Working at the neighborhood level helps build connections, strengthen community pride, and encourages residents to engage productively in city government. The Sustainable Neighborhoods Network creates opportunities for direct, hands-on environmental improvement, and collaborative idea-building and skill-sharing, all while getting to know your neighbors. It’s a unique approach to build community-level environmental action, strengthen neighborhood resilience at both an environmental and social level, and support cities in meeting their climate action goals.
Wheat Ridge became a member of the Sustainable Neighborhoods Network in 2020, and continues to engage residents in activities that directly impact their neighborhoods. The first two neighborhoods to sign on were Applewood Villages and Paramount Heights, followed by Fruitdale and Panorama Park a year later.
Success stories abound in the five to six years since these neighborhoods joined the network and started their own programs. Each project or event is proposed by a member of the Sustainable Neighborhood and their neighbors are responsible for showing up and participating. Each neighborhood has its own flair, as shown in the examples of projects and events that have occurred in each neighborhood:
Applewood Villages
• Mother’s Day Pollinator Garden Planting Picnic
• Annual Sustainable Easter Egg Hunt, e-Waste Recycling + Donation Drive, and Fall Yard Waste Compost Collection Event
• Bulk Waste Disposal with Summit
• Annual Compost Giveback
• Yard-Sale-Apalooza
• Summit Waste Preferred Hauler Program
Fruitdale
• Winter clothing drive for JeffCO Action Center
• Recycling, Leave no Trace and Sustainability Resource Discussion and Event
• Cell phone recycling
• Summit Waste Preferred Hauler Prog
Panorama Park
• Community Bike Ride
• Colorado Native Plant Society Certified Garden
• Rain Barrel Info Event & Demonstration
• Xeric/Native Community Garden
• Summit Waste Preferred Hauler Program
Paramount Heights
• Fall Yard Waste Collection with Summit
• 4th of July Bike Parade
• Traffic Management Study
• GoElectric Colorado electrification workshop
• Native Pollinator Community Garden
• Neighborhood Garage Sale
• E-Bike Demonstration
• Bulk Waste Collection
• Pink Flamingo Neighborhood Parties
• Summit Waste Preferred Hauler Program
There are five broad goals that are the suggested focus of a Sustainable Neighborhood program: energy, air, water, land, and people. Within each goal, there is some guidance available that outlines projects, programs, and events that can satisfy or work toward a broad goal, like planning a tree planting event or hosting a weatherization workshop with local experts to present on products to insulate homes. But the guidelines are not strict, and creative ideas are always encouraged.
Neighbors are currently working on a variety of projects in these four neighborhoods, from educational workshops to donation drives, community bike rides to food truck events. If you live in one of these neighborhoods, you can get involved right away. Plus, increasing awareness on things like pollinator-friendly plant species, and most other projects these neighborhoods engage in, directly correlate with the City’s Sustainable Action Plan.
If you live in an area not currently in the boundary of a Sustainable Neighborhood, you can drive change and submit a proposal form through the Sustainable Neighborhood Network website to have your neighborhood certified.
Check out https://www.sustainableneighborhoodnetwork.org/wheatridge to learn more.
