Aspen ZGreen: the Green, Local Label

In Aspen, Colorado, being green and being local both mean a lot. In order to help the Aspen's businesses and events show their community pride and commitment to the environment, the City of Aspen offers an innovative program called Aspen ZGreen. Under this program, businesses, citizens and events can apply for ZGreen certification. If they meet the standards (and complete a successful audit), they become ZGreen certified.


The City of Aspen rewards certification with space on their website, radio and newspaper ads and publicity at local events. Members of the community reward ZGreen certified businesses by voting with their dollar. The name ZGreen comes from the old Aspen license plates that used to start with ZG. (Apparently, if you still have a ZG license plate, then everyone knows you are a true 'local' or 'old timer'--which, in Aspen, means a lot.) 


Although the program is local, the program was created to provide a model for other cities and towns interested in going green and promoting the local economy. The program has grown in the last few years, and recently, Aspen took a big step in making ZGreen certification mandatory for all large public events. A key grassroots strategy for promoting the Aspen ZGreen brand has (of course!) been custom stickers. 


These stickers, designed to resemble the Colorado license plate, are distributed all over Aspen at City-sponosred events. Ashley Cantrell of Aspen ZGreen told us that custom stickers were the easiest way to start branding, and so far, they've worked great.

"We choose Custom Sticker Makers because the prices were reasonable and the website was easy to use," said Ashley. "I had a question about my order, so I called and I was amazed that someone actually answered the phone and knew about my order without having to go into some database for 15 minutes. Since then, I always work with CSM because it feels like a small company, almost like they are right here in Aspen."