One of the most delightful things about Cary is the trees.
Those of you living here may take them for granted, but Cary is a 42-year veteran of the Arbor Day “Tree City USA” program and works hard to support and grow a tree canopy that protects and cools the town year round. There are even classes on trees, and a “My Tree, Our Tree” program to offer free trees to residents.
For those of you wondering why trees are getting so much play in a “Geek Peek” column, let me introduce you to the Town of Cary’s new Sustainability & Climate Action Strategy Dashboard. While the dashboard isn’t counting trees (yet), it is delivering data and details on what it takes to keep Cary sustainable and achieve long-term climate goals as Cary works to be “near net zero” by 2050.
Developing a Strategy
The Climate Action Dashboard was born with the Town’s first ever Sustainability and Climate Action Strategy document. While Cary has always been environmentally conscious, that work had never previously been codified. Begun three years ago, the Strategy was designed to be a guide to safeguard resources for future generations. The work is broken into six “pillars” or focus areas, and the plan collected community feedback through the “Count me in, Cary” initiative for much of last year and through the early months of 2025. The final document was approved by the town council this spring…