Our lush tree canopy, clean beaches, popular Port, and bustling Marsh are all part of what makes Edmonds the perfect place to come for deep breaths, and our com

mitment to keeping them clean and beautiful makes Edmonds an eco-conscious force in the area. We are proud to lead sustainability initiatives all year round, especially during Earth month. And we’re doubly proud to share them with you!

Let’s explore all the ways you can enjoy your stay in Edmonds—sustainably. You’ll learn more about how we’re thinking about our green commitments, too. 

The Edmonds Green Business Program

So many wonderful businesses in Edmonds have pledged to practice eco-consciousness in their operations. The City of Edmonds created a Green Business Program to celebrate and promote them. 

Interested in supporting a green business? Look for a Green Edmonds sticker in the window of your favorite shops. Some of those shops include Gallery North, Walnut Street Coffee (they encourage customers to bring their own mug!), Rogue, The Pancake Haus, The Wooden Spoon, and PCC Natural Markets. 

Compostable Takeout

If you’re visiting and looking for a green business to support with takeout (always a solid choice, especially if you take your meal down to the water to watch the sunset or ferries coming and going), consider some of our favorites: Jaiiya Cafe for smoothies, hot and cold drinks, and acai bowls; Ono Poke for the freshest seafood bowls around; Vinbero’s hot sandwiches; and all things island-inspired from Calypso. 

Marsh Restoration and Our Sustainable Cities Partnership  

One of the few tidally-driven (isn’t that a cool term?) urban estuaries still in existence in the Puget Sound area, the Edmonds Marsh once spanned more than 40 acres and is home to more than 90 bird species. Its cultural significance cannot be understated: the Marsh was historically used as a fishing village by the Coast Salish Native Peoples for fishing, gathering shellfish, and harvesting plants to make clothing, mats, and baskets. 

Because of urban development, the Marsh was reduced to 22 acres. It’s a diverse wildlife habitat that’s been impacted by various things—the railroad and manmade barriers that blocked tidewater flow. And in recent years, big efforts have been made to restore it. 

The Edmonds Marsh is a popular destination for visitors, especially birders. It bears the unique honor of being the first stop on Audubon Washington's Great Washington State Birding Trail - Cascade Loop. Its Interpretive Walkway includes boardwalks, walkways, and stations chronicling the history, habitat, and wildlife of our special salt and freshwater marsh estuary. 

Continued restoration—and a commitment to maintaining this important ecosystem in town—is high on our list of ways to maintain our greenery, literally and figuratively. Pre-designs have been drafted to reconnect the Marsh to Puget Sound. These designs account for things like flood zones, ownership constraints, and creating fish habitats. Once completed, the project will enable juvenile fish passage to a rearing habitat for out-migrating Chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon to an area that is currently inaccessible to fish. We’re excited about all the possibilities with this beautiful piece of the earth and its ability to support so many species. We hope you can visit it during every phase of its restoration! 

Relatedly, we were the first city chosen to participate in Western Washington University’s Sustainable Cities Partnership in the 2016-2017 academic school year. Many of the City initiatives you see in practice now, including portions of the Marsh Restoration project, were outputs from that partnership. Here, you can see all the projects Western students supported, including the Edmonds Green Businesses Initiative. 

Sustainability Practices at The Port of Edmonds

A popular place for guest moorage, our Port is a high-traffic area, and high-traffic areas can lead to a lot of garbage, gasoline, and bad behavior. The Port of Edmonds ensures that won’t happen here. They have a whole host of initiatives to keep the Port, the people, and the creatures who frequent it safe. 

From a commitment to reducing solid and contaminated waste streams through a robust recycling program to utilizing herbicide alternatives, diving to remove debris, and employing innovative filtration solutions like oyster shells in trench drains and identified vaults, The Port of Edmonds continues to excel in its commitment to green alternatives.

We’re counting on you to help us keep it green, too. We love when you visit, and expect you’ll do your part when you’re with us. Learn more about the Port and make your reservation here. 

Green Initiatives in Edmonds

If you want to nerd out about deeper City policy things we’re working on (and who wouldn’t!) check out our City’s website, which lists myriad sustainability initiatives, including our Bring Your Own Bag Campaign, the Edmonds Community Solar Program, Education and Outreach Programs, and more. We were the first in the state to ban single-use plastic bags. We plan to continue to lead in green initiatives because these commitments benefit not only the citizens, visitors, environment, and economy of Edmonds but also its future.  

Sustainable Stewardship All Year

Additionally, the City recently announced its 2023 Climate Action Plan, intending to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As you can see, sustainability is a high priority in Edmonds, and we continue to commit to ways to better serve our environment every day. 

An Edmonds Kind of Visit

We couldn’t send you on your way without talking about all the sustainable ways you can come to and go anywhere from Edmonds! Whether you ride Sound Transit from King Street to come to see us; use us as a jumping-off point to taking an Amtrak ride up north to Vancouver, Canada, or down south to Portland, Oregon; watch for whales on the ferry to and from Kingston or on one of our whale watching tours departing from the Edmonds Marina; or bike along our flower-filled streets to experience the farmers market, Edmonds offers a huge variety of eco-conscious ways to get here, and off to anywhere you want to go. 

We may be a destination ourselves, but we’re also a jumping-off point to everywhere. 

So, where will you and your sustainability-minded self explore in Edmonds? Show us! We’re on Instagram and Facebook—@exploreedmondswa, and we love to be taken along on your adventures.   

Photos by Matt Hulbert