The best way to introduce Sustainable Woodstock is through its mission statement, which states that the organization exists “to lead our communities through the climate emergency, empowering Woodstock and the rest of the Upper Valley to meet climate commitments and live sustainably through advocacy, education, and collaboration.”

“The part I love,” says Jenevra Wetmore, the organization’s executive director, “is ‘lead our communities through the climate emergency.’ You hear a lot about climate action on a global or statewide level, but local, on-the-ground, community-centered climate action and sustainability work is really what we’re focused on.” Founded in 2009, Sustainable Woodstock continues to focus on climate action, but the organization does so much more to make Woodstock sustainable.

 

Sustainable Municipal Buildings

Sustainable Woodstock spearheaded an effort to maximize the efficiency of six municipal buildings through updated ventilation, heat pumps, LED lighting, weatherization, and all-electric heating. These upgrades reduced the amount of energy the town uses, resulting in savings for taxpayers and a 12.5 percent decrease in emissions.

 

Sustainable Transportation

Have you seen those three blue-bumpered school buses around town? They’re electric and part of the solution, too. Sustainable Woodstock worked with Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission and the Mountain Views Supervisory Union to acquire a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to purchase those buses. Of the nearly $1.25 million in project costs, the only expenditure to taxpayers through the Supervisory Union was $63,000 for charging stations, less than six percent of the total cost.  Because it won’t be purchasing diesel, the Supervisory Union will save as much as $8,000 per bus annually. Less diesel use will result in a reduction in emissions of 11 million tons per bus per year.

 

Sustainable in the Winter

At the risk of stating the obvious, windows are drafty. Jenevra notes that the widely accepted view is that “30 percent of the heat lost from a home is through the windows.” Despite this, there are few grants available to people for window replacement. “You’re kind of on your own for your windows,” Jenevra says, “and they’re expensive if you try to replace them.”

But Sustainable Woodstock has a community-powered solution that is free for income-qualifying residents and families. The organization partners with a nonprofit in Maine called Window Dressers. During the summer, volunteers visit the houses of people in our area who want to reduce their energy bills and be warmer in the winter.

The volunteers measure the windows and those specifications are sent to Window Dressers. That organization cuts wood for frames to the measurements supplied and ships them, the plastic that forms the barrier against the cold, and foam applied to the outside of the frame to ensure a snug fit. The materials arrive in the fall. “We spend a week assembling all the windows with the volunteers,” Jenevra says, adding, “It’s fun.”

Jenevra notes that for 2024, Sustainable Woodstock made 240 inserts for 28 families. Over the three years Sustainable Woodstock has participated in this program, the people and families who received inserts used 7,400 fewer gallons of heating fuel annually. While this partnership with Window Dressers can help sustain people in the winter, Sustainable Woodstock has another program to sustain people in the warmer weather.

 

Sustainable in Summer

Maybe during a visit to Billings Farm & Museum or a walk along River Road, you’ve seen garden plots and wondered whose they are. These plots, as well as plots at King Farm in West Woodstock, are the Community Gardens, which are maintained by Sustainable Woodstock and offer space to grow fruits and vegetables for more than 30 families and organizations. “If you can’t pay for a plot, it’s free,” Jenevra says. “Otherwise, it’s $30 or $40 for a plot. It’s a lovely community space, and it brings all incomes together, which is beautiful.”

In the Community Gardens, Sustainable Woodstock maintains plots for the Woodstock Community Food Shelf. “We call those our food security plots,” Jenevra says. Last year the organization, under the guidance of gardener Amy Wheeler, grew about 300 pounds of produce for the food shelf to distribute to its clients.

 

Sustainable for the Future

Some of the Community Gardens sit along the Barnard Brook. Though erosion began to undermine the brook’s banks as far back as Tropical Storm Irene, the flooding of 2023 dealt another severe blow. Jenevra shared a photo showing the fence that once surrounded the gardens now dangling over the edge of the chewed-away bank. Two of the plots were also lost. “If the bank continues to erode,” Jenvera notes, “it’ll erode up to the road or the bridge [on River Road].”

Sustainable Woodstock procured a Water Infrastructure Sponsorship Program, or WISPr, grant to combat the erosion. Starting this year, engineers will make the bank’s slope less steep and, hopefully, less susceptible to future erosion. To do this work will require sacrificing even more Community Gardens plots.

Jenevra also shared a photo of the garden taken from the side away from the river. Large, colorful panels formed an L shape on the ground around the plots. Jenevra explained these panels are discarded billboards that Sustainable Woodstock acquired to cover the grass as the first step in converting lawn to garden. This year, the ground beneath the billboards will be available for new plots, yielding more fresh produce. This adaptability to climate change is another way Sustainable Woodstock leads in the face of this crisis.

 

Sustainable for Everyone

Sustainable Woodstock’s efforts and resources are beneficial to everyone. “A lot of our work is to empower the community,” says Program Coordinator Heather Knoll. “So we create opportunities where we’re either providing tools or knowledge for the people in the Upper Valley.”  Every month for nine years, Sustainable Woodstock has held a gathering called Green Drinks, a forum to educate attendees on a specific topic. For example, a recent Green Drinks featured a program by Efficiency Vermont to explain new programs and funding options for weatherization projects and the transition to green energy sources.  “Sustainable Woodstock had a really fun event last year,” Heather says, “where a bunch of our volunteers brought their favorite electric lawn care tools to the Woodstock Green so that people coming to the event could try them out and see which type they liked.” Other Green Drinks topics include recycling, composting, purchasing electric or hybrid vehicles, pee-cycling (yes, it means what you think), and an e-bike demo day.

Sustainable Woodstock also presents its Climate Change and Sustainability Film Series, which fosters a broader understanding of issues that affect the planet. Future film topics include the threats to sea life from human-made ocean noise, sail freight, and rethinking how we eat as a way to preserve the planet.

 

Sustainable for Woodstock

The issues with the climate are serious. Sustainable Woodstock refers to it as a climate emergency for a reason. News of stronger hurricanes, more wildfires, excessive heatwaves, and repeated flooding could crush even the most optimistic person.

But when you see those electric school buses, when you happen upon the Community Gardens and see residents working side by side growing nutritious vegetables, when you volunteer at a Sustainable Woodstock program or attend Green Drinks or a film screening, you’ll realize you have the power to build a sustainable Woodstock and Sustainable Woodstock can empower you to make a difference right here at home.

 

Sustainable Woodstock

http://sustainablewoodstock.org/