Building Resilient Communities Daphne Dixon, Executive Director, Conscious Decisions
Creating resilient communities together.
Resilient communities have:
You can build a resilient community. Ask me how to start! Mayors That are Making a Difference:
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GreenTowns is a brand new community that connects people around green efforts locally and nationally. GreenTowns makes it easy to discover, share and support local sustainability efforts in 15,000 towns across the country. A broad range of environmental issues are brought together in GreenTowns, with subject matter experts and advisors facilitating conversations, and sharing questions and information across topics. GreenTowns.com is a free service for green organizations and local communities. Learn how you can share your green initiative or your expertise as part of the GreenTowns network for sustainable communities. Check out one of the town pages HERE
Visit www.greentowns.com and follow us on Twitter No Plastic Bags!Join this national movement to reduce plastic in our environment.
Check out the initiative on GreenTowns. Connecticut Leads the Way
Home Energy Solutions, is a program administered by Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, and helps to support energy audits in Connecticut, that help to substantially reduce energy costs as well as help keep our environment green. Energy audits can include replacing tradiitonal light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs, blower door tests, checking for leaks in oil or gas tanks, adding insulation and caulking holes.
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From Josephine
Although I am not the religious type, I must admit that I am “born-again.” No, I have not joined a church, or a cult; I have joined the millions of people who have decided, seemingly overnight, to go green. And though I am not the trendy type, this is one fad I don’t mind going along with. In fact, I consciously go along with it… And believe that at some point, it will become less of a fad and more of a way of life. This movement really started decades ago and has been gaining strength for some time. Are you old enough to remember the “Keep America Beautiful” commercial?
Even as a child, that tear rolling down his check got to me every time, Do you remember the classic Woodsy Owl, “Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute.”
campaign? Well, I had that bumper sticker on my bike! But as I recall, I was the only one in my neighborhood who knew about Woodsy Owl.
Now, companies are actually tapping into the green movement, which has helped turned green into a mainstream event. Trendy, hip and cool to be green? Absolutely! And, if the end result leads to a healthier planet, we are all better off!
Conservation: A Long History and a Promising Future
By John Prenderville
Senior Staff Writer
Conservation is a term of the same ilk as freedom, justice or faith – vastly broad and encompassing, yet capturing a specific emotion, mission, or belief. The earliest conservationists were nomadic people who utilized every last part of each and every plant and animal resource they harvested, following these practices due in part to utility and survival, but also in part to an intrinsic respect for nature and the gods who they believed created it.
The contemporary conservation movement is as multi-faceted as it is momentous, attacking issues ranging from the protection of natural resources and endangered wildlife to recycling, renewables and energy conservation and technology. The various groups behind this network of causes are linked by a common respect for the natural world and an interest in defending it from the potentially drastic impacts of human interference in fragile ecosystems.
The good news about the climate problem is that everyone can help, and the first step in confronting any challenge is to get educated. You can learn how to recycle the various food packaging materials that you and your family frequently use (soup cans, yogurt containers, beverage bottles etc.) at local recycling centers. Weatherizing your home to reduce energy loss or installing solar paneling to produce power locally are steps that reduce energy consumption and can drastically reduce costs, effectively paying for themselves in a very short timeframe (especially given the solar tax credits currently available).
As the conservation movement continues to gain social and political momentum, demand for new technologies and products related to clean energy and resource reallocation is growing consistently. Regulatory requirements that are likely to take place domestically and internationally, in both the short and long-term, suggest that this demand curve should increase even more dramatically as large institutions across various industries are forced to change the way they do business. The conservation movement is not just socially and environmentally responsible, it could be the primary engine of America's future economic growth.