Maplewood Receives GreenStep Cities Step 5 Award!

The League of Minnesota Cities recognized the City of Maplewood at its 2017 annual conference in June for demonstrating commitment to sustainability best practices and achieving the Step 5 GreenStep Cities award.  GreenStep Cities is a free and voluntary program designed to help Minnesota cities achieve their environmental sustainability goals through the implementation of sustainability best practices.  The practices can be applied in areas of transportation, building and lighting, environmental management, land use, and economic and community development.  The actions can be tailored to all types of Minnesota cities, and they focus on cost savings, energy use reduction, and encouraging innovation. 

Maplewood was one of six cities in the state that was awarded the GreenStep Cities Step 5 award in 2017.  Step 5 is achieved when a city demonstrates improvement in sustainability best practices metrics from the previous year.  From 2015 to 2016, Maplewood improved on the following sustainability metrics:

1.  Energy Use:  Decrease in energy use at city buildings.
2.  Green Construction Code:  Increase in buildings constructed under the Green Construction Code.
3.  Green Certified Buildings:  Increase in the number of private green certified buildings.
4.  Solid Waste:  Decrease in residential solid waste.
5.  Recycling:  Increase in residential recycling.
6.  Renewable Energy:
     a.  Increase in commercial renewable energy generation sites.
     b.  Increase in generation capacity of city-owned and private renewable energy sites.
7.  Local Foods:  Increase in the number of local food venues.
8.  Green House Gas Emissions:  City-wide decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from energy sources.

For details on all of Maplewood's sustainability best practices, visit the Minnesota GreenStep Cities website and click on "Maplewood"