Yavapai News

During Earth Week this year, the Sustainability Department accepted Les Springs to become the first neighborhood to join its new Sustainable Neighborhoods Program. In November, the city of Sedona joined a nationally recognized program called the Sustainable Neighborhoods Network, making it the first city in Arizona to join. The model of the program empowers city residents who are passionate about sustainability to work with their neighbors to improve their community by designing and leading sustainability activities that enhance the environmental and social strength of their neighborhood. Activities can include projects, initiatives, clubs, learning workshops, and social events. With each activity, neighborhoods will earn credits for their work and will be recognized by the city for their efforts. Examples of potential projects could include building a community garden, organizing bike repair workshops or food donation drives, creating a bike to the farmers market club, and many more.

"Bringing this program here was a long time coming. We are extremely excited to finally start and bring on our first neighborhood. My job as the program administrator will be to provide support and resources to ensure Les Springs, or any other future neighborhood, is a resounding success as they begin their journey towards becoming an even more sustainable community," said Sustainability Coordinator Zach Schwarz.

"It is a great honor to have Les Springs be chosen as a Sustainable Neighborhood. I am very excited to see all that our neighbors can do to make Les Springs a Sustainable Neighborhood! I felt the Sustainable Neighborhoods Program was a great way to engage and activate community members and challenge our community to be more thoughtful about sustainability. I am excited that Les Springs is an inaugural neighborhood for this program; my hopes are to create a more engaged neighborhood and to help expand the program to other neighborhoods in Sedona," said resident and community leader in Les Springs Jo Martin, who submitted the Les Springs application for the new program.

The application for a second neighborhood will be kept open until the end of the summer. Applications will open once more next February 2025 to allow for one more neighborhood to apply. To learn more about the program, visit the program website at www.sustainableneighborhoodnetwork.org/sedona. Interested residents are welcome to contact the Sustainability Department at sustainability@sedonaaz.gov or call (928) 203-5123.