The Government of Manitoba has named a list of winners for the 2018 Sustainability Awards.
After claiming the Sustainable Community of Manitoba award in 2017, the City of Dauphin was listed as an honourable mention for the 2018 awards.
The honourable mention was for the City’s effort in implementing new technologies and techniques to make the city greener.
Some of those initiatives include a large-scale rainwater catchment system to help reduce the amount of treated water used to water flower baskets and community baskets, the implementation of a way to recycle old mattresses, a way to recycle household appliances, and making repairs to reduce the amount of infiltration and inflow into the city’s sanitary system.
Another thing the city has done to help make the city more environmentally friendly is the building of bike lanes, and starting an active transportation plan.
“We’re on the right track, we’ve been working really hard at growing our community around green initiatives, and making our contribution to a clean environment,” said Dauphin’s community energy manager Steve Sobering. “It’s pretty satisfying to be recognized outside of the community.
Sobering adds that the city isn’t done when it comes to making Dauphin greener and more efficient. Part of the plan going forward is to slowly make the city’s fleet electric, by buying electric garbage trucks, street sweepers, and Zambonis, as well as replacing the city’s old HVAC systems with more energy-efficient ones.
The city is also installing Level 3 rapid chargers for electric vehicles.
Sobering is hoping that by seeing what a small city like Dauphin can do for sustainability, bigger cities will catch on and make their communities more sustainable.
The winner of the Sustainable Community for 2018 was the Fisher River Cree Nation.
