Cents for Steamboat
Supporting Sustainable Projects in the Yampa Valley 

Cents for Steamboat
•Developed as part of the Chamber's Sustainable Business Program
•Keeps investments from a business' energy usage and/ or carbon footprint offsets local
•Local projects funded are selected by the participating businesses
•Funds are derived from voluntary donations by consumers, not from business income or profit
•Brochures and signage are provided to display at participating businesses
•The program is strictly voluntary and is not a tax

How Does it Work? 
Businesses enter an agreement with the Chamber to participate in the Cents for Steamboat program.  Patrons of the participating business can donate 1%, or other amount, of a business transaction which will then be earmarked for sustainability-oriented local projects.   The process will be tailored to your business; for example, a restaurant might include the option on the bill or tab for the customer to donate 1% of their transaction.  Collected funds will be tracked separately by the business and submitted to the Chamber monthly for placement into the Cents for Steamboat program account.  The monies are then re-invested to support sustainability-oriented projects in the community selected by participating businesses (for example Green Halloween, Spare the Air, Beetle Rebuttal, Community Roots Garden).
 
Remember! The monies are not from business income or profit, they are donated directly from customers.
 
By participating in the Cents for Steamboat Program, you will be a part of a group of local businesses who are passionate about preserving the natural environment, natural resources and landscape that make our area a unique and fabulous place to visit, recreate and enjoy.  Projects will include focus on water, air quality, land preservation, green building, energy efficiency, and sustainable living.  

Read more about the Cents for Steamboat program!

Participating Businesses:
Black Tie Ski Rentals
The Steamboat Pilot & Today
Central Park Management
Light Works of Steamboat
Steamboat Motors, LLC
Native Excavating
Sweetwood Cattle Co.

Cents for Steamboat Project Overview

The purpose of Cents for Steamboat is to reinvest monies collected by businesses from their customers back into the local community on sustainability-oriented projects.

Fluorescent Bulb Recycling Project

In May of 2011, the Steamboat Sustainable Business Program through its Cents for Steamboat initiative hosted the first annual fluorescent bulb recycling drop off days for local businesses in an effort to keep spent light bulbs and their hazardous mercury out of local landfills and the environment.

With the help of our partner Colorado Mountain College, the participating Cents for Steamboat businesses (see listing below), and some great volunteers, over 3,500 bulbs were recycled. Stretched end-to-end this number of bulbs would cover a distance of over 2.5 miles.  The bulbs were crushed on-site with a Bulb Eater and then shipped to the nearest recycler which is located in Arizona.  

This is currently being planned for an annual event.

"Green Halloween" Project

The first year project undertaken by the Steamboat Sustainable Business Program (SBP) as part of the Cents for Steamboat initiative in 2008 was called “Green Halloween”.  A skit was developed by SBP members designed to provide an educational hands-on demonstration for kindergarteners and first graders in local schools on how to recycle.  Additionally, a reusable canvas glow-in-the-dark Halloween tote was designed and distributed at the Downtown Halloween Stroll in partnership with Main Street Steamboat for collecting treats.  Discussion was then stimulated among the students on how the totes could be reused on a continuous basis.

In 2009, the SBP supported a community tree planting day where 1,000 seedlings were planted in Steamboat Lake State Park.  Though generous business donations, including seedling donations by the Colorado and US Forest Service, transport by Go Alpine, lunch by Central Park Management, and coordination by Environmental Solutions Unltd, as well as numerous volunteers, this project was accomplished with no charge. 

The Cents project for 2010 is focused on growing food locally.  The SBP has secured a community garden plot in downtown Steamboat Springs, provided as part of a Leadership Steamboat project, and has partnered with the Lowell Whiteman School K-8, a participant in the SBP, to help enhance awareness among the students on the benefits of growing food locally.

As Cents Program monies are collected, it is anticipated that future projects will expand in scope and help to spread the sustainability message throughout the community.  Businesses that participate in the program decide on the projects to be undertaken.  To participate in the program please contact Lyn Halliday at lhalliday@environmentalsolutionllc.com.