The Seed Starting and Swap event is ON!
Note: Due to inclement weather the event has been relocated to the Williston Federated Church. Park behind the church and enter from the back. RSVP here!
Sustianable Williston Springs into 2018
Sustainable Williston is springing into 2018 with a series of events.
- In March we partnered with the Williston Fire Department to help make their Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser a waste-free event.
- April 7th is the annual April Stools Day event at the Williston Community Park and Area Trails.
- April 15th is the annual Seed Starting and Swap at the gazebo on the Williston Town Green
Come on out!
Sustainable Solutions Tour – Sat Oct 14th, 1 PM – 3:30 PM
We’re pleased to announce our second sustainable solutions tour of 2017, this Saturday, October 14th, from 1-3:30! Plus, we’re partnering with Button Up VT this fall, so come out to receive information and a cool give-away!
Climate change got you feeling down? Come lift your spirits on this Solutions Tour hosted by the Sustainable Williston community group. Your neighbors will welcome you to their homes to show you what they’ve been doing to reduce their carbon footprint and protect our natural environment. Enjoy good company, good ideas, and get inspired!
Meet at 1PM @ 50 Spruce Lane off of N. Williston Rd. The group will carpool to the other tour stops together. Or feel free to drop in at the locations you are most interested in.
Schedule, locations and features listed below:
1:00-1:20 @ 50 SPRUCE LN: Deborah will show off her rain barrel, solar, organic gardening, composting, DIY solar heater for pool! Bonus: This bike commuter will share the best bike route into Burlington!
1:35-2:00 @ 413 BUTTERNUT RD: Living sustainably isn’t easy! Check out a mix of successes and failures with Steve.
2:15-2:35 @ 137 VILLAGE GROVE: Thinking about roof-mounted solar? Ben and Lori will show theirs off as well as perennial gardens, raised beds, and a rain barrel.
2:50-3:10 @ 497 TALCOTT RD (Allen Brook School): Did you know ABS has a wind turbine!? Principal John Terko gives us the scoop!
Tour Map: https://goo.gl/maps/
RSVP for our event and like us on Facebook: https://www.
Have questions or interested in being a stop on a future tour? Contact: ReedCarrGS@gmail.com
Learn more about our group at www.sustainablewilliston.
$17,500 Off a Nissan Leaf Electric Car Now Extended to all of Williston (and Beyond)
In a recent post, we reported that Green Mountain Power customers could participate in a program that gives a $10,000 discount on a 2017 Nissan Leaf. More recently, Vermont Electric Co-op has worked out a partnership with Nissan to also offer a that $10,000 discount to all its customers.
There’s more information in the previous post, but to recap: the Nissan Leaf is a reliable, well-reviewed, all-electric vehicle with an estimated 107-mile range between charges. EVs like the Leaf have much lower fuel cost than the average gas car (on average, just over 1/3 the cost) plus much lower maintenance costs. The batteries have proven durable and lasting, and by some careful estimates an EV like the Leaf will last twice as long as a gas car. The biggest limitation, of course, is that you have to recharge, and that takes longer than pumping gas. However, you can charge at home overnight, and there are a lot more charging stations in the area than you might guess:
Interactive charging station map available at ChargeHub
In addition to the $10,000 discount, most taxpayers can qualify for a $7,500 tax credit (note that this is a credit deducted from your tax liability, not just a deduction from your income calculation). Vermont Electric Co-op also offers a $250 bill credit to customers who buy an electric car.
Not all Nissan dealerships are participating, but there are three in the region where you can get a Leaf with this discount, so you can comparison shop. You don’t have to pay sticker price minus the discount: you should be able to get a better price from your dealer. The three participating dealerships are:
- Freedom Nissan — South Burlington
- Huttig Nissan — Plattsburgh, NY
- Nissan of Keene — Keene, NH
Save Energy and Lower Greenhouse Gases With Your Phone This Summer
Here’s some information from Generation 180 about their Keep It Cool Campaign, an easy way to help save energy and lower carbon footprints:
Each store with an open door wastes 4,200 kWh of electricity over the summer.
Generating 4,200 kWh of electricity releases significant pollution (CO2 + SO 2 + Nox + PM)
The pollution released is equivalent to that of a semi-truck driving from NY to Miami (200 gal of diesel).
