Cleveland Botanical Garden earned certification from the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) this week, making it the first organization in Ohio and one of just 11 nationwide to receive the designation. Of the eight organizations to receive SITES certification this week, the Garden was the only one to achieve a three-star rating.

SITES is a partnership of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden.

Sustainable features added as part of the Garden’s two-year effort to achieve certification include a low-maintenance lawn along East Boulevard, a rain garden that captures runoff, native plants and a green roof that reduces energy costs and slows stormwater runoff. Other behind-the-scenes efforts include composting leftover food from the Garden Café and training all new employees in green practices.

“The Garden is committed to promoting green living to our guests and the Greater Cleveland community at large, and the best way to do that is by example,” says Garden Executive Director Natalie Ronayne. “We hope people will come to the Garden, see what we do here to preserve the environment and then take home some ideas of what they can do.”

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