Advisory board aims high for 2021
Sustainability committee looks to improve its digital outreach
After seeing numerous successes last year from its first five-year Sustainability Master Plan, Erie’s Sustainability Advisory Board is planning to aim high for more in 2021.
This master plan, ser ving as a guide and decisionmaking tool for future sustainability planning, outlines 42 strategies for the town across four categories: energy use, transportation, education and outreach, and waste, recycling and composting.
Sustainability Advisory Board Chair Adam Jackson wrote in an email that the board’s first priority for this year is to continue to improve its digital outreach on sustainable topics.
“We need to become more relevant in these times and a lot of sustainability can be started and focused at the home,” Jackson wrote. “One board related item we are exploring is to get our char ter amended to add a youth advisor position for their greater inclusion in our guidance to the town’s board of trustees.”
According to a weekly update from the Erie town administrator, some successes the board has seen in the past year include installing electric vehicle charging stations at three different high-traffic locations, being awarded $247,000 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to work on seven master plan goals, and hosting virtual Ear th Day educational events.
Jackson wrote the funding from CDPHE’S Front Range Waste Diversion Grant will be used for significant upgrades to the town’s recycling center, additional education and outreach, and updating the town’s policies.
Another success Jackson discussed was the board of trustees’ approval of the ReTRAC ordinance which allows the town to measure the waste and recycling volumes collected annually from residents.
“With this data, we can begin to track and work on enhancing public knowledge of recycling and other waste diversion options,” wrote Jackson.
Jackson wrote the advisory board is proud of the accomplishments of the master plan in its first year. More tangible goals for the year will be focused on town composting availability through vendors and growth in the town’s recycling center.