Eden Mills Millpond Conservation Society Inc. is working to make the town of Eden Mills the first carbon neutral village in North America.
The Eden Mills Millpond Conservation Society Inc. of Eden Mills, is working to make Eden Mills the first carbon neutral village in North America. Starting in 2007, the grassroots initiative has worked to
- Reduce use of fossil fuels
- Replace fossil fuel consumption with sustainable energy sources
- Increase absorption and sequestration of carbon dioxide.
With the help of University of Guelph students, an annual household Footprint Survey was completed to successfully measure the village’s carbon emissions. Using this information as a baseline, the Society set out to educate and mobilize community members through expert-led workshops, promotion of their website, plans to establish a bike and walking trail to a neighbouring town, investigating public transportation strategies to reduce car dependence, installing a major solar electric array and planting over 3 500 trees to sequester emissions of local residents.
The support of Eden Mills residents has resulted in a community-wide decrease in household carbon emissions by 6% over the past three years. At the same time, Village trees and vegetation have been studied and found to sequester 56% of Eden Mills’ total carbon emissions. Eden Mills is well on their way to becoming the first village in North America to reach the goal of becoming carbon neutral.
