“Investing in a Clean D.C.,” a segment of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed fiscal budget for 2026, aims to stimulate economic growth while improving the quality of life for residents in the District.

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The city of Washington, D.C. has worked to improve its environmental sustainability for over a decade since the original release of “Sustainable DC 1.0.” When the plan was relaunched in 2018 as “Sustainable DC 2.0,” the city’s new goal was to be the “most sustainable city in the country,” according to Sustainable D.C.

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While the city has come a long way since 2011, when the first sustainability plan was released, there is still more to accomplish.

“I think we are constantly trying to improve,” said Steve Saari, the deputy director for natural resources in the Department of Energy and Environment.

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 “Sometimes that means looking back and adopting techniques from the past, a lot of the time that means adopting things from nature. It’s a never-ending process and it gives me job security.”

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The Department of Energy and Environment aims to “improve the quality of life for the residents” by protecting and restoring the environment, according to the DOEE homepage. Saari shared that sustainability in an urban environment looks a little different than in more rural areas.

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“I recognize in an urban environment, you’re not going to have a pristine natural environment.,” he said. “So, you are doing what you can to protect the resources that you have (and) restore the ones that have been impacted over time.”

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The proposed budget will allocate funds to various environmental services and efforts including the Anacostia River cleanup, composting for 12,000 single-family households and stormwater infrastructure.

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“There’s a lot of cost involved, a lot of work involved but it does help,” Saari said. “There is that trade-off, this kind of triple bottom line. It helps the environment, it helps human health, fish and wildlife health and it, over time, makes money for the city because people are coming back to those areas.”

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The budget also allocates nearly $27.6 million to the Department of Public Works to increase staff and services for trash and litter collection in the city. “I literally pick up trash from time to time,” said Laurette Davis, a homeowner in Northeast Washington D.C. “There’s not a big problem, but I do notice that sometimes people just don’t care.”

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Saari noted that the increased demand for environmental infrastructure and services will also increase job opportunities in the city.

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“We have all this infrastructure that is local infrastructure, and we are trying to train and utilize local residents to install and maintain these practices,” Saari said. “It’s a growing market; it’s not something that is going to go away.”