Westport Joins 'Sustainable Fairfield County'

WESTPORT, CT — Westport is among ten Fairfield County communities that have joined forces to help advance environmental sustainability and responsibility county-wide through a new cooperative organization called Sustainable Fairfield County.

Other participating communities are Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Trumbull, Weston and Wilton, according to a release.

“Westport is proud of its longtime leadership as a sustainable community," Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said in a release. "From being the first municipality east of the Mississippi to introduce a plastic bag ordinance in 2009, to its goal of being NetZero by 2050, we are committed to adopting policies and processes that will leave our town environmentally better than we found it. Joining Sustainable Fairfield County is another important step in that commitment.”

According to the group’s mission statement, “Sustainable Fairfield County is a network of Connecticut communities working in collaboration to educate the public on ways to enhance our communities using approaches that are economically viable, socially beneficial, and environmentally responsible.”

Founding members are now actively seeking to include representation from all other towns throughout the county.

“Fairfield County is distinguished by some of the most effective, locally-driven initiatives to advance environmental preservation and sustainability in the nation,” Daphne Dixon, the group’s chairwoman, said in a release. “But we believe we can take those initiatives to another level by linking the efforts of our communities and their many dedicated, knowledgeable environmental advocates, toward the goal of enlisting a greater number of our residents in the cause of creating a more healthful, sustainable Fairfield County.”

Sustainable Fairfield County was formally launched at the first-annual Regional Convening for Sustainable Development held at Grace Farms in New Canaan on Feb. 7. The event featured discussions of the local integration of global sustainable development goals and showcased a wide-range of local projects and initiatives.

The next Sustainable Fairfield County meeting will take place Monday, April 16 from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Earthplace (10 Woodside Lane, Westport). The public is encouraged to attend to both learn more and add their community to the growing list of towns that are engaged in the organization.

The primary focus of Sustainable Fairfield County is the promotion and coordination of annual “green events” focused on a specific area, and supported by member towns throughout the year, to encourage county-wide participation.

The current event calendar includes:

• Sunday, March 25: Zero Waste Faire (Wilton High School Field House, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
• Saturday, April 28: Westport Green Day (Earthplace & Wakeman Town Farm, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
• Saturday, September 8: Fairfield Electric Vehicle Showcase (Fairfield Warde High School, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
• Weston Farm to Table Festival (summer, date and location to be determined)

For more information on Sustainable Fairfield County, please visit sustainablefairfieldcounty.org.

Photo credit: Daphne Dixon