What we do

The City of Asheville has a strong record and long standing commitment to sustainability. The Sustainability Department was created in 2008 to integrate sustainable design, technology, and practice into municipal operations, infrastructure and services.  The Sustainability Department is responsible for incorporating City Council’s Strategic Goals and City Resolutions pertaining to sustainability within the organization.


 


Doing the Work

Listed below are the plans, assessments and policies that guide the work of the Sustainability Department.

Guiding Documents

Policies

 


Asheville Community Carbon Footprint

The Office of Sustainability recently worked with a student from the Lenoir Rhyne Masters of Sustainability Studies program to measure the carbon footprint from the city at large. The carbon emissions from 2019 for the city of Asheville are summed up in this infographic.

Text only version

 


Community Partners

The Office of Sustainability partners with the following local nonprofits to implement community programs:

 


 

Related Services

Information about disposing of large or unusual items such as furniture, household hazardous waste, or appliances. As well as instructions for brush, leaves, or Christmas trees.

Information on what can be recycled, how to prepare items for collection, and composting.

Related Projects

Elevate AVL

Happening Now Elevate AVL engagement agents and advisory committee members are working with community members to co-create resources and strategies to build neighborhood resilience. The project seeks to learn from Asheville communities to inform neighborhood-led and city-supported initiatives to develop shared resources and ideas to thrive in a changing climate.  This current phase of the Climate [...]

Less Plastic Asheville

This City of Asheville is launching the Less Plastic Asheville Challenge to encourage residents to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics. The campaign has two key features, a social media challenge called Less Plastic Bingo and a Pass on Plastic Pledge.

Single-Use Plastic Reduction

Asheville City Council has directed the Sustainability Department to take a phased approach to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic.

Sustainability News

X