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Mountain Village may cover just over 3 square miles but the small community has big ambitions to help fight climate change, starting at home. Over Memorial Day Weekend, the town will shine a spotlight on its Green Gondola Project, and launch four programs to reward local residents for conserving natural resources and protecting the environment.

These cutting-edge initiatives are part of a grassroots, community-wide movement to work toward The New Normal — the Telluride region’s audacious goal of achieving carbon neutrality.

The New Normal movement sprung from Mountainfilm, the annual film festival premiering Memorial Day weekend that has shared the powerful stories of grassroots movements for nearly four decades. As it pinpoints climate change as the defining issue of our time, the festival has identified specific ways the Telluride community can take simple, impactful steps to preserve the planet for future generations. Festival Director David Holbrooke says Mountainfilm can help propel action against climate change by leveraging the power of story to fuel innovation and community building.

“Can we do this? Can Telluride really go carbon neutral?” Holbrooke asks. “We don’t know, but given what is clearly happening to our planet, we have to try.”

The Mountain Village Resident Incentive Programs are one way the community is rising to the challenge, working to establish The New Normal. The town is investing more than $120,000 in four programs that educate and reward local residents and businesses for taking a range of environmentally friendly actions. The programs include:

• SOLAR ENERGY: Mountain Village homes and businesses are awarded a rebate of $0.40 per watt for power generated by solar energy.
• ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Mountain Village offers free controllers for heat trace systems, promising to save 30-50 percent of electricity costs per winter.
• WATER CONSERVATION: Mountain Village is paying for the entire cost of efficient irrigation systems for lawns and gardens.
• HEALTHY FORESTS: Mountain Village is reimbursing property owners up to $5,000 for creating defensible space that reduce wildfire risks.

“These incentive programs are a great way to engage local residents in meaningful actions to address climate change and improve the environment in our own community,” says Bill Kight, director of marketing & business development at Town of Mountain Village.

Kight notes that Mountain Village has a long history of environmental responsibility, from protecting area wetlands to working toward becoming Zero Waste. Mountain Village’s mandatory recycling programs, efforts to protect native plants from noxious weeds, green power initiatives, and electric vehicle charging stations contribute further to its status as a leader in the fight to protect the planet.

The gondola, of course, may be one of the most impactful and inspirational of Mountain Village’s commitments to green living and reducing the town’s carbon footprint. It’s certainly the most unique — the only form of free transportation like it in North America! Providing more than 2.6 million passenger rides annually, the gondola offers an efficient mode of transportation that reduces carbon emissions, resulting in cleaner air and a community that’s less reliant on cars.

The Green Gondola Project, launched a several years ago, has worked to offset the large amount of electricity needed to power the gondola with alternative energy sources by raising money from gondola riders. Key achievements of the Green Gondola Project to date:

• Funds collected through the Project have been used to install LED lighting and on-site solar panels, and buy wind power to provide the electricity used to operate the gondola.
• Since 2007, the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association has offset 100 percent of the gondola’s remaining traditional electricity needs with renewable energy Green Blocks purchased from its electricity provider, San Miguel Power Association. These Green Blocks support energy efficiency and renewable energy programs throughout the region. 200,000 Green Blocks of renewable energy have been purchased, offsetting 20 million kilowatt hours of dirty electricity.
• The gondola’s solar panels now generate 240,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy and prevent 463,200 pounds of carbon dioxide from polluting the environment annually.

“The renewable energy the gondola produces from solar panels is still a small fraction of the total it uses,” notes Kight, “but the goal is to reach 20 percent.”

In the face of daunting challenges presented by a warming planet, it’s important to celebrate the community-led initiatives that are making a difference on a small scale.

“The results of Mountain Village’s many green initiatives are powerful,” says Mountain Village mayor Dan Jansen. “They have cemented the town’s role as part of the vanguard actively working to fight climate change, and they help lay the groundwork for the Telluride region’s movement to establish The New Normal.”

To learn more about our incentive programs visit townofmountainvillage.com/green-living and for more information on the Green Gondola Project or to donate online, visit townofmountainvillage.com/green-gondola-project.

Coinciding with this year’s Mountainfilm Festival theme, “The New Normal”, the Town of Mountain Village is announcing a handful of environmental incentives for residents. The New Normal focuses on how communities can work together to combat climate change, making seemingly small changes that collectively add up to have a larger impact on the environment.

“Mountain Village has long been a proponent of creating a greener community, and this is most evident by our free pedestrian Gondola, which has been providing a greener method of transportation for the community for more than 20 years,” said Bill Kight, director of marketing and business development for the Town of Mountain Village. “These new resident incentives speak to the importance of coming together as a community to address the larger issue of climate change. This really is the “New Normal” for us as a society, and we want to reward our residents for reducing their carbon footprint and working to affect climate change.”

Mountain Village Resident Incentives
The resident incentives focus on solar energy, energy efficiency, water conservation and forest health, and the Town is investing more than $120,000 in providing these incentives to its residents.

• Solar Energy – This incentive program offers a rebate of $.40 per watt for power generated by the sun on participating Mountain Village homes and businesses.
• Energy Efficiency – The Heat Trace Incentive Program offers a free heat trace system controller to each participant. These will improve the efficiency of heat trace systems commonly applied on roofs and gutters, and controls can result in residents saving between 30 and 50 percent of electricity costs per winter.
• Water Conservation – When it comes to water, the Town asks that you use what you need, and will also pay for the entire cost of an EPA WaterSense certified smart irrigation control system with weather-sensing capability for a lawn or garden.
• Forest Health – Climate change directly impacts wildfire risk, as forests are becoming drier and there is an increased chance of fire. When residents create defensible space on their property to reduce that risk, the Town will reimburse residents up to $5,000.

“As a community, it is important to educate and reward our residents for doing the right thing rather than regulating them into compliance, and our incentive programs do just that,” continued Kight. “Additionally, we are a firm believer of practicing what we preach to our residents and invite them to join our efforts to reduce our community’s impact on the environment through these incentive programs.”

According to Mountainfilm Festival David Holbrooke, “Mountainfilm’s New Normal initiative is designed to lower the Telluride region’s carbon footprint so we are really gratified that Mountain Village is taking real and substantive action to combat climate change.” In addition to residential environmental incentives, people can also address the New Normal simply by taking the Gondola, as part of the Green Gondola Project also launching during Mountainfilm.

Green Gondola Project
The Gondola has long been a mainstay of the Mountain Village and Telluride communities, providing a greener and energy efficient transportation option for roughly 2.61 million passenger rides per year. Electricity used to operate the Gondola comes from on-site solar energy and wind power purchased through from the San Miguel Power Association and prevents an estimated 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide in vehicle emissions from entering the environment annually. The Green Gondola Project is funded in part by donations by the community and visitors. To help combat the New Normal, check out donation boxes at Gondola stations in Telluride and Mountain Village.

Throughout Mountainfilm, Mountain Village representatives will be on hand to answer questions and discuss the Town’s dedication to The New Normal and how collectively the community can help combat climate change. Additional facts and information on the incentives programs can be found at townofmountainvillage.com/green-living and for more information on the Green Gondola Project or to donate online, visit townofmountainvillage.com/green-gondola-project