Stonington — This month the town received sustainability awards from Sustainable CT and the United States Department of Energy.

To receive Sustainable CT’s Bronze award, the town had to demonstrate achievement in a minimum of 12 sustainability impact areas which range from arts and culture to resiliency planning and inclusive housing.

Stonington created inventories of brownfield sites with redevelopment plans, developed a watershed management plan, enhanced pollinator pathways, worked to assess climate change vulnerability, and created new solid waste management practices, as well as developing benchmarks and a method for tracking municipal energy use among other qualifying achievements.

The town also received a Bronze designation from SolSmart, a recognition program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, to recognize communities that have worked to reduce costs and barriers to solar power.

The designation is awarded after a town has fulfilled requirements to make adding solar power easier for homeowners, as well as making regulations more accessible.

"Thanks in large part to the dedicated efforts of Julia Parry, a resident volunteer on our Climate Change Task Force, working in partnership with our Planning and Zoning and Building Department teams, we have taken an important step towards helping to reduce soft costs and encourage solar energy growth at the local level. This is one step, among many, needed for diversifying our energy sources within the community,” First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough said in a statement.