Category Archives: Events

Sustainable Williston helps residents Button Up

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This year, Sustainable Williston is a Button Up Vermont community partner. This means that Williston is one of 18 Vermont towns whose residents are eligible for a free home visit from a professional energy contractor who can identify opportunities for home weatherization. Buttoning up your home is the best way to conserve home energy and reduce heating and cooling costs. Sustainable Williston has a few upcoming events where Williston residents can get more information and take action.

  1. Curious about the increasingly popular cold climate heat pumps? Attend a free workshop to learn about cold weather heat pump options for hot water and space heating on Wednesday, November 14th at 7pm at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. RSVP on Facebook
  2. Ready to Button Up your home or just want to hear more? Attend the free Weatherize Williston Button Up workshop on Wednesday, November 28th at 7pm at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. There will be a home weatherization talk and time to meet with Building Energy, the Williston energy contractor conducting the free home visits. RSVP on Facebook
Want to participate but can’t make any of these events? Visit https://buttonupvermont.org/ and click on “Sign up for a free contractor visit” by December 15. After filling out a short survey about your home characteristics and energy usage, you will be contacted directly by the energy contractor, Building Energy. While you are at the Button Up website, review the checklist to find ways to start buttoning up right away and find out about DIY weatherization incentives (up to $100) from Efficiency Vermont.
For more about the Button Up program in Williston, tune in below to the November episode of What’s Up Williston: The Chief of Police and a Look at Sustainable Williston (Button Up information starts in minute 15).

10th Annual Zero-Waste Ice Cream Social!

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Ice Cream Social- July 3, 2017

This week’s July 3rd Ice Cream Social in Williston marks a decade of zero-waste efforts by Sustainable Williston. In 2009 residents and SW members Lynn and Lori formed a new partnership with the Williston Historical Society (host of the Ice Cream Social) to make the event zero-waste by using compostable materials for serving, and collecting the compost at the end of the event.

Did you know?
The waste collected at the July 3rd event is composted locally at Green Mountain Compost on Redmond Road in Williston!

Making a big event like the July 3rd social waste-free isn’t always glamorous. Volunteers help everyone properly sort their waste to ensure a clean batch of compostables, and it can be a messy job handling melted ice cream, fudge sauce and strawberry topping! The compost then travels to a volunteer’s garage to wait for Green Mountain Compost to open on July 5th. All that work is worth it though, and diverts a significant amount of waste from the landfill into a renewable resource. The event also provides an opportunity to answer questions about composting and educate residents on how to sort their waste stream.

We hope to see all Williston residents this Tuesday to enjoy some ice cream, music by the Williston Town Band, and of course enjoy the peace of mind knowing your bowl, spoon, and food scraps are going to eventually turn into nutrient rich compost!

Sustianable Williston Springs into 2018

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Sustainable Williston is springing into 2018 with a series of events.

  1. In March we partnered with the Williston Fire Department to help make their Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser a waste-free event.
  2. April 7th is the annual April Stools Day event at the Williston Community Park and Area Trails.April Stools Banner
  3. 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

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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/qXUsGTthtaU2
RSVP for our event and like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/482188012146106/
Have questions or interested in being a stop on a future tour? Contact: ReedCarrGS@gmail.com
Learn more about our group at www.sustainablewilliston.org

Sustainable Williston Meets Thursday 5/4: Community Energy, Summer Reading, and More

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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.

April Stools Day Saturday, April 8th @ 9AM

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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.

Sustainable Williston Seed Starting Social this Sunday, April 9th from 2-4PM

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What: Sustainable Williston is sponsoring a seed starting social.

When: Sunday, April 9th from 2-4 PM

Where: Under the gazebo on the town green.

What to Expect: Bring a pack of seeds to share (left overs from last year’s are fine) and a few clean pots if you have them (single serving yogurt containers work great).  We’ll provide soil and will have some extra pots on hand (and of course more seeds). April is a great time to plant sees that indicate they should be sowed 4-6 weeks before the last frost date. This includes winter squash, watermelon, and some types of flowers and herbs. Kids are welcome with their accompanying adult.

RSVP: Please RSVP at http://www.sustainablewilliston.org/c
ontact/ so that we know how much soil to have on hand. If you forget to RSVP, just come anyway.

Sustainable Williston meets Thursday, April 6th at 7:15 PM (Special Topic: Storm Water)

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Sustainable Williston will meet Thursday evening at the Dorothy Alling Library at 7:15 PM. Becky Tharp, Manager of the Green Infrastructure Collaborative, a program of Lake Champlain Sea Grant and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, will give an educational talk on storm water issues effecting our region. Becky’s presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A session. Come join the conversation!

Sustainable Williston meets Thursday, Feb 2, at 7:15 PM

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Sustainable Williston will meet Thursday evening at the Dorothy Alling Library at 7:15. Currently we’re putting special effort into engagement, fun, and community events, including a tentative sustainability fair in May. Anyone interested in sustainability who lives or works in Williston is welcome.