Durango, CO  - Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and to create new visions to accelerate sustainability and environmental progress.  It is also a great time to remind ourselves what each of us can do every day to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.  La Plata County is proud to announce the creation of a new Sustainability Coordinator position that will be working closely with all County departments and La Plata County’s Energy Management and Resource Conservation Team to focus attention on and to advance sustainability goals.  Already, La Plata County is:

•     Using bio-diesel in fleet equipment and vehicles;

•     Including fuel mileage as one of our bid selection criteria;

•     Heating our Fleet Maintenance Shop with a waste oil heater;

•     Recycling cardboard, paper, aluminum cans, plastics, glass and printer cartridges;

•     Having an in-depth energy audit performed on county facilities to determine where energy saving initiatives can be made;

•     In the process of creating a carbon reduction action plan as a result of a Carbon Emissions Inventory study completed last year;

•     A financial contributing member of the 4CORE organization (Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency);

•     Supporting an employee Bike to Work Team that promotes bicycling to work and has a fleet bicycle for employee use;

•     Working with local governments to develop new recycling drop-off sites.

Below are some recycling events for La Plata County residents:

•     Computer and Electronics Recycling Event on April 25^th and 26^th from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the City of Durango’s Recycling Center located in the Durango Tech Center at 710 Tech Center Drive, Durango.  For more information and fees, call (970) 375-4831.

•     Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on September 27^th from 8:30 a.m.– 2:30 p.m. at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Avenue, Durango.  For more information visit the County’s sustainability page at http://co.laplata.co.us/sustainability/sustainability.htm or call Walt Serfoss at (970) 382-6417, or Nancy Andrews at (970) 375-4830.         

•     Free Yard Waste Drop-Off and/or Pickup of Wood Mulch - La Plata County offers a free yard waste collection site at the Bayfield Convenience on CR 223, approximately 2.5 miles from where it intersects with US Highway 160.  The yard waste is mulched and then available to citizens at no charge.  The program is open from May 1 – November 30.  For more information and for the hours of operation, please call (970) 382-6200.

•     Battery Recycling – Approximately three billion batteries are sold in the United States each year.  Batteries may contain cadmium, mercury, nickel metal hydride, manganese, lithium, copper, zinc, and lead acid to convert chemical energy to electric energy.  These metals may create a hazard when disposed of incorrectly.  In landfills, pollutants from batteries have the potential to leach into soil, groundwater, or surface water.  La Plata County and the City of Durango have joined together to offer household (alkaline) battery recycling opportunities around the county.  For more information and drop-off locations call (970) 375-4831 or visit http://co.laplata.co.us/sustainability/sustainability.htm.

For more information and to offer suggestions with respect to La Plata County’s sustainability initiatives, please contact Walt Serfoss, Sustainability Coordinator, at (970) 382-6417 or by email at serfosswa@co.laplata.co.us.