On hot days, take notice of retailers’ front doors and send us (Generation 180) store locations via Facebook Messenger (read how to or watch a video)—either to recognize a store for keeping its door closed, or to flag a store that needs a friendly reminder to conserve energy.
For stores with doors that are kept closed, Generation 180 will send them an affirmation for their energy-conscious behavior and place a pin on our campaign map that promotes their location. We will reach out to remind retailers with their doors open to close their door to conserve energy.
Every retailer that Generation 180 contacts will be invited to join our campaign. As retailers commit to keep their doors closed, we’ll recognize them on our map.
Check the map periodically to watch the progress of the Keep It Cool project as it spreads across your community—and across the country.
$17,500 Off a New Electric Car for GMP Customers
Green Mountain Power has just announced a new program for its customers in partnership with Nissan, giving buyers of the 2017 Nissan Leaf a $10,000 discount. This is in addition to a $7,500 tax credit for which most new Leaf buyers will qualify. The base MSRP for a Nissan Leaf is $30,680, meaning buyers who take advantage of the discount and who qualify for the tax credit can get a new Leaf for $13,180.
In addition to savings on purchase of the car itself, electric car buyers enjoy much lower fuel costs and much lower maintenance costs, with no oil changes and few moving parts to wear out.
You may have heard that electric cars aren’t really any better for the environment than gasoline cars. That story has gone around the Internet a lot, but it’s not true. You can read some of the details here.
Transportation is the single biggest factor in most individuals’ and families’ carbon footprints, and cars are the biggest part of the transportation carbon problem. Buying an electric car is one of the very best ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.
The 2017 Leaf has an estimated electric range of 107 miles on a full charge. This goes down a little in winter, but it’s also a conservative number; careful driving can get better range. Many families have an electric car for local transportation and a gas car or hybrid for longer drives. Other electric cars currently available have a greater range: for instance, the Chevy Bolt has a range of 238 miles, and the Chevy Volt (yes, it’s ridiculous that they have two cars with such similar names), while it has only a 53 mile electric range, has a backup gasoline engine that kicks in automatically when the battery runs out of power.
In this deal sounds too good to be true, I can explain Nissan’s motivation here: in a few months they’ll start selling the 2018 Leaf, which has much greater range and some other advantages. Discounting the 2017 models so steeply offers them a change to generate interest in the brand and get the old stock off the lots before it’s eclipsed by the new model.
Questions or concerns about electric cars? Check out the information at Drive Electric Vermont, comment here, or contact us.
Birth Tree Lilacs
Sustainable Williston’s Birth Tree Project, with the support of state and town government and local businesses, gifts local families with a new child with a free tree or bush of their choice to plant. Here’s Finn, a Birth Tree kid, enjoying the lilac bush that was planted for him. Many thanks to Finn’s mom, Sarah, for sending the photos!
http://www.sustainablewilliston.org/ongoing-projects/birth-trees/
Sustainable Williston Meets Thursday 5/4: Community Energy, Summer Reading, and More
Sustainable Williston, our community environment and sustainability group, will meet this Thursday, May 4th, at 7:15 PM at the Dorothy Alling Library. In addition to checking in on other news and projects, we’ll talk about a possible collaboration with the library and will get a walkthrough of Vermont’s new Community Energy Dashboard, a powerful tool for Vermont towns to collaborate on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Everyone living or working in Williston with an interest in sustainability is welcome.
Happy Earth Day from SW!
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Composting is a beautiful thing! Turn your kitchen scraps into black gold for the garden. Happy Earth Day!
April Stools Day Saturday, April 8th @ 9AM
After a late winter storm forced the event to be postponed, April Stools day is back on!
When: Saturday, April 8th at 9 AM
Where: Williston Community Park (and other locations) in Williston. Meet at 9 AM for “doo-ty” at the picnic shelter near the skate park on the east side of Williston Central School.
Why: Pet poop that is not picked up sends nutrients and bacteria into our waterways, eventually contaminating Lake Champlain
How: Join a community effort to clean up parks, sidewalks and trails and protect our waters. Gloves, bags, pails, and hand sanitizer will be provided. Participants will receive a package of lake note cards (while supplies last) and be entered into a drawing for cash prizes.
Questions: Contact Lori Fisher 802.658.1414 for more information. Hosted by Sustainable Williston, Williston Recreation & Parks, and the Lake Champlain Committee.