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Fairfax County is calling on residents to adopt practical changes at home as the local government works toward carbon neutrality by 2050.
The newly launched Sustain Fairfax Challenge highlights steps that individuals and community groups can take to conserve energy, reduce waste and support environmentally sustainable practices. Recommendations range from quick, inexpensive habits to projects requiring substantial investments of time or money.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay said actions such as conserving household energy, composting food waste, driving electric vehicles and taking public transportation can help create a greener future while saving money, improving health and supporting the local economy.
The county’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination introduced the online challenge to help residents identify useful actions. Participants can record practices they already follow, bookmark new ideas, establish goals and earn points and badges.
County buildings and vehicles face a major transition
The Board of Supervisors adopted an operational energy strategy in 2021 that calls for county government to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Fairfax County operates about 500 buildings covering 11 million square feet. Its 6,347 vehicles constitute Virginia’s largest municipal fleet, making facilities and transportation central to the county’s emissions-reduction efforts.
Projects include installing more efficient lighting, upgrading heating and cooling equipment and preparing suitable buildings for solar-energy systems. The county reported that facility energy use in fiscal 2024 was 16% below its 2018 baseline. Its target is a 25% reduction by 2030.
The fleet includes motorcycles, fire engines, garbage trucks, Connector buses and school buses. The transition so far has added 69 battery-electric and 335 hybrid vehicles to the county operations fleet, along with 12 battery-electric Connector buses and 73 electric school buses.
Grants supplied most of the electric school buses: eight came through Dominion Energy, 20 through the state and 42 through the Environmental Protection Agency. Fairfax County Public Schools purchased another two for its driver training center.
Electric vehicles remain a small share of registrations
About 29,000 all-electric or hybrid light-duty vehicles are publicly registered in Fairfax County, representing roughly 3.6% of registrations.
The county is working with transportation stakeholders to encourage wider commercial and public adoption. Office spokesperson John Wilcox said a draft EV Readiness Strategy was expected to open for public comment in late July, accompanied by a virtual meeting where residents could learn about the proposal and ask questions.
A final plan was expected in September. The county’s goal is for electric models to represent 15% of light-duty vehicle registrations by 2030.
Household actions add up
The Sustain Fairfax Challenge extends beyond transportation and household energy. Water-saving suggestions include turning off faucets when they are not needed, waiting until dishwashers and washing machines are full, and running fewer loads.
Residents prepared to spend more can replace washing machines that are more than 10 years old with efficient models designed to reduce water consumption and utility bills.
Waste-reduction ideas include carrying reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, avoiding disposable utensils and straws, and composting food scraps.
BrightAction Communities developed the challenge under contract with the county. Although it went live several months before the original report, only about 150 households had created accounts. The campaign aimed to reach 1,000 households by March 2026.
Actions recorded by participating households represented a reported 5% of the campaign’s target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 tons.
The county is also encouraging residents to prepare for increasingly severe storms, extreme heat and flooding. Its Resilient Fairfax plan addresses climate-related effects and recommends measures such as improving home insulation and preparing for damaging winds, power outages and floods.
Residents can even earn a challenge badge by talking with neighbors about climate preparation.