Celebrate Earth Day Every Day
VISIT THE CITY'S JEROME "BUDDIE" FORD NATURE CENTER
Alexandria’s own Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center provides year-round environmental education programs. Visit the nature center's web page for more details. All events require pre-registration; please click here and visit the environmental education tab for registration information.
ATTEND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY COMMISSION MEETINGS
Meeting agendas, background environmental project materials, and the scope of the City's environmental advisory panel are posted to the City hosted EPC web page. Meetings are held monthly.
BECOME AN ECO-CITY AMBASSADOR
The twice-a-year Eco-City Academy is one of the City of Alexandria Academies that trains community volunteers as Eco-City Ambassadors to provide outreach and education on sustainability throughout the City of Alexandria. The training covers the topics in the Environmental Action Plan 2040: climate change, energy, green buildings, open space, solid waste, water resources, transportation, air quality, and implementation and outreach. After completing the training, volunteers provide ten hours of outreach in the City. The next available academy is fall 2021 and announced along with other City academies.
BECOME AN ENERGY MASTER
The Energy Masters program trains community volunteers in energy efficiency and water conservation techniques through an intensive seven-session training program. After completing the training program, volunteers perform energy efficiency checks and upgrades to affordable housing units in the City of Alexandria and Arlington County, Virginia. The next training starts in the fall of 2021. During COVID-19, the program has developed free online training. See the calendar of events here.
Add Solar to Your Home During Solarize Alexandria
Every year since 2015, the City of Alexandria has partnered with the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission to reduce the cost and complexity of going solar. More than 75 Alexandrians have added solar to their homes or businesses through the SolarizeAlexandria program -- that's nearly 480 kW of installed solar energy system capacity!
Residents who sign up will receive a free solar satellite assessment, free home energy check-up, discounted solar system pricing, and vetted installers.
SolarizeAlexandria also offers participants the opportunity to install EV charging stations and battery storage in addition to solar power systems. The 2022 SolarizeAlexandria program for 2022 will be from March through June.
Visit SolarizeAlexandria for more information. To learn more about the City's renewable energy efforts, visit the renewable energy web page.