LYONS, Colo. -- The town of Lyons has an ambitious goal -- to prod residents to reduce energy use by 25 percent.

The Green Heart Institute is a nonprofit group that provides education, tools and resources to help communities reduce their environmental impact. It recently received funding from the StEPP Foundation for a new community project in Colorado.

The Lyons Sustainability Project is now in full swing and will last for the next 12 months. A total of 300 homeowners have agreed to share their energy habits as part of this community project. They will provide information from previous energy bills then an eco-auditor will tour their home. The job of the volunteer auditor is to find areas where each family can save energy.

They'll look at everything from light bulb choices to insulation. And that's not all. Homeowners will then have to reveal travel habits, especially air travel. All of this information will be added to an online database and used to compile a community report.

Program organizers are finding that by involving an entire town in something like this, the movement can become even more popular. Residents encourage each other to do even better.

"That's the type of thing we need to have happen where being sustainable becomes cool. It becomes sexy. It becomes fun as opposed to 'It's a pain to do,' or 'It's a hardship,' or 'It costs too much money,' or 'It's some weird thing that these fringy people are doing,'" said Jennifer White, director of the Green Heart Institute.

Determining changes that are realistic for Lyons residents are important. The goal is to find the perfect fit for each family. And that means what matters most to them is also important for the success of the project.

For more information on The Green Heart Institute, go to their Web site.