City of Blue Island Think Outside the Loop
Think BIGG with Blue Island! BIGG is Blue Island Going Green – celebrating all the ways Blue Island residents and business owners have embraced sustainability to create a healthy and vibrant community. We want to share your success and our committed to building a green future for our City.
On August 20th, STAR Communities announced the 7 U.S. cities that have been selected to participate in the Fall 2014 Leadership STAR Community Program. With extensive support from STAR Communities staff, the Leadership STAR Communities will work through the STAR Community Rating System together with the goal of becoming certified sustainable communities.
To date, 17 communities have achieved STAR certification. Another 30 communities are currently pursuing certification. In all, 82 cities and counties covering 34.5 million people in the U.S. and Canada have signed on to use the rating system in some way.
Local governments will gain a deep understanding of their community’s strengths and needs to support current and future generations as they gather and collect information required for certification. Once certified, communities will receive national recognition for their efforts and be well positioned to address issues that pose local challenges to sustainability.
“What’s great about this group of selected communities is that they are so diverse,” reported Hilari Varnadore, STAR Communities executive director. “Some communities have been tracking sustainability performance metrics for a long time, while others are just getting started. Regardless of where they are starting from, pursuing STAR certification demonstrates strong leadership and commitment to improving their community for the long term.”
The fall 2014 Leadership STAR Communities are: Beaverton, OR; Blue Island, IL; Dearborn, MI; Las Cruces, NM; Las Vegas, NV; Reading, PA; and Wichita, KS. They will be supported by mentors in: Burlington, VT; Dubuque, IA; Evanston, IL; Fayetteville, AR; Houston, TX; Park Forest, IL; and Phoenix, AZ.
BIGG Presentation-Mayor Vargas [download]
BIGG is a sustainable and healthy Blue Island! Visit behealthy.blueisland.org to learn more about Blue Island’s Community Health Coalition.
Contact Jodi Prout, Sustainability Officer, for information on STAR Communities, Blue Island Community Health Coalition or Blue Island’s sustainability initiatives. Jodi can be reached at (708) 396-7138 or jprout@cityofblueisland.org.
