(BRECKENRIDGE, Colo.) — It is summer getaway season here in Colorado, so why not take a quick trip up into the Mountains for a stay in Breckenridge? This week FOX21 News continues to highlight the best ways to get around Breckenridge and preview the new additions coming to the popular town and mountain resort.

Now that the ski and ride season is wrapped up, this summer, the mountain and town of Breckenridge are taking over as an industry leader in sustainability. Since 2017, Vail Resorts, the parent company of Breckenridge, has continued to make progress toward reaching a zero net operating footprint by 2030.

“We’re fortunate to live, work and play in these beautiful mountains, in this beautiful environment,” Sara Lococo, Breckenridge Senior Communications Manager explained. “So with that, I think comes a really important responsibility to take care of them and make sure that future generations are able to enjoy this land in these places like we are today.”

That’s why the mountain and town of Breckenridge are focused on sustainability. With an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste, zero net emissions, and zero impact on the forest by 2030, Breckenridge is wasting no time.

“We’ve been working really hard on a global level as well as here locally in Breckenridge and across our resorts to work towards that, to be more sustainable, to keep our environment healthy,” Lococo explained. “We’re doing that in a lot of different ways, but one of the big ways is energy efficiency, and we’ve actually reached 100% renewable energy across our North American resorts and 96% worldwide.”

Breckenridge is ahead of schedule and summer visitors are a big part of maintaining that goal.

“There are a lot of ways our guests can help with our efforts to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly,” Lococo said. “One of those ways is as simple as carpooling, we know, you have to travel to get here and we encourage people to carpool.”

In the winter, Breckenridge offers discounts for carpooling and for guests that may be traveling from an airport, and there are shuttle systems and other transportation options that will get you where you need to go. Once you’re in Breckenridge, those who live and work there say you don’t need a car.

“Our town is so pedestrian friendly, bike friendly, you can walk everywhere,” Lococo explained. “If your legs are a little too tired from a big hike or a bike ride, you can hop on the free bus system to get you anywhere you need to go around town and our BreckConnect Gondola will get you up and down from town to the resort.”

Breckenridge is also focused on reusing and upcycling. There’s currently a big project being constructed on the mountain to replace and upgrade Peak 8’s 5-chair lift to a new high-speed quad lift.

Coming up this summer, Breckenridge will auction off the original chair lift, where you can win a piece of Breckenridge history, while the proceeds from that auction will benefit the local community’s push to keep Breckenridge green and clean.