Welcome to the City of Coeur d’Alene sustainability portion of the web site.  The City has had great success in its sustainability efforts in just one short year.  The City began to look at sustainability in April 2009, when the City Council established its goals and priorities for the fiscal year.  As a cost savings goal, the City Council requested staff to study green/sustainability plans.  Additionally, the City was a recipient of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, which required the City to conduct an energy audit.  The energy audit was the first tool in the City’s movement forward toward sustainability goals.  

As such, the City made great strides in its first year of working toward sustainability, including the following:

°        Creation of a volunteer employee committee “Green CDA Team”

°        Completion of an energy audit and a performance based contract for energy savings programs with Johnson Controls

°        Completion of a city facilities pilot recycle program and implementation of general recycling practices

°        Identification of existing green practices

°        Installation of motion sensor light switches

°        Creation of sustainable section to the web-site

°        Creation of a monthly E-Newsletter with education and reminders to staff

°        City Council approval for single stream recycling (community-wide) (to be available within a year)

The City of Coeur d’Alene vision statement states, “Our vision of Coeur d’Alene is a beautiful, safe city that promotes a high quality of life and sound economy through excellence in government.”  The term “quality of life” is a phrase that the employee committee built upon toward its vision of sustainability.  The City looks forward to its vision of a providing quality of life to its current and future citizens. 

In its simplest definition, being green means taking into account the Earth’s wellbeing when making choices about how you live your life. This means considering the ecosystems that support all inhabitants of the planet. In the big picture, being green means making choices based on the impact they will have on our water, land, and air.

There are many components to a green lifestyle and many levels at which one can choose to participate. Some people look to make as little impact on the environment as they can. Others may choose to recycle when they are able to.