement plan dollars.
- Jordan cut use of 170 tons of road salt (half!) by switching to a brine mixture.The city saved $6,000 in 2017 alone.
- Pierz partnered with a local business to offer community garden space. The gardens are used by residents and the school district's FFA class to grow fresh, local produce.
