5 Ways Fort Collins Residents Can Take Action to Save the Planet
Fort Collins has declared a climate emergency, which only 80 other municipal governments in the U.S. have managed to do. This kind of declaration acknowledges the global threat of climate change, and states the city’s commitment to taking action.
“Climate emergency” sounds scary — that’s because it is. If you are feeling the existential panic of climate change and the devastating impacts it will have on the planet, it can be hard to channel that energy into positive thinking.
While climate change action will require governments to work together and make policy changes, there are still plenty of things you can do as an individual to make a difference and save the planet.
Here are 5 ways a Fort Collins resident can take individual action, so you can do your part in addressing this climate emergency:
- Opt into utility services that use renewable energy
Solar or wind energy might seem like something unattainable by the average renter and only affordable for the wealthy. Fortunately, cities like Fort Collins source some of their utilities power from clean, renewable energy sources, which allows residents to purchase this energy instead of oil or gas based energy.
According to the City of Fort Collins, utilities users can purchase renewable energy for 1.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on top of their normal electric bill. If you have the ability to afford the extra 1.9 cents, the energy sent to your home will be sourced from Colorado wind power.
2. Tell the city you support renewable energy projects
Namaste Solar recently partnered with Fort Collins solar energy company, Solaris Energy, and opened up the Solinator Garden — a solar power plant used by Fort Collins utilities, sourced directly to residents, combined with a garden of pollinator-friendly plants to help strengthen bee populations and produce local honey.
You can “subscribe” to the Solinator Garden by contacting Solaris Energy and providing them with your utilities account number. This gets you added to a list telling the city you support this project, and in return you will receive packs of pollinator seeds, beeswax lip balm, and a jar of honey created at the Solinator garden.
3. Minimize car trips by using alternative transportation
Fort Collins is known for being bicycle friendly, and fortunately the city of Fort Collins is rated platinum by the Bicycle Friendly Community. The city is covered in bike lanes, bike racks, and even specific bike traffic lights and crossings in order to protect bicyclists. You can get almost anywhere in town via bike, not to mention it’s a great workout.
Transfort — the city’s public transportation system — is also very efficient and has the ability to take you all over town. You can get to the CSU campus, Old Town, the grocery store, or work using the bus routes. It is easy to find bus schedules online, but there is also a Transfort app that allows you to track the buses and see exactly how far they are from your stop.
Using a ride service like Lyft or Uber can also have less impact on the environment when used for carpooling, because it leads to less individual cars on the road. Plus, Lyft actually committed to full carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy in 2018. Now you can take a Lyft to Old Town with a clear conscience.
4. Be conscious of your food waste and plastic use
Shopping locally and buying in bulk is not difficult to do in Fort Collins, where there are so many options for buying locally produced food. Fort Collins Food Co-op sells locally produced food and encourages you to bring your own jars and containers for buying bulk items. Lucky’s Market has lots of bulk options, and everything is organic. King Soopers also carries many Colorado sourced products.
It is easy to cut down plastic use when shopping, too. Bringing reusable bags, including reusable produce bags, cuts down on plastic significantly. Using jars and plastic containers for packing your lunch also eliminates the need to ever buy Ziplock bags.
Finally, try to compost your food waste if you have to throw food out. In the U.S. alone, we waste about $160 billion in food a year. Here are some composting guidelines provided by the City of Fort Collins to help you compost your food waste rather than putting it in a landfill.
5. Make your voice heard
There are many local climate action organizations in northern Colorado who host climate strikes periodically. #FridaysForFuture strikes were inspired by Swedish teen activist, Greta Thunberg, and climate strikes in Denver and Fort Collins took off. The Extinction Rebellion local chapter is also active in protests and strikes. Taking part in a strike can feel empowering and encouraging to see all of us who stand together, and it puts pressure on local governments to listen to the will of the people.
And of course, don’t forget to vote! Every vote counts, and voting for climate friendly candidates who have expressed clear concern and plans to address climate change can help bring the right voices into policy decisions.
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It’s not on anyone’s individual shoulders to solve climate change, and we can’t put that kind of pressure on ourselves to do everything right. However, making small changes to our daily lives goes a long way when everyone in the Fort Collins community can do it collectively. Even doing just one thing on this list will make a difference, and together we can fight for our planet’s future.
To learn more about becoming a subscriber to the Solinator Garden, contact Nick Francis (nfrancis@buildsolaris.com)
