Canary Initiative

In 2005, the City of Aspen actively addressed climate change by creating the Canary Initiative, aimed to reduce Aspen's greenhouse gas emissions. Aspen reduced its emissions more than 8.3 percent from 2004 to 2007, with the goal of reducing them a total of 30 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

The Aspen Canary Initiative helped create two programs seen as models for the rest of the country- Canary Tags and Aspen ZGreen (in partnership with the City's Environmental Health Department).

Canary Tags are the first municipal carbon reduction investment program in the U.S.  A Canary Tag represents an investment in a local project (within 500 miles) that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Each Canary Tag represents the offset of one ton of carbon dioxide through renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The City of Aspen retires Canary Tags on behalf of purchasers, guaranteeing that your contribution results in a real and lasting investment in carbon reduction. This ensures that each Canary Tag is only accounted for once and is never resold.

For more information about Canary Tags, click here.

To find out where the money from Canary Tags is going to, click here.

Use the links below to offset your next travel to Aspen!

- Air Travel

- Auto Travel

- Home Energy Use

The Aspen ZGreen program is a three-part certification program designed to reduce the environmental impacts of Aspen's citizens, visitors, businesses, and events. This unique program provides the community with effective ways to conserve natural resources and reduce waste, while providing a credible certification that recognizes individuals, businesses, and events that are engaging in meaningful environmental efforts. 

Whether you live in Aspen, or are just visiting, please do your part to protect the health and beauty of our community by participating in the ZGreen program and supporting ZGreen-certified businesses and events!

Current list of Aspen ZGreen certified businesses: 

Alpine Bank
Aspen Alps Condominium Association
Aspen Art Museum
Aspen Club and Spa
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
Aspen Historical Society
Aspen Meadows Resort
Aspen Recreation Center
Aspen Ski Company, Base Operations
Aspen Thermo Consulting
Bluegreen
Boden's Butter
Charles Cunniffe Architects
Colorado Mountain College, Aspen
Community Banks of Colorado
Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE)
The Little Nell
Rowland + Broughton Architecture
The Sky Hotel
St. Regis Aspen Resort
Stan Clauson and Associates