Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP)

In June 2010 Town Council approved the Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP).  This document provides the Town of Canmore (both the corporation and the community) with a series of goals for achieving environmental sustainability. The ESAP has been developed to update, integrate and expand the Town’s strategies, programs and initiatives related to environmental stewardship and to ensure effective implementation of the community’s vision related to environmental stewardship.  A formal performance measurement and reporting system is also part of this plan.

A common framework has been used to ensure consistency throughout the document.  This includes the application of The Natural Step (TNS), a formal performance measurement system with clear accountabilities and specific indicators, a process and schedule for regular reporting to the corporation and the community, and linkages to key Town documents like Mining the Future (MTF), and Signposts to Sustainability (S2).

To ensure consistency with TNS, the ABCD method was used to organize each section.  A = awareness and visioning, B = baseline mapping, C = Creative Solutions, and D = Decide on priorities.  Each section starts with a desired future state (A), then a description of our current reality, some are quite lengthy (B), then goals and strategies (C), ending with a series of actions (D).

The ESAP is meant to be a living document, a work in progress that provides direction, guides future action, and allows for changes to be made and progress to be monitored.  It is administration’s intent that the document is reviewed and updated on a regular basis.  This could include changing or revising the desired future state, goals, strategies, and actions.

The ESAP contains the following introductory chapters:

 As well as specific focus areas relating to:

To view the entire document, click here.

Our goals for each area is as follows:

  • Energy - By 2050
    Town operations are carbon neutral
    Reduce community CO2 emissions by 50% from 2007 levels
  • Waste - By 2035
    Total Municipal Solid Waste land filled is 0.30 tonnes/person/year
    Residential and ICI Waste landfilled is 0.20 tonnes/person/year
    C&D Waste landfilled is 0.10 tonnes/person/year

 

  • Water - By 2035
    Reduce annual per-capita water production (consumption) by 50 % from 2000 levels
    Maintain water losses from the water distribution system at 10 % or less
    Reduce per-capita residential water consumption by 50 % from 2000 levels
    Reduce total annual ICI water consumption by 30 % from 2008 levels
  • Toxins - By 2015
    Zero use of chemical herbicides for cosmetic purposes
    50 % of residents voluntarily report that they do not use chemical herbicides

 Each of these focus areas contains the following sections:

  • Desired Future State
  • Current Reality
  • Goals/Targets
  • Strategies 
  • Existing Actions
  • Recommended Actions
  • Actions for Future Consideration
  • Performance Measurement and Reporting
  • Accountabilities

 The Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP) is overseen by the Town’s  Environmental Advisory Review Committee (EARC)

APWA - 2005 Public Works Project of the Year Award
The American Public Works Association, Alberta Chapter (APWA) awarded the Town of Canmore with the 2005 Public Works Project of the Year Award.  This was awarded in the Environment/Sustainability category for the Town of Canmore's targeted 20% energy reduction among civic buildings.