Happy holidays everyone! As we slide (or slam, as the case may be for some) into the holiday season and enjoy the last month of this decade, we on the Climate Team have been reflecting on this amazing community in which we are lucky enough to work. We were so excited to celebrate 20 year of climate action in Fort Collins in November with almost 400 people joining in the celebration! As one community member put it, “we need to celebrate more often – we do really great things in this community.” I couldn’t agree more!

 As you are winding down, we hope you enjoy this last issue of 2019 – where we highlight how to engage with Our Climate Future, share holiday recycling tips, and celebrate our CAP Community Advisory Committee member Amanda Probst.

We look forward to envisioning our next decade with you in 2020, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can support your efforts.

Cheers,
Lindsay

Another big thank you to the 400 community members who helped to celebrate 20 years of climate action in our community at our anniversary event on November 14th!

We wanted to recognize in particular those who received a climate recognition shout out (pictured above) from another community member at the event to honor them for their dedication to climate action, waste reduction, energy efficiency, and equity work in our community over the last 20 years. 

Watch a recording of the event here to hear from other superheroes in our community to learn about their local efforts.

What do climate change and air quality have in common? They are caused by many of the same energy sources that we use for industry, businesses, homes and vehicles. The City is currently collecting comments and feedback on an Air Quality Plan, which identifies new and emerging strategies to improve air quality, and information for our community’s future climate planning efforts.

Share your thoughts on your needs, priorities, and experiences related to air quality, and provide feedback on the plan through December 31, 2019.

Wondering if wrapping paper can go in curbside recycling? Have leftover grease from that deep-fried turkey? Stuck with a mountain of cardboard? And what about that tree!?

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25%! That’s 30 million live trees, 4 million tons of gift wrap, and 2.6 billion holiday cards. Recycling all this stuff the right way and reducing what you produce in the first place helps keep waste out of the landfill.

Since its launch on October 23, the Bird e-scooter program has disseminated 500 e-scooters across the City and on the CSU campus. A significant majority (80%) of rides are occurring on and around CSU.

In the seven weeks since launch, there have been over 30K rides, over 7K unique riders, and over 20K miles traveled, all during less than ideal winter conditions. Additionally, in the 51 days since launch, 6 pounds of CO2 emissions have been avoided.  Rules for e-scooter parking and operation can be found on the City e-scooter web page.

Amanda Probst is proud to call Fort Collins home for 17 years now. Before moving to CO, she worked at the city attorney's office in Eugene, OR, making use of her law and Master's degrees from Duke. Since settling in Fort Collins, she has homeschooled her three (now teenage) sons. From 2005-2010, she was also a contributing editor for a national scrapbooking magazine, authoring a book and a couple of monthly columns. She enjoys learning new things, spending time with her family, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, traveling and (most recently) indoor rock climbing.

This is her first year participating on the CAP Community Advisory Committee. She is so impressed by the City of Fort Collins and enjoys being involved in climate action planning.