County is a Blue Zones worksite

Also this week, The Riv became the first Blue Zones Project approved restaurant in The Dalles.

The Blue Zones Project is a three-year endeavor aimed at improving community health and wellbeing. It seeks to boost habits that improve longevity, and aims to make healthier choices easier.

“When we first heard about the Blue Zones Project we knew we were on board because Wasco County is already committed to the health and well-being of not only county employees but the citizens of our county,” said Fritz Bachman on behalf of the county’s wellness committee.

To be an approved worksite, the county completed a checklist that included creating a healthier environment and to offer opportunities to improve the well-being of employees and the larger community.

Action items include ensuring at least 25 percent of meeting rooms, workstation and offices provide the option to sit or stand while working, creating an employee garden, and having 28 percent of their employees complete the Blue Zones Personal Pledge, and more.

The worksite checklist is designed to create healthier workplaces because people spend so much of their time there. Getting workplaces involved is a vital part of The Dalles becoming a certified Blue Zones Community.

The first organization to win the worksite designation was One Community Health.