Home to over 17,000 people, Moraga has long been committed to environmental sustainability. Nestled in central Contra Costa County, east of the Oakland hills, Moraga sits in a valley boasting easy access to trails and open space like Rancho Laguna Park and the popular Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail.

Moraga is also home to Saint Mary’s College of California (pictured above), a private Catholic university. With a campus of over 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, Saint Mary’s College has worked hard to become a leader in environmental sustainability. One of the school’s largest environmental victories last year was an eight percent increase in waste diversion. This success is largely due to improved waste diversion infrastructure and practices, as well as student-led educational campaigns that informed the university community on composting and recycling best practices.

For the Town of Moraga, 2017 was a monumental step toward reaching its environmental sustainability goals. In May, Moraga won a CalRecycle grant to deploy a simple yet impactful infrastructure repair strategy. Moraga is one of only 20 California communities selected to repair roads using rubber from recycled tires. This sustainable practice “upcycles” old tires, diverting waste from the landfill while simultaneously improving community infrastructure.

In June, Moraga’s town council voted to join MCE, the first community in Contra Costa County to do so in 2017. By joining MCE, Moraga’s electricity-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to be reduced by 61 percent from the 2005 baseline, helping the town achieve its climate action goal of reducing GHG emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020.