Environmental Stewardship a Priority at Eagle’s Trace

By Sara Martin
July 28, 2021
One of the buildings at Eagle's Trace senior living community is pictured across a scenic pond with fountain

At Eagle's Trace, residents and staff are committed to a healthy lifestyle, a healthy community, and a healthy planet. 

Sustainability efforts at Eagle's Trace, the community in West Houston, Tex. managed by Erickson Senior Living, begin with the physical structures and landscaping and continue through resident-led initiatives to build a foundation for a better tomorrow. 

"At Erickson Senior Living and Eagle's Trace, we are strongly committed to being good stewards of the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling energy, waste, and water," notes Executive Director Stephen Aigner. 

Building and managing environmentally friendly senior living campuses is a hallmark of Erickson Senior Living. Energy-efficient windows, organic compound products, recycling, and LED lighting are all standard or widely-used elements across Erickson Senior Living's communities nationwide. 

“Weaving sustainability into our culture of operational excellence at Erickson Senior Living is part of our journey toward continuous improvement," said Debra Doyle, chief operating officer for Erickson Senior Living. 

At the local level, sustainability efforts at Eagle's Trace benefit from a groundswell of support among residents and staff. The Greenies, a resident-led group that started in July 2018, partner with the executive team to coordinate earth-friendly initiatives and raise environmental awareness.

Supportive management 

“We started the Greenies at just the right time,” says Becky Ogle, chairperson of the group. “The management team at Eagle’s Trace has been phenomenal in supporting environmentally-sound practices at the community, and we’ve enjoyed a great staff-resident partnership as we work together toward greener living.” 

Eagle’s Trace currently offers convenient weekly glass, plastic, metal, and paper recycling services for residents. The Greenies take the effort a step further, collecting plastic bags, coat hangers, corks, and batteries for recycling.

“We were able to keep our collections going throughout the pandemic with unattended recycling stations set up periodically,” says Becky. “We had such a great response and realized people are in the habit of saving those items and were eager to continue their recycling efforts. We were excited to have such a high level of interest and participation.” 

Helping charities 

The Greenies also partner with Houston charities, including Citizens for Animal Protection. They collect donations from residents, including rugs, towels, bath mats, wash cloths, and pill bottles, to donate to Citizens for Animal Protection, which rescues, shelters, and places homeless animals in loving homes. 

Other partnerships include the Katy Christian Ministries Crisis Center. The Greenies collect and donate personal care items, travel-size toiletries, and cosmetic samples to the organization. 

“We’re looking for opportunities to safely and thoughtfully dispose and recycle items we don’t need anymore,” says Becky. “Looking ahead, the Greenies will offer something almost monthly, including recycling events, guest speakers, and possibly a field trip.” 

My Erickson 

As the community moves toward a more eco-conscious future, Eagle’s Trace continues to evaluate and improve existing programs and services to minimize the environmental impact and create an even better experience for residents and staff. 

“We’ve made great strides toward digital process implementation, and we’ll be making even more improvements in the future,” says Aigner. 

The My Erickson app, available for download on iTunes and Google Play, is a digital platform residents can use to access their meal plan balance, dining menus and specials, resident and staff directories, campus newsletters, calendar of events, and more. Information is grouped into icons on the My Erickson home screen, allowing for ease of use and intuitive navigation. Enterprise-wide, over 13,400 independent living residents of Erickson Senior Living communities are enrolled in My Erickson, including 58% of residents at Eagle’s Trace. 

“We’re excited to deliver information virtually to residents through My Erickson, and we’ll continue to improve our current practices as we seek to find new ways to incorporate sustainability efforts into our community,” says Aigner. 

To explore more ways in which Eagle’s Trace is helping the environment and providing active, engaged retirement living, request a free brochure today or call 281-661-1403.

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