The City of Highland Park has earned awards and recognitions for its progressive environmental initiatives in the following areas:
Tree City Designation
The National Arbor Day Foundation designated Highland Park as a Tree City USA.
Lake County Stormwater Management Commission - Community of the Year 2019On February 6, 2020, the City of Highland Park received recognition as Community of the Year at the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) Stormwater Awards. The award honored the City for its outstanding achievements in exemplifying SMC’s core mission of flood damage reduction, water quality improvement, natural resource protection, and enhancement.
Climate Protection Award
In 2013, the City of Highland Park took Honorable Mention in the U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Award. The City was recognized for its comprehensive electric vehicle expansion plan and leadership role in expanding the electric vehicle infrastructure and the work completed to increase residential energy efficiency.
Highland Park was awarded a Bronze Level designation from SolSmart in 2018.
SolSmart
SolSmart is a non-profit program that provides recognition and no-cost technical assistance to help local governments reduce solar energy growth barriers. SolSmart provides a comprehensive list of possible action items focused on enabling and encouraging solar power adoption.
The City of Highland Park joined the Global Covenant of Mayors, an “international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low emission, resilient society.” Joining the organization included a commitment by the Mayor, reporting its greenhouse gas emissions inventory to the Carbon Disclosure Project and developing a Climate Hazard Assessment.
Bike Friendly Community
The City of Highland Park was awarded the Bike Friendly Community at the Bronze level in 2018 by the League of American Bicyclists. As stated by the League of American Bicyclists, a Bike Friendly Community “welcomes bicyclists by providing safe accommodations for bicycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.
2018 ISAWWA Water Saver Utility Award
the City of Highland Park was awarded the 2018 ISAWWA Water Saver Utility Award for its Water Conservation and Initiative Program.