The advancements made this past year in Bexley’s environmental sustainability realm – by the City’s Sustainability Department, Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee, and residents – can best be described as electric.

This year’s highlights include:

• The new aggregation program allowed participants to purchase renewable wind energy credits (RECs) for $0.686 cents per kWh. In September, 3490 accounts participated in the program!

• Monthly lessons about environmental sustainability for 400 fourth and seventh graders.

• Four groups of OSU students focused their capstone projects on recommendations for Bexley’s upcoming sustainability action plan.

• Middle and high school students implemented week-long food waste recycling pilot programs during the last school year.

• Residents installed 23 native gardens through the Love Your Alley program.

• The City purchased a Ford F150 Lightning truck as part of the ongoing conversion of the City’s fleet to electric.

• Organics and recyclable items were kept out of the landfill during the community events this summer thanks to Green Bexley volunteers at the Waste Station.

  We topped off the year by receiving the SolSmart Gold designation and were a gold recipient of the Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence in Communities award!

  Join us this year by making a commitment to learn something new related to sustainability: attend a lecture at the library, visit SWACO or Rumpke, reduce your food waste, purchase one pre-owned garment instead of something new. It can feel like the world is on fire; we are trying to boil the ocean. Just do something because that is how movements are started.

  We’re building on this momentum to launch us into 2024 and are excited about the upcoming sustainability action plan, increased recycling, and springtime events. Keep an eye out for more information on Green Bexley’s social media and greenbexley.org; we’re looking forward to another electrifying year!