New report showcases Travis County’s sustainability efforts

Issued annually ahead of Earth Day, Travis County’s report on its own sustainability efforts highlights a host of victories this year – including expanding recycling services, improving energy consumption and facilities practices, implementing staff programming and trainings, and enhancing sustainable relationships with vendors.

On Tuesday, the Travis County Sustainability Program presented its Internal County Sustainability Report from the last fiscal year to the Travis County Commissioners Court. It tracks the environmental impacts and activities of county operations – not those of the community at large – and highlights activities from school binder recycling drives to the county’s annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Action Plan.

The reporting – issued annually since 2014 – appears ever more relevant as the county seeks to utilize increasingly accurate data to inform policy decisions and work toward achieving its ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions from internal county operations by 2030.

The county conducted massive cleanup efforts after the February 2023 winter storm, taking advantage of the opportunity to process the two million pounds of brush rescued for mulch and compost. 

Throughout Fiscal Year 2023, 57 Travis County buildings joined in on the City’s Voluntary Demand Response Program – reducing energy consumption during critical hours – saving 336 kilowatts and pocketing $18,000 in revenue. 

The county also implemented a revamp of its internal website, allowing Facilities and Parks managers to request recycling bins “with a single click” – doubling the number of requests compared to the months before the redesign. 

In 2020, the county approved its first Climate Action Plan – a five-year roadmap of county plans to lessen its environmental impact and delineate goals for the sustainability department, meant to be assessed against in every year’s sustainability report. 

“Numerous initiatives outlined in the climate action plan have transitioned from being goals to established activities, indicating successful implementation,” said Paiton Upshaw, Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources senior environmental specialist. 

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the county has achieved its goals of digitizing paper processes, streamlining telework and incorporating water-saving features in all new county buildings – along with energy-efficient lighting and construction. 

“What was once a goal has now become standard practice in all of our new county buildings,” she said.

The county appeared to receive lesser marks in one crucial area: greenhouse gas emissions.

The greenhouse gas inventory for the county rose 11 percent year-over-year compared to FY 2022. Upshaw estimated that this increase was attributable largely to the construction of the county’s new Civil and Family Courts Facility. 

However, the item also brought one important element of the year’s report to the fore: data processes.

“I think (court construction) is about 8 percent of the increase, but we also saw a more accurate reporting and data collection method, which led to an increase in employee commute emissions,” Upshaw said. “We only saw – for the CO2 emissions in FY ’22, for employee commute it was only around 9,000. And in FY ’23, it’s around 13,000. So more employees are coming into the office now than before, but also the sustainability team worked with the auditors and this is a much more accurate data source.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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