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Energy Partnership
The City of Lakewood and Xcel Energy are taking a new approach to how we partner on energy-related initiatives to achieve shared goals. The partnership, led by the City of Lakewood Sustainability Division, recognizes many common interests between the two organizations and focuses on how Xcel can help the City reach its Sustainability Plan goals. To begin the partnership, staff members from each organization are working together to draft a memorandum of understand (MOU) and a work plan to present to the Lakewood community and City Council. The MOU will emphasize the partnership values and guiding principles to ensure achievable results. The work plan will focus on actions around topics such as:
- Municipal buildings that are energy efficient and use renewable energy
- Renewable energy community programs
- Energy efficiency community programs
- Energy Use Analytics and modeling
- Regional cooperation
- Neighborhood engagement
We expect the draft MOU to be presented to the community towards the end of 2017 with the intent to implement projects in 2018. To stay up to date, subscribe to the Lakewood Sustainability Newsletter at www.lakewood.org/sustainabilitynews.
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$200 for Your Earth Day Artwork
The City of Lakewood is getting ready for another exciting Earth Day Celebration in April 2018. This fun community festival will feature music, food, art, exhibits and activities that spread environmental awareness and bring the community together.
We are looking for talented artists to create this year’s poster design that reflects the spirit of Earth Day. The winning design will be used on posters, banners, t-shirts and other materials and the artist will also receive $200. You (or someone you know!) can submit designs online at www.Lakewood.org/EarthDay.
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Holiday Recycling Opportunities
Go green this holiday season and keep holiday waste out of the landfill. Lakewood's Quail Street Recycling Center has two opportunities for you to divert holiday waste
Thanksgiving often means lots of family, lots of friends and lots of cooking! Recycle your waste cooking oil during this once-a-year event for Lakewood residents, to help divert it from the landfill and municipal sewer systems. Used cooking oil is recycled into locally produced and used biodiesel. You can bring your cooking oil to Quail Street Recycling Center on Saturday, Nov. 25, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m
You can also recycle your old, broken and unused strings of holiday lights at Lakewood’s Quail Street Recycling Center. Light recycling is available 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., every day from Nov. 24 through Jan. 21. Learn more at Lakewood.org/Recycling.
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Sustainable Neighborhoods Leaf Collection and Compost Days
Two Lakewood Sustainable Neighborhoods, Southern Gables and Green Mountain, recently held leaf collection and compost days to provide a convenient, affordable way for residents to get rid of their leaves.
Sustainable Southern Gables and the Southern Gables Neighborhood Association have held this event for four years in a row, and each year they see more success and increased participation. On Nov. 11, 90 volunteers gathered to rake leaves and run the leaf collection center located at Green Gables Elementary. They collected 769 bags of leaves from 84 households.
Sustainable Green Mountain, a neighborhood that recently joined the Sustainable Neighborhoods Program, held their first leaf collection and compost day on Oct. 28. In total, the neighborhood collected 254 bags of leaves weighing almost 5,000 pounds. Congratulations to these neighborhoods for putting on such successful community events.
Visit SustainableNeighborhoodNetwork.org/Lakewood to learn about what all eight of the Sustainable Neighborhoods are working on.
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2017 Sustainability Award Winner Feature
This month's featured 2017 Sustainability Award winner is Jen Teeuwen, a longtime leader of the South of 6th Sustainable Neighborhood. As a charter member of the group, Jen helped provide guidance on neighborhood initiatives while working diligently to connect neighborhood residents and build community to ensure the neighborhood’s success in the program. Some of the many projects Jen organized in 2016 include a light rail community ride, a water treatment plant tour and many monthly meetings that allowed neighbors to come together to discuss topics important to their community. After three years of effort, Jen helped lead South of 6th to achieve certification as an “Outstanding Sustainable Neighborhood.” From the beginning, Jen took charge of this new program, and her hard work and dedication has resulted in opportunities for residents throughout the neighborhood to have ownership of projects that contribute to a more sustainable community.
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Colorado's State of Recycling Released this Week
The Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) and Eco-Cycle marked America Recycles Day on Wednesday by releasing sobering numbers on Colorado’s statewide and local recycling rates. According to their new first-of-its-kind report, The State of Recycling in Colorado, Colorado recycles only 12 percent of its waste, much less than the national average of 34 percent. And while many Coloradans place a high value on conservation, more than 40 percent of residents do not recycle regularly. Colorado produces more than 35 million pounds of trash every day or enough trash to fill one garbage truck every minute of every day for a year. The report documents existing conditions and outlines five key recommendations to improve recycling statewide, including:
- Collect better data.
- Expand curbside residential recycling.
- Establish financial incentives, such as volume-based pricing.
- Increase recycling access for apartments and businesses.
- Develop more composting infrastructure and services.
You can read the report online at ecocycle.org/take-action/zerowastecolorado.
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