Sustainability

Grow Burnsville icon of hand and leaf

Burnsville is committed to innovation that supports environmental, human and financial vitality for our community and future generations.

Get Involved

Organics Drop-Off Site

Let's compost, Burnsville! Food scraps and food waste can be dropped off right here in Burnsville. Be sure everything is bagged - free BPI-certified compostable bags are available at the dropsite or you may use a paper bag. 

Civic Center Park, 260 Civic Center Parkway

Sign up through Dakota County

Reduce Your Energy Use

Are you a homeowner, renter, business, and/or a multi-family property owner or manager looking to reduce your energy use? Find resources to help you save money on your energy costs and increase energy efficiency on our Sustainability Hub. 


Community Garden - Wolk

Projects in Motion

Grow Burnsville

Grow Burnsville is a program helping to address food inequity in our community by increasing opportunities for locally grown produce with high nutritional value and to enhance access to open space, youth involvement and physical activity for our most vulnerable residents.

GreenStep Cities

The City of Burnsville is recognized as the highest step, Step 5, in the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program, based on 29 best practice areas including recommendations for energy efficient buildings and lighting, land use, transportation, environmental management, and economic and community development.

As one of 146 participating cities and tribal nations, Burnsville has worked to implement best practices that save money, reduce energy use and conserve resources while encouraging civic innovation during the process.

SolSmart

Burnsville has received the SolSmart Bronze level designation. SolSmart recognizes cities, counties and regional organizations for making it faster, easier, and more affordable to go solar. If you are interested in going solar, we can help navigate residential or commercial permits and requirements through the City's planning department.

Efficient City Buildings

Burnsville prioritizes innovative updates to City buildings to advance our healthy and sustainable building efforts through the BWell Healthy Buildings program. Fire Station No. 1 is a great example with a rainwater capture system for irrigation incorporated into the design. Burnsville tracks energy use for City buildings in B3 Benchmarking to measure progress toward our energy reduction goals. 

Renewable Energy 

For City operations in Dakota Electric Association territory, Burnsville offsets the portion of grid energy that is not renewable with 100% wind energy through the Wellspring Renewable Energy program. In Xcel Energy territory, Burnsville has subscribed to community solar gardens.

Water Treatment Plant Roof with growing vegetation
Fire Station No. 1 with a few trucks outside
Market Garden Gardener on a sunny day tending to the vegetables

Plans and Reports

Burnsville formalized sustainability planning in 2009 with the adoption of the first Sustainability Guide Plan. In fact, according to the GreenStep Cities program, Burnsville was the first municipality in Minnesota to have a sustainability plan.

In 2011, we set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from City operations 15% by 2015, 30% by 2025, and 80% by 2050, compared to a 2005 baseline. In 2023, greenhouse gas emissions from City operations were 61% less than 2005, already surpassing the 2025 goal.

In 2020, Burnsville adopted an updated Sustainability Plan, laying the foundation for our work in the years to come to reduce our environmental and carbon footprint.