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Dayton Leaders Push For Greener Business Practices

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Dayton Regional Green

The City of Dayton and Montgomery County moved this week to sign resolutions to make the region more “green” in the coming years. Leaders are encouraging businesses to take on basic environmental practices, and asking individuals to do more recycling and energy conservation.

The city and county’s goals for the Dayton Regional Green Initiative include certifying 1,500 companies as “green,” and planting 100,000 trees by 2016. They also want 25 percent of the region’s waste to be recycled.

Mayor Nan Whaley says the city doesn’t have the teeth to enforce going green, but hopes businesses will sign on of their own accord.

“It’s also good for business, it helps save money on energy costs, it allows us to be more efficient, and long-term, that’s gonna be a real key for business survival,” said Whaley.

Dayton City Manager Tim Riordan also believes greening the city is a quality of life issue that will attract young people to the area in the future, and he wants millennials to join the push.

“We’re hoping that the young people will virally influence their managers and say, this is the right thing to do and let’s go ahead and do that,” he said.

The Dayton region Green Business Certification asks companies to document their energy efficiency, waste reduction and water conservation practices, as well as to avoid polluting the air and water. It is not tightly enforced—according to the website, 5 percent of certified companies will receive unannounced verification visits.

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