Green up!

If you’ve got opinions on sustainability in the City of Durango, circle next Wed., March 15, on your calendar.

In summer 2022, the City of Durango adopted a “Sustainability Plan‘’ that outlined goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as environmental, economic and social equity goals.

“I like to frame it as: how is our community acting to reduce the impact and be resilient to climate change, and how are we consuming natural resources like energy and water,” Marty Pool, the City of Durango’s sustainability manager, said.

The City of Durango, for years, has been taking comments from the public on how to better improve and achieve these goals, Pool said. (The Sustainability Plan itself was based on a ton of feedback from residents, nonprofits, businesses and local experts.)

However, Wednesday’s forum from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Durango Rec Center, 2700 Main Ave., will be the first time for the public to give feedback since the Sustainability Plan was adopted last summer.

“We really want the community to see it as their plan,” Pool said. “This will be an opportunity to provide feedback and tell us what their priority issues are, what the city is doing well and what their concerns are.”

Want the city to adopt stricter water-use regulations? Go let them know! Want acquiring more public open space to be a higher priority? Now’s your chance. Want to see the return of the Arc of History? Erhm… not sure this is the right forum for that.

Just six months or so in effect, the Sustainability Plan is already making some good progress, Pool said. The City of Durango has been incredibly proactive in promoting electric vehicles and charging stations. And, the Durango City Council is set to hear a proposed list of projects that would improve energy performance, namely solar installations at city facilities.

A lot of the work the past few months has also involved filling in data gaps when it comes to energy, water consumption and waste removal. Whereas the City of Durango does track how much water is used, and who the biggest users are, there hasn’t been a deep dive into water use sector by sector, and how certain programs and initiatives could improve water efficiency.

“Establishing this process itself is a huge win,” Pool said. “We’re building a good foundation.”