The new winter scenes in our header are photographs from around town by Sustainable Williston member Marie-Claude Beaudette. Here’s one more photograph to enjoy.
Tag Archives: williston
Commuter Options for Willistonians
a reposted message from Emma Long at the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission
Hello, Williston!
The ice-scraping, defrosting, start-your-car-early season is fast-approaching. Are you ready to try something new?
Check out Go! Chittenden County, a one-stop resource for information about transportation options. By calling or emailing Go! CC, you can get all the customized information you need to explore some new options in and around Williston. Take the bus (it’s already warm inside!), carpool, vanpool, share a car, or gear up to bike or walk.
Go! Chittenden County is committed to helping you get to work in an easy, cost-effective and fun way.
Call the Go! CC hotline at 1-800-685-7433 to ask questions and chat with an expert to get some personalized ideas, or send an email to info@gochittendencounty.org. AND, mention this Williston Front Porch Forum post to be entered to win a CCTA bus pass for one month (valued up to $150) OR a $100 gift certificate to Earl’s Cyclery & Fitness — winner’s choice! We’ll draw a name on Friday, December 5th.
Don’t wait until you’re chipping away at your windshield after an ice storm — call or email today to see how Go! CC can help connect you to the right options to meet your needs. Even a very small change can positively impact your wallet, peace of mind, health, and carbon footprint.
Visit http://gochittendencounty.org/individual/commuter-blues/ for more details.
The Chittenden County RPC is a proud partner of Go! Chittenden County.
Photo by familymwr
Birth Tree Family Celebration 2014
This past Sunday, Sustainable Williston celebrated families of new children in Williston with a gift of a tree or shrub to each family, each with a small bronze tag with the new child’s name. The trees were donated by Gardener’s Supply in Williston, and sponsors Vermont Wildflower Farm and Green Mountain Compost donated wildflower seeds and a free bag of compost, respectively. The program was also supported generously by Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation and the Town of Williston.
Here are photos from Birth Tree Program organizer Marie-Claude Beaudette:
Williston’s first Sustainable Gardens Tour a success
Last night 18 of us, from the garden-curious to master gardeners, traveled to 5 different gardens around Williston, getting to know not only the different gardens with their differences in soils, experience of gardeners, crops, challenges, and triumphs, but also other Williston folks and corners of the town that some of us had never seen.
Despite predictions of thunderstorms we went ahead, and to my astonishment the rain held off completely. 15 minutes per garden turned out to be just about perfect, and it was easy for us to stay on schedule through the whole tour. Sue Stanne served us blueberry buckler with blueberries harvested from her yard just the day before, and we sampled crops like cucumbers (three kinds: traditional, European, and Silver Slicer), Tatsoi (an Asian green), and thimbleberries. We saw peppers grown in hay bales, Adirondack chair backs and large pretzel containers repurposed to hold tools, my monstrous corridor trellis, stirrup hoes, drip irrigation, anti-rabbit measures, and much more of interest.
Almost everyone who signed up made it to the event, and it seemed to be well enjoyed. Several of us got pictures, and Marie-Claude Beaudette got the beautiful set you see above.
Williston Sustainable Gardens Tour Tuesday 8/5 at 6pm
Sustainable Williston will host a free Sustainable Gardens tour of local gardens that use little or no chemical help. Here’s a chance to see what other gardeners have tried and talk about what has and hasn’t worked for them and for you.
For full information and to reserve a spot, click here for the Sustainable Gardens project page.
Eco Car Wash Opens Flagship Green Facility in Williston
The Williston Observer reported this week that Eco Car Wash company owners Aaron Vincelette and David Soons have opened their new flagship facility off Route 2A near James Brown Drive (right by Agway). This place was four years in the making–take a look:
Eco Car Wash exterior
As you probably know, one of the dangers with a business like this is “greenwashing”–that is, adopting a couple of seemingly environmentally-friendly practices while running a deeply unsustainable business and calling it “green.” “Eco-friendly” products have proliferated in recent years that range from questionable to downright horrible in terms of environmental impact. Is Eco Car Wash one of them, or is it a truly sustainable approach to washing cars? From the evidence I’ve seen, this appears to be the real deal.
If the biggest environmental impacts of a car wash are water, energy, construction, and the gas people expend to drive there, Eco Car Wash seems to be a win on all four fronts. They gather rain and snow and process their water on site, relieving the municipal water system of a potentially large impact; their transparent design and high-efficiency equipment minimize electrical use; their building is constructed from recycled and reclaimed materials; and their location is on the commute and errand path of many Williston and Essex residents.
