Meet the woman tasked with making Sioux Falls ‘greener’

What does it mean to be “green?” Or to be “sustainable?”

For Holly Meier, the answer is nothing less than everything.

“I like to talk about how sustainability is based on this principle that everything we need to survive and thrive depends on our natural environment either directly or indirectly,” she said.

“If we want to be a community that is thriving, we need to prioritize environmental health and look at our trajectory for the future.”

It’s up to Meier, who became the city’s sustainability coordinator earlier this year, to help lead that effort.
And she has a calling for the role.

It hit her in the Twin Cities, walking around a lake, listening to an audiobook about the impact of climate change on society.

“It really hit me in the gut and in the heart, and it was like, ‘This is exactly what I need to be doing,’ ” she said.

But that required a career change for the former children’s book editor, who majored in communications and English. It meant going to graduate school for the tools and experience needed to enter the field. And it meant taking a job as a grant writer in Sioux Falls when she moved here for her husband’s job with her eye on gaining more skills that would help her in her dream job.

That’s what she landed when the city hired her nearly two years ago as an environmental analyst – a role that transitioned into her current one.

“It’s exactly the type of work I want to be doing,” she said. “That is my dream work. This is my purpose as far as my professional career.”

Her role at the moment is focused heavily on updating the city’s sustainability master plan, which involves a lot of coordination, communication and engagement across city departments as well as within the community.

“Based on our survey results during our first phase of community engagement, our community cares about sustainability and wants to see more action on these important issues,” she said.

The hope is to release the plan in the first half of 2022, but some elements are beginning to take shape.

The city likely will aim for a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 with the goal of becoming net zero by 2050.

“The action plan will be trying to be working in the community toward those very ambitious, yet realistic goals,” Meier said, adding “those targets are science-based and in line with international and national science-based data.”

That includes addressing city buildings and transportation, which are “huge sectors within our greenhouse gas emission inventory, so those are high-impact areas,” she continued.

And it includes looking at electric vehicles. One is scheduled to be piloted next year, likely in the Health Department, so the city can compare it with other vehicles as it looks at transitioning its fleet.

“That’s a key element we’ll work toward in the community, and for the city to lead on that is really exciting,” Meier said.

She’s also partnering with the city’s water purification division on conservation programs and said the master plan will address water resources.

“Not only for protection of it (the Big Sioux River), but because it’s really important to our community. We love parks, we love our water resources, and the Big Sioux River is integral to the identity of our community.”

Recycling will be part of the conversation, too, with a focus on sustainable consumption.

“We talk a lot about an individual or household’s ability to make an impact based on reducing single-use consumption things, like plastic bags and disposable coffee cups, and trying to be smart with those things when you can,” Meier said.

The city is figuring out how to integrate sustainability planning into city operations, Mayor Paul TenHaken said.

“Holly has been really great with that, with our master plan and our desire to cut our greenhouse gas emission by almost half in the next decade. It’s a very ambitious goal,” he said, adding his upcoming budget includes investments related to sustainability.

“So we’re moving in that direction,” he said.

There’s a role for businesses too, Meier added.

“With businesses, one thing we hear a lot is that businesses have an opportunity to improve their recycling by providing more ways for staff to recycle correctly, which is a big thing for avoiding contamination,” she said.

“So we’re exploring and expanding our green business certification program to lift up businesses that have sustainable practices so they can be models for others.”

And speaking of others, that’s what drives Meier in her role, she said. She thinks of her daughters, age 1 and 3, as some of the biggest motivators in her work.

“I want to make sure they have a future where they can thrive,” she said. “Sustainability is about making sure people and nature are working together in balance, so current and future generations can all thrive.”

Get involved

The city will hold more opportunities this fall to give input on the sustainability master plan.

And mark your calendar for Sept. 25, when there will be a River Greenway cleanup event with stations around the greenway where the community is invited to help pick up trash and recycling.