Projects
Introduction
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. 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: Jonathan Corcoran – jcfv@madriver.com
Resources:
www.burlingtoncurrency.org
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. 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
Local First!
Status: Local First VT initiated June 2006
Description: In communities across North America, BALLE networks are launching Local First Campaigns. These marketing campaigns are seen as a critical piece of a community’s economic development strategy, helping to promote economic stability, job growth, and entrepreneurial vigor through nurturing and promoting a wide diversity of locally owned businesses.
Resources:
www.localfirstvermont.org
www.livingeconomies.org/localfirst/campaigns
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
Banks and Local Agriculture
Status: Idea
Description: Work with banks to support farmers in transition to the production of profitable goods for the local market.
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
Community and Education
Film Screenings
Status: Ongoing
Description: ACORN regularly screens The End of Suburbia, as well as other select films related to Peak Oil, Global Warming, Corporate Food Industries, and sustainable living for the general public. Screenings are advertised on the events calendar and on posters distributed throughout Addison County.
Contact: Greg Pahl: gpahl@sover.net or Ron Slabaugh: ron.slabaugh@gmail.com
Resources:
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.
Contact: Ron Slabaugh, ron.slabaugh@gmail.com
Resources:
Carbon-Neutrality Campaign
Status: Idea
Description: Achieving carbon-neutrality for any institution would be a tremendous challenge and accomplishment. The goal is for whole towns or institutions to have no net impact on Earth’s climate through the burning of fossil fuels. Through the adoption of clean, renewable energy sources, new transportation systems, local economy, energy efficiency, and carbon-offsets towns within Addison County could achieve total carbon-neutrality thereby promoting local business and community, reducing the county’s impact on the environment, and acting as responsible global citizens.
This campaign can be achieved on any number of scales: individual and family, neighborhood or town, or county-wide. The campaign would most likely want to aim for a defined time commitment keeping in mind the scientific consensus stating that global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 80% by 2050 to avoid the most serious impacts of global warming.
Contact: Laura Asermily
Resources:
www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/toolkit/content/view/46/111/
Middlebury Global Warming Action Coalition
Energy
Acorn Energy Co-op
Status: Ongoing
Description: A local, community-based renewable energy initiative to provide greater energy security and a wide range of other benefits to Addison County residents
Contact: Greg Pahl, gpahl@sover.net
Resources:
Ripton Energy
Status: Research
Description:
Contact: Warren King, kinglet@together.net
Community Wind
Status: Ongoing
Description:
Contact: Kat Cooley, katharine.cooley@gmail.com
Food
Localvore Challenge
Status: Ongoing
Description: In September 2006, residents of Addison County will challenge themselves to eat locally. Participants will choose to take on the challenge for 1 meal, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or however long is deemed appropriate. Over the course of the challenge participants will hopefully gain a better awareness of the foods that are truly local and develop stronger connections to food and farmers.
Contact: Ginger Nickerson, 897.5448
Resources:
www.vermontlocalvore.org
www.vitalcommunities.org/Agriculture/localvore/localvorehome.htm
www.postoilsolutions.org/localvoremain
Local Farmers Directory
Status: Ongoing
Description: A directory and informational resource on local farmers and producers throughout the county available on the ACORN website and by request in physical form.
Contact: Susan Smiley, susan.smiley@comcast.net
Resources:
Local Food Processing and Storage Co-op
Status: Idea
Description: A true local foods economy requires some infrastructure that does not currently exist within the county. If resources and energy could be channeled towards the construction of food processing and storage facilities, the county could become far more independent and self-sufficient with its food economy, benefiting local producers and local consumers.
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
Resources:
Western Mass Food Processing Center: www.fccdc.org/foodprocess/foodprocess.cfm
County Food Audit
Status: Idea
Description: A complete study of the county’s food production, trade, and consumption. The goal will be to assess the potential for the county to support itself with local foods and highlight ways that the county could benefit from relocalizing food sources.
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
Resources:
Addison County Farmers’ Directory – ACORN website
Community Garden
Status: Ongoing
Description: Details available at: www.middleburygarden.org
Contact: info@middleburygarden.org
Gleaning
Status: Ongoing
Description: Details available at: http://www.acornvt.org/gleaning
Contact: gleanaddison@gmail.com
Gardening Classes/Campaign
Status: Idea
Description:
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
Transportation
Idle-Free VT
Status: Ongoing
ACTR Day or Week
Status: Idea
Description: This campaign would be to work with ACTR in organizing a day or week of celebrating and dedicated public participation in using ACTR. The aim of the project would be to introduce more people to the available public transportation in the county. Educate people on the benefits of the service and work towards establishing ACTR and other shared transportation systems as a more central component of residents’ lives.
Contact: None yet…if you would like to coordinate this project, come to the next ACORN meeting!
