Sustainability

Tackling waste reduction and energy challenges requires all parts of our community to work together. Our sustainability team, launched in 2020, is working hard to improve and maintain Montevallo's Recycling Center, improve the energy performance of municipal buildings, make the city's vehicle fleet more fuel efficient, and improve waste reduction throughout Montevallo. Montevallo's sustainability goals would not be nearly as robust without the help of our community organizations, city departments, University partnership, and support from the Mayor and City Council. Whether directly related to energy savings, emission reduction, or resource conservation, a sustainable Montevallo has a knack for doing good for the environment and its residents while cutting costs.

Check out our first ever Annual Sustainability Report! Some highlights from our 2019-2020 report include

111,760 lbs of waste diverted,
34,700 lbs donated to America's Thrift Store,
Municipal Carbon Footprint at 1,173.6 MT CO2E (Metric Tons of CO2 Emissions),
$107,857 in grant funding awarded,
walkability projects, and community engagement.
It is available to view, download, and print at this link. If you have an idea of how to make Montevallo more sustainable, please do not hesitate to let us know!

Also, be sure to check out our first edition "Reuse It Book"! This project was made in conjunction with the City of Montevallo and the University of Montevallo's Trio Upward Bound Program. It is available to view, download and print at this link, and in Spanish at this link.

Keep up to date on program initiatives by visiting the Sustainable Montevallo Facebook page.

Community Outreach:

Partner with University of Montevallo Sustainability Capstone Course on two semesters worth of projects.

Projects include sustainability planning, sustainable transportation, waste reduction initiatives, and ValloCycle upgrades.

Produced First "Reuse It Book" with University of Montevallo's Trio Upward Bound Program.

It is available to view, download and print at this link, and in Spanish at this link.

Montevallo Main Street Sustainability Committee.

Green Business Program:

3 community supporters

2020 America Recycles Day Events

Community Clean Up, Recycled Bench Ribbon Cutting, and Document Shredding Truck

2021 Earth Day Events with IMPACT Montevallo

Scavenger Hunt, Trash to Treasure Art Project, and Nature Walk

Tabled at Events and hosted presentations with organizations:

2020 Arbor Day, 2020 Love Montevallo Day, 2020 Montevallo's Famers Market
Shelby County Master Gardeners, Montevallo Clergy, Montevallo Progressive Alliance, Presbyterian Church, Montevallo High School, Boys and Girls Club

Micromobility, Walkability, and Quality of Life:

In a partnership with CommuteSmart Birmingham, three additional bike racks have been installed along our Main Street corridor.

CommuteSmart is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve air quality and reduce congestion by encouraging alternative modes of transportation. They offer incentives and services to help ease your transition from driving alone to a cleaner commute.

Earn rewards by creating an account here.

Interested in getting more involved with our bike-friendly community?

Check out "ValloCycle" the first city-wide bike share in the State of Alabama! This program was developed to promote a healthier lifestyle and a cleaner environment through the utilization of bicycles as an alternative form of transportation.

Montevallo has completed three walkability priority projects approved by council through 2019-2020. The three projects include: ADA Compliant Transition Plan, Sustainability Council Committee new construction projects and Shelby County engineers plan for reconstruction.

Here is our updated list of the first $250,000 worth of sidewalk projects, both new construction and upgrades.

Selected community to participate in AGU's April 2021 Thriving Earth Exchange Community Cohort to establish a community Quality of Life Assessment. This assessment will determine the health impacts and financial benefits of community aspects and resources. Results may lead to the creation of impactful programs and the allocation of funding to address known or assessment-identified community needs.

To offer accessible free healthy habits, Montevallo was awarded a $29,544 2020 AARP Communities Challenge Grant. This grant helped fund two sets of exercise equipment at Orr Park and George Dailey Park. With over 2,800 applicants, Montevallo continues to be recognized for its walkable community and sustainable initiatives.
- George Dailey Park is equipped with steps, and a combination street workout system featuring an incline bench, push up bar, decline press, horizontal ladder, and pull up station.
- Orr Park has equipment meant for healthy aging including an ab crunch/leg lift equipment, steps, ladder bars, pull ups bars and a hand cycle machine. The ladder bars can be used for many exercises as well as stretching before or after a run around the park! The equipment is supported by the KOMPAN Sports and Fitness app which helps guide, mentor, and measure performance! Download the app, get to know the equipment, and more at https://www.kompan.us/new-fitness-app. Fitness center #566726.

Energy:

For the City of Montevallo, energy is also one of our largest operating expenses. We can improve the impacts of our energy use on climate change by using less energy (conserving energy), reducing the amount of energy it takes to do what we need to do (using energy more efficiently), or reducing the amount of carbon released from the energy we use (using renewable energy).

The City has several energy initiatives. We work on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. We are committed to improving how we use energy and using new energy technologies to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and save money for our residents. Since the inception of the Sustainability Program, we have:

Conducted the first Energy Audit for city operations

Helped identify top energy users

Calculated Montevallo's first municipal carbon footprint

Municipal Carbon Footprint at 1,173.6 MT CO2E (Metric Tons of CO2 Emissions)

All Alabama Power owned Street Lights converted to LED
Awarded $34,000 grant from 2020 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) from the U.S. Department of Energy. Montevallo applied to retrofit the lights in Parnell Memorial Library with LED.

The grant will save the City $10,000 on energy bills, reduce the library's energy consumption by 67,000 KwH. This will take Parnell Memorial Library from top energy user to third.