City Website Shows How Frisco is ‘Growing Up Green’

(April 22, 2010) Celebrate Earth Day today by checking out www.friscogreenliving.com and discover how the City of Frisco is ‘Growing Up Green’.  In January, Frisco launched the new website which features stories about ‘green’ city initiatives, programs, services and special events.  The site also features news about Frisco residents who are doing their part to live a greener lifestyle.

Learn more about how the City of Frisco’s Residential Green Building program is having a positive impact on the environment since Frisco became the first city in the U.S. to mandate “Energy Star” standards for new home construction back in 2001.

Residents can find out how they can make a difference this Saturday, April 24, by volunteering to participate in the City of Frisco’s annual ‘Clean It and Green It’.  Join your neighbors as hundreds of volunteers fan out across Frisco to pick up trash and litter. The citywide cleanup day starts at 8 a.m. in the IKEA parking lot.  Frisco held its first citywide cleanup in May 1989.

Also on Saturday, April 24, Frisco residents can “Chunk Your Junk” from 8 a.m. to noon at the IKEA parking lot, 7171 IKEA Drive.  Check out www.friscogreenliving or www.friscotexas.gov/recycle  for a complete list of acceptable items.

Did you know Frisco has a community garden?  Find out more about the Frisco Family Services Community Garden, which is in its second year and a partnership between FFSC and the City of Frisco.  Learn more about how you can ‘adopt a plot’ and start serving our Frisco neighbors in need.

You can also celebrate Earth Day by taking the Frisco Green Challenge. Check out www.friscogreenliving and find out how you can win a prize for living the ‘green life’.  This month’s challenge dares Frisco residents to go one week without getting a plastic bag while shopping.

Check out the five finalists in the Reusable Bag Artwork Contest.  The student winner will be announced later today.  Find out where you can pick up the new bag featuring student artwork and how the program benefits a scholarship program for Frisco high school seniors who want to study Environmental Science.

The City of Frisco’s ‘Green Living’ website is a collaborate city project involving the Frisco’s Economic Development Corporation and various city departments and divisions including Communications, Environmental Services, Development Services, Engineering Services, Parks and Recreation, Public Works and Water Education.

“Frisco has literally been ‘growing up green’ for decades,” said Mayor Maher Maso.  “Whether you consider our citywide clean up event dating back to 1989 or our Residential Green Building Program, which has the distinction of being the first in the country to mandate “Energy Star” standards, living green is always a priority as we work with city staff and citizens to create a sustainable city for future generations.”