Buckeye’s move to a 10-hour, four-day workweek will do more than expand customer service hours for residents, save utility costs and increase employee morale.

The decrease in employee commutes to work on Fridays, when town offices will be closed starting the first week in December, will also mean not using 668 barrels of oil each year, lowering the town’s carbon footprint annually by more than 500 tons of carbon emissions, increasing the town’s EPA air pollution score and helping the town meet Maricopa County’s mandated employee trip reduction goal.

But the Town Council’s adoption of the alternative workweek already in practice in several other Valley communities is just one way town officials are working to protect the environment.

The Environmental and Sustainability Working Group, a collaboration between the town and the private sector established earlier this year, has town officials focused on several programs that will put meat behind the “Buckeye Goes Green” initiative.

Through the lead of Public Works Director Scott Lowe, Buckeye will begin town-wide curbside recycling in December. If a pilot program in the Tartesso neighborhood is any indication, it will probably be very successful.

“In just the first month of the pilot program, Allied Waste collected 9.4 tons of recyclables from 889 homes,” Lowe said.

“Besides the positive impact it has on the environment, curbside recycling is of great economical value both today for keeping our collection rates lower and in the future by making our landfill last much longer.”

The working group is also focused on several other programs, including a water conservation program that will be presented to the Town Council next month; a green building standards program; a light bulb change out program; a sidewalk/walkways program and tree planting program, and efforts like the four-day work week that will reduce emissions and improve air quality.

There’s more. The town clerk’s office has begun the ominous task of going paperless, transforming the voluminous files in rows of cabinets to electronic files. The public works’ vehicles use biodiesel fuel. Information Technology Dept has implemented a Virtual Server solution allowing the town to cut down on energy use in the Data Center. And the town’s new office building in downtown Buckeye was designed with energy efficiency as a key outcome.

Mayor Jackie Meck, who sits on the working group with Town Council Member David Hardesty, town staff and members of the development community, is committed to keeping Buckeye focused on the environment.

“We must be good stewards of our environment,” Meck said. “We must conserve our water, work to clean our air, protect our natural resources. It’s important that we do that now, not just for our residents and their families, but for the generations of people who will call Buckeye home in the decades to come.”

The 13th annual Hometown Holiday Boutique and Winter in the Park will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in Town Park, Ninth Street and Monroe Avenue.

In addition, Countryfest will feature a custom car show and demolition derby on the same day.

The festivities are sponsored by a group of entities, including the Town of Buckeye Community Services Department, the Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the Main Street Coalition.

The Holiday Hometown Boutique will feature some 140 arts and crafts vendors showcasing their wares, including jewelry, books, holiday items, country crafts, baby items, candles, ceramics, wood items and antiques.

There will also be lots of fun for the family, including live entertainment, train rides, pony rides, make-n-take crafts and games. Food vendors will have plenty of delicious morsels for sale, including the traditional bread bowl of soup and cinnamon rolls.

Countryfest will kick off that day with an open custom car show from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Bayless Park in the 900 block of Monroe Avenue. The show will feature 14 classes of vehicles; for registration information, contact David at 602-919-8195.

The demolition derby at the Helzapoppin’ Rodea Arena on Miller Road will feature racing of all kinds. Gates will open at 5 p.m.

For more information about the Hometown Holiday Boutique, call 623-349-6352; for more information about Countryfest, call 623-386-2727.

The Town of Buckeye’s Fleet Maintenance program has received the prestigious Blue Seal Certification from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).

Buckeye Public Works Director Scott Lowe said Buckeye is one of only five municipalities in Arizona to receive the certification, which exemplifies quality vehicle service.

“Peoria, Scottsdale, Mesa and Tucson have attained the Blue Seal certification, as well as the Arizona Department of Transportation and Cochise County,” Lowe said. “We are really proud of this recognition because it sets us apart as the standard for quality fleet maintenance.”

Lowe said that all six Buckeye service consultants are certified by the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, including Michael DePaulo, the fleet supervisor; Todd Ellsworth, Garret Griffin, Filiberto Chavira, William Roush and Joshua Cutler.

“The Blue Seal is a recognition program for service organizations striving to be the best,” DePaulo said.

“Although our certified service staff provides quality service to our internal customers who drive Town vehicles, they are also serving our external customers well because the quality service provides a longer life for Town vehicles which in turn saves taxpayer dollars.”

A series of classes designed to teach residents basic survival skills so they can help first responders and other government agencies provide services during and after a disaster is now being offered by the Town of Buckeye’s Emergency Services Division.

The three-day Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program, which is being offered for the first time to Buckeye residents, gives residents the knowledge to assist first responders who are overwhelmed during the emergency.

The CERT training, which is free and open to a limited number of residents, will include disaster preparedness, disaster psychology, fire safety, light search and rescue, the impacts of terrorism and disaster medical operations. No date has yet been set for the training.

Interested residents should go to Buckeye’s official web site, www.buckeyeaz.gov, then click on Departments, then Public Safety, then Fire to get to the CERT information. The application can be downloaded and filled out, then mailed to the Town of Buckeye Fire Department, CERT Program, 1101 E. Ash Ave., Buckeye AZ 85326.

Residents who are accepted for the classes will be notified by mail, telephone or e-mail and advised of the training dates.

For more information about the CERT program, call Erika Van Valkenburg, 623-349-6700, or Sara Guy, 623-349-6806.

The deadline for volunteers to apply to serve on various Town of Buckeye boards and commissions is Monday, Dec. 1.

Buckeye residents interested in applying for any of the nine boards and commissions are asked to contact the town clerk’s office, 1101 E. Ash Ave.; call the town clerk at 623-349-6000, or download an application at www.buckeyeaz.gov.

The volunteer positions are on the Airport Commission; Public Safety Retirement Board (for fire); Public Safety Retirement Board (for police); Social Services Advisory Board; Parks and Recreation Board; Cemetery Advisory Board; Buckeye Pollution Control Board; Library Board, and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

A traveling exhibit commemorating the June 2 release of the Arizona state quarter is now on display at the Buckeye Valley Museum, 116 E. Highway MC 85 in Buckeye.

The exhibit consists of three 3-foot by 7-foot banners that tell the story of the quarter. The first banner highlights the United States Mint’s 50-state quarters program and includes illustrations of all 50 quarters.

The second banner describes the Arizona Quarter Commission’s solicitation of more than 4,000 narrative design concepts and highlights the design Gov. Janet Napolitano recommended to the U. S. Mint.

The third quarter details the creation of the Arizona quarter. There is no cost to view the display, which will be at the museum for the next five weeks before moving on to another location in the state.

The Buckeye Valley Museum is open from September through June from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays during those months.

For more information, call the museum at 623-349-6315.