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ACoRN Project Catalog

Introduction

The Project Catalog is a collection of ideas for campaigns, projects, and actions that promote relocalization and sustainable living in Addison County.  The following entries range from concrete measures to strengthen the local economy to broader ideas for reshaping local communities and neighborhoods, for promoting education and outreach throughout the county, or for incorporating relocalization into the plans and practices of local institutions and governments. 

Many of the projects listed are ongoing initiatives that anyone interested is welcome to join.  Others are ideas in which community members have expressed interest, but about which no one has yet initiated action.

The projects are displayed according to their general field of focus: energy, food, community and education,  business, transportation, etc.  This list of foci is by no means meant to restrict the reach of a project’s activities.  Each project aims at achieving concrete, measurable change and also at spreading knowledge and awareness that will help build this critical movement towards relocalization.

Take Action – Get Involved!

If you would like to get involved with projects already underway, contact the listed project coordinator.  Also, please feel free to contact us with new ideas or and suggestions for old ideas!

To achieve the goal of responsible, sustainable living we must all join and act together.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Business

Local Currency:

·        Status: Idea

·        Description: A number of communities have created their own currency.  Just as with “Burlington Bread”, an Addison County or even more localized currency system could be highly beneficial for local business and local growers and producers and local consumers in the county.  Businesses and producers could receive increased local business and the local currency could make local products more affordable for all county residents. 

The nearest is Burlington but there are examples all over the world. A recent conference was held in Burlington bringing local currency experts from far and wide. There are many resources for someone interested in developing a local currency to explore.

·        Contact: Contact: None yet...if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACoRN meeting!

·        Resources: http://www.burlingtoncurrency.org/ ; http://www.ithacahours.org/

Community Shop:

·        Status: Idea

·        Description: Tools will increase in importance in a post-carbon world. We will necessarily need to repair things when it’s too expensive to just dispose of broken things and buy new, or even to ship the item to distant repair center. If manufactured goods are much less available and much more expensive, we will need to make more of what we need. Everyone can’t afford their own space for a shop and tools, especially large, major tools.


I envision a co-op where my membership allows me to schedule time and pay a members’ rate. Original capital would buy the tools (or may be older citizens, no longer using their shop might donate tools), find a space and provide support for utilities for the first year. Usage fees would cover ongoing expenses and some management, upkeep and tool maintenance. Perhaps one or more full time people would do this upkeep and may be even doing custom work for people, where part of the cost of the product would support the community shop.

·        Contact: Ron Slabaugh, ron.slabaugh@gmail.com

·        Resources:

Local First!

Banks and Local Agriculture:

Community and Education

Film Screenings:

Skills Inventory:

·        Status: Idea

·        Description: When we contemplate a future without abundant cheap energy, we see more things being made locally and food coming from closer to where we live.

Can we look at our priority needs—food, energy, goods, etc. and list the skills we’ll need (growing food without oil input, making clothes, shoes, lower energy ways of building, etc.)

This project would create such a list and seek to identify resources (people, institutions and organizations, publications) that still know these skills. Examples might be hand scything, organic farming, energy efficient building, farming with horses and without chemicals, cobblering, tailoring, etc.

Someone in another oil group in Vermont has begun such a project by working with historical societies and attending field events where such persons might attend.

·        Contact: Ron Slabough, ron.slabaugh@gmail.com

·        Resources:

Carbon-Neutrality Campaign:

Community Wind:

Energy Curriculum and Compact Florescent Light bulbs in Schools:

Energy 101:

Energy
Great Falls Micro-hydro:

Lincoln Energy (OILFREE):

Retail Energy Co-op:

Biofuels Co-op:

Energy Generation Co-op:

Ripton Energy:

Food

Localvore Challenge:

Local Farmers; Directory:

Local Food Processing and Storage Co-op:

County Food Audit:

Community Garden:

Gardening Classes/Campaign:

Transportation

Idle-Free VT:

      ·        Status: Ongoing

·        Description: Idle-Free VT, an unincorporated, grassroots campaign, was formed in 2006 by Wayne Michaud ofBristol, Vermont. Its goal is to address the issue of needless vehicle idling and to get an idling reduction law enacted in the state of Vermont. Idling plays a part in the critical issues of Respiratory Illness, Global Warming and Peak Oil.

Wayne took idling seriously in 2005 when he observed a family van idling at one of the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) drop-off centers where the family was dropping off their recycling and waste disposal. Their van needlessly idled on and on, for well over 10 minutes. This prompted him to write a letter to a local newspaper and to report his observation to CSWD. To his delight, CSWD took his concern very seriously, taking the initiative toward becoming an "Idle-Free" company, by instituting a no-idle policy for their vehicles and posting no-idle signs at all their drop-off centers.

See website for more information.

ACTR Day or Week:

 

                           

                           
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Addison County Relocalization Network