Vincelette and Soons own and operate Eco Car Wash facilities in Milton and Plattsburgh, but the Williston facility is the most ambitious and sustainable car wash they’ve established.
Eco Car Wash interior
Car washes range from $8-$21. Eco Car Wash also offers detailing, gift cards, and a fleet program. This makes its pricing about average for the industry (for in-tunnel washes) despite the ecological advantages, according to StatisticBrain.com.
It makes sense that their prices should be normal even though they have presumably spent much more than the usual amount on constructing the facility, because their energy and water management practices should save them a bundle over time. While a car wash is an unusually obvious example for this kind of practice, it’s an approach virtually any business can take to be more profitable, as demonstrated by the massive energy retrofit done at the Empire State Building a few years ago: see Empire State Building’s Energy Savings Beat Forecast.
If I sound like an advertisement for this business, you’ll have to pardon me: it’s rare that I see a business that takes sustainability to these lengths. I haven’t been to the place already; if you have, leave a comment and let us know what you think of it.
Sustainable Williston to Install Tidal Power at Lake Iroquois
Sustainable Williston has received a grant from the Eccentric Billionaire Foundation to plan and execute a tidal electricity generation facility in Lake Iroquois. The new tidal generation plant, which will take 120 years to build, will be about four times the size of the existing lake.
artist’s conception of tidal power facility
“We anticipate this may limit fishing, swimming, and some recreational activities,” said unofficial SW spokesperson Luc Reid, “but on the up side, with global warming we’ll soon be able to swim and fish in our back yards!”
As a follow-up project, SW is devising plans for a town-wide heating system based on harnessing the frustration of the American people at the inability of Congress to do absolutely anything. “American frustration is an incredible source of untapped power,” said Reid. “The heat generated by a single day of congressional dilly-dallying could warm the toes of 18,000,000 children, or fry a free-range egg omelette reaching from here to the moon.”
Feb Meeting Notes, and Next Meeting Scheduled for Wed 3/19
Sustainable Williston met February 19th at the Dorothy Alling Library in Williston. We had two special guests for this meeting. First, Zuhair Chaudhry, a CVU high school student and CVU Environmental Action Club member who has made great progress with carpooling spoke with us about CVU bus ridership. Our emphasis until now has been on helping successfully restart the late bus program while ensuring good ridership, but it has expanded now to consider the question of bus ridership at CVU in general. We’re still working on this issue; get in touch if you’re interested in being part of it or would like more information.
Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) Outreach Coordinator Michele Morris joined us to provide information and recommendations on the question of reducing plastic waste. Sustainable Williston members are hoping to help phase out dishes and to volunteer time to assist with recycling and composting at some local events. Michele had some intriguing additional ideas and important insights. We also discussed Vermont’s upcoming universal recycling program and ways Williston can encourage better recycling and composting for residents and businesses.
Sustainable Williston member Marie-Claude Beaudette provided an update on our Birth Trees project, in which we’re partnering with the town and local business to (if all goes well) donate a tree to each Williston family into which a child is born or adopted. In its current form, it looks like the program will offer the option of either having the tree planted in a public place or given to the family to be planted at their home, though the details are still being worked out.
We’ll discuss these and other projects and topics at our next meeting, Wednesday, March 19th at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, upstairs.
We’re also talking about having more informal get-togethers from time to time. If you’re interested in any of the above topics, in attending formal meetings, or in being in the loop for get-togethers, please use the contact form and ask to be added to our e-mail discussion and announcement list.
Shopping on Amazon? Use this link to benefit Williston schools
Amazon has a program that allows people and organizations to earn money when people shop at Amazon through a link from that person or organization instead of just going straight to www.Amazon.com. Nothing changes for the shopper: there are no extra fees or limitations or anything, but purchases made after getting to the site through that link will each earn the referring person or organization a small advertising fee paid by Amazon.
Williston Families as Partners, the group that oversees fundraising for school events and helps involve the community in Williston’s schools, has started a smart fundraiser by getting their own Amazon link. The next time you have online purchases to make, please consider using this link: http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=wsdvtorg-20 (suggestion: save it in your favorites, or else bookmark this page).
By the way, we’re not suggesting that you shop more online for this reason: there are a lot of benefits to getting things locally (though if you have to drive around too much to get them, you can wipe a lot of the environmental benefits out!). However, if you’re already getting something online, especially a large purchase, why not help out Williston schools while you’re at it?