The Arbor Day Foundation with the help of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the National Association of State Forests have been building the Tree City USA Program for more than a decade. Through this program more than 3400 communities have been named as Tree Cities and more than 135 million people live within those cities' borders. The City of Aurora is proud to be one of these regions and commits itself to green initiatives and the guidelines that make it eligible for this great program. From companies that make lead ballast to children's education classes everyone seems to be thinking about the world around them and the environment.

There are four standards that a city or town must meet before they can be named a Tree City USA. First, they must have a professional arborist or forester on staff who runs a tree department or board or have an entire forestry department that is responsible for all of the trees in the city limits. Second, they must pass a tree care ordinance to give this group in writing the responsibility of creating an annual community forestry work plan. This could mean bringing in more professionals or using volunteers from everywhere from schools to an online flyer printing firm. Third, there must be a forestry budget within the city of at least two dollars per capita. And finally, there must be some sort of observance of Arbor Day with the planting of a tree.

People throughout the community of Aurora felt it was necessary to concentrate on creating these things for their city. You will find citizens throughout the area that are building rooftop gardens, shopping locally and switching to organic diapers in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. This program helps to create community pride, increases public image and financial assistance, and gives that city some great publicity. But it is not the only thing that the city and companies like a cable ties factory are doing to help out.

Recycling, water conservation, and air quality are also big projects that the city of Aurora has taken on. There are several guides available on their website to help individual residents reduce their use of harmful products and build a home environment that includes smart green choices. The city is also conscious of all of its own equipment and services. They are evaluating everything from their offices use of energy to vacuum pump systems to see how they can constantly be improving.