A goat-based landscaping company, movable protected bike lane project, rain barrel distribution service, needs-adjusted energy audits, and a restaurant that composts everything down to their six-pack rings.
This eclectic set of sustainability initiatives has a common thread: They’re the five recipients of this year’s Green Durango Grants.
Green Durango Grants, a grant program open to businesses, community organizations and nonprofits, in its third year. The program divvies up a $25,000 fund every year to go toward Durango-based organizations spearheading the city’s sustainability efforts in creative, community-based ways.
Grant money is allocated to applicants based on their commitment to one or more of the five sectors laid out in the City of Durango’s Municipal Sustainability Action Plan, according to city sustainability manager Marty Pool.
Those five sectors are energy, transportation and development strategies, consumption and waste, water, and natural systems and ecology.
Here are the five programs striving to make Durango a more sustainable place that were selected as this year’s Green Grants Durango recipients.
The Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency, or 4CORE, is a nonprofit organization that provides programs and projects for energy and cost savings, especially for lower-income households.
The Residential Energy Assessment Program, which 4CORE received a $5,000 dollar grant from, is actually an umbrella term for two different 4CORE programs, the Colorado Affordable Residential Energy Program and the Energy Smart Colorado Program, according to 4CORE Executive Director Jenny Hill.
The Colorado Affordable Residential Energy Program, or CARE, provides free energy efficiency upgrades to households at or below 80% of an area's median income. Durango’s median income in 2022 was $39,023.
“The first step is we have our energy analyst go out to their house and perform an energy audit, and this is everything from crawl space up to the attic,” Hill said.
After their free energy audit, CARE participants receive a report of recommendations about how they can decrease their home’s energy bills and carbon footprint. These range from small changes like replacing fluorescent light bulbs with Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to larger projects like installing a new water heater.
4CARE then covers the cost of these energy-efficiency upgrades on a needs-based sliding scale, Hill said.
The Energy Smart Colorado Program is similar to CARE, but for people of any income level. The maximum cost of an energy audit under this program is $500, but Hill said the program also has a needs-based rebate program and that households on average spend around $100 on their audits.
4CORE was the only organization to receive two $5,000 grants for different programs. Their second grant-winning program is an annual February-May sale on rain barrels, which Hill said the grant will help to revitalize.
“We haven't been getting as many rain barrel recipients as we used to. This year, we only had 99 people sign up for the program, whereas last year it was a little over 130 people,” Hill said.
According to Hill, collecting rainwater has more benefits than just saving money on a water bill. Rain runoff often picks up debris or even pesticides and other noxious chemicals on its way from people’s yards toward waterways and the groundwater supply.
“Since 2017, we've introduced 459 rain barrels, which have saved an estimated 436,000 gallons of water annually,” Hill said. “This is equivalent to watering 17 household landscapes each year.”
Last year, 4CORE’s rain barrels went one for $95 and two for $180. Hill said they’ll be available for a more discounted price next year because of the grant.
Carver’s Brewing Company is located on Main Avenue near 10th Street in Durango. Carver’s co-owner Colin Carver said back-of-house waste has been composted since last year, and the restaurant's goal was to eventually achieve full-scale restaurant composting.
Unfortunately, doing front-of-house composting proved harder than back of house largely due to costs associated with making nonfood waste compost compliant.
However, thanks in part to its $5,000 grant, Carver Brewing Company has now achieved full-scale restaurant composting by converting napkins, straws, to-go cups, six-pack rings and more to compost-compliant brands.
All of Carver’s compost goes to the eco-friendly waste management business Table to Farm.
“Latest I heard, about 3,500 pounds of material has been diverted from the landfill to their facility,” Carver said.
Bike Durango is a community organization that advocates for better and safer bike infrastructure. The Protected Bike Lane Pilot is a cooperative project between Bike Durango and the City of Durango, the latter allowing the former to erect temporary protected bike lanes using movable delineators.
Delineators are devices that help manage vehicle flow and mark specific areas on roads, highways and parking lots.
According Devin King, the city’s multimodal manager, Durango currently has zero miles of protected bike lanes, which have proven to reduce all collisions and injuries for both bikers and drivers by 30-50%, according to repeated studies.
Pending city approval, Jennaye Derge, founder and co-director of Bike Durango, said her organization plans to erect its first protected bike lane pilot sometime later this summer on East Second Street. That lane would go down the west side of the road from Rotary Park and ending at East 13th Street. If it goes well, the delineators will eventually be moved to another stretch of road in Durango.
“We want to provide an opportunity to feel what it’s like to be protected from vehicle traffic,” said Dirge. “And if all goes well and everyone likes it, then hopefully we can get something permanent installed in the future.”
DuranGoats is a company that uses goats for land management to reduce wildfire fuel loads and invasive weed species. DuranGoats is the sole recipient of this year’s Green Durango Grants that also received the grant last year.
Before European settlement, roaming herds of Elk and other grazers played an essential role in maintaining the once much more lush Animas Valley ecosystem, according to DurnanGoats founder and co-owner Jonathan Bartley. As ever, more people have flooded in, scaring off the herds and bringing invasive plant species, and that lack of grazers has only become more acute.
Most “weeds” common in this area do not have deep root systems, making the soil dry and loose. By grazing, DurnGoats’ goats not only eliminate overgrown wildfire fuel, but also help restore the land’s vitality by increasing moisture retention and allowing native grasses to thrive, Bartley said.
“When we first came here it was lush. Look at before and after pictures, it’s pretty wild to see what’s happened to this land,” said Bartley. “The desert is coming for us.”
nmetcalf@durangoherald.org
