FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Jason Gerwig
630/407-6022
August 13, 2008

CONSERVATION POLICY WILL HELP REDUCE IMPACT COUNTY HAS ON ENVIRONMENT

WHEATON — The DuPage County Board approved its “Environmental Responsibility and Conservation Policy” on Tuesday, which seeks to reduce the impact the County has on the environment by recycling waste materials, utilizing resources in an environmentally responsible manner, reducing energy consumption and investigating opportunities to cutback resource use. 

Jeff Redick, Chairman of the County’s Environmental Committee, notes that the policy is a combined effort between the Department of Economic Development and Planning, the Departments of Public Works, Convalescent Center, Personnel, Finance and the Facilities Management Division.

“Our conservation and recycling policy formalizes the use of practices which conserve resources in the operation of our County government,” says Redick.  “These practices are environmentally sensitive and this policy is responsible to both the environment and our taxpayers.”

The goal of the policy is to ensure that all employees contribute to reducing their consumption of resources as part of their County employment in order to save energy, conserve resources and improve the environment for all employees of DuPage County.

DuPage County Board Chairman Robert J. Schillerstrom says the policy adopted on Tuesday continues the County’s long history of preserving open spaces and protecting the environment. 

“For over 25 years, we have worked to protect our natural resources and open spaces so that future generations will have a healthy and clean environment to enjoy,” said Schillerstrom.  “I want to commend Jeff Redick, the County Board, our Elected Officials and all of our Department Heads for their work on this important initiative.”

Under the policy, the County will explore the best practices of conservation in areas like:  reuse and recycling; vehicle and transportation usage; energy and resource efficiency; and landscaping.  The policy will now be distributed to all employees and training will be conducted in conjunction with other Personnel training.