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Net-Zero Hero: Tom Meyers

I’m helping to make Austin Net-Zero by: demonstrating the viability and advantages of an off-grid, solar powered business

 

Headshot of Tom Myers with solar panels in the background.Meet Tom Myers, owner of a local shaved ice company called SolarSno. SolarSno's food trucks are the first in Austin to be powered entirely off th…

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Text: Local Fourth Grade Student wins Presiden'ts Environmental Youth Award, photo is of child with buckets of batteries.

Nine-year-old Asvini Thivakaran has been tirelessly raising awareness about battery recycling in her community in Round Rock, Texas for the past two years. Beginning with battery recycling in her home, she expanded her efforts to multiple locations in her community, diverting thousands of batteries from the landfill. Asvini was recently recognized for her efforts with the…

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Banner image with brown flags. Text reads: "Branch out and take flight at the Roots and Wings Festival". Office of Sustainability logo is in the corner.

By: Guest blogger Jo Gammans-Dwyer, Community Catalyst with the City’s Community Trees Preservation Division

 

Can you feel it? Autumn is here! This time of year, we celebrate so many wonderful things in Central Texas — cooler days, the rain that recharges our streams and lakes, and the return of football, to name a f…

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How Sustainable is Your City Government? Photo background: Austin skyline.

2016 Sustainability Performance Results Released

 

Have you ever wondered how sustainable City of Austin operations are? Since 2010, our office has been tracking information related to key areas of City service delivery in terms of water and energy use, waste, mobility, green building and wellness. Recently, we released the City’s report car…

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Text overlay: How sustainable is your city government? Photo background: City hall interior, gold and copper tones.

Have you ever wondered how sustainable City of Austin operations are? Since 2010, our office has been tracking information related to key areas of City service delivery in terms of water and energy use, waste, mobility, green building and wellness. Recently, we released the City’s report card for 2017 that shows how we’re doi…

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Becoming a green school: Eastside Memorial High School's Journey, photo is a girl carrying a hose.

Eastside Memorial High School is known for tackling environmental issues head-on. This became even more evident when they became the first high school in Texas to be recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as an Eco-Schools USA Green School.

The road to becoming a Green School began in 2014, when the school embarked on a campus-wide beautification project.…

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Spring is here, and people are flocking to the parks for concerts, festivals, or simply for some outside time with their pets. Austin is a dog-friendly town, and many folks bring their furry friends with them when walking the many trails in our wonderful city. While most residents do pick up after their pets, the park rangers would like to remind everyone to finish the job, and please dispose of the waste in a trash receptacle.…

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Earth Month Message - Lucia Athens, Chief Sustainability Officer

Each April, the calendar reminds us that Earth Day is coming. But we all know that Earth Day is every day. We live on a precious planet where nature and all its gifts should be celebrated on a daily basis.

Viewed from a scientific perspective, the possibility of life on earth exists as a rare occurrence of conditions referred to as the “Goldilocks Zone.” This means that our planet falls within the slender range of the…

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City of Austin "Waste Not" Challenge Winner: Sarah Seidel

Photo of Sarah Seidel with a green background.

City of Austin employees recently competed against each other in a week-long "Waste Not" challenge. The challenge tracks "green" actions taken by participants, and is done thro…

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Text: Green Cup Challenge over collage of small images of people doing "green" things.

As football playoff season prepares to kick-off, let’s recap another hard fought competition – this year’s Austin Green Business Leaders Green Cup Challenge. Although the rivalry was fierce, the custom web designers of SeaLab were able to defend their title and were crowned Green Cup Champ…