Key West The Newspaper

Mayor Craig Cates this week commended some of the island’s larger employers for their team’s efforts to go green.

During the week of March 27th, ten of the largest employers in Key West took the 3rd Annual Green Commute Challenge. Employees earned points for the methods they used commuting to work. More than 970 people participated, reporting over 4,000 commutes that week. Sixty-six percent of all trips were self-powered in this year’s challenge.

This year’s challengers included the City of Key West, the Florida Department of Health, the Southernmost Beach Resort, Florida Keys Community College, Monroe County School District, Tropical Soup Group, Keys Energy Services, Florida Keys Mosquito Control, Monroe County and the Pier House Resort and Spa.

Grand prize winner, the Southernmost Beach Resort, logged 100 percent of their employee commutes, documenting 70 percent of employees biking, 12 percent walking, and 15 percent taking the bus most of the week.

Standout participants included newcomer Pier House, who logged 59 percent of employees on bikes, and 22 percent of employees carpooling.

Another notable was the Tropical Soup Group, made up of Fogarty’s, Caroline’s, Jack Flats, Red Fish, Blue Fish and the Waterfront Brewery, who logged 35 percent of employees biking and 14 percent walking.

The City of Key West took first place for employers with more than 400 employees. The Monroe County School District took second in that category and Monroe County government took third.