Gratitude to the People & Communities We Serve

Sustainable Woodstock’s focus on community resilience in response to global climate change is catalyzed by the pressing need to ensure that residents of Woodstock, the surrounding towns and the Upper Valley region are able to find sustenance, health and safety—the necessities that individuals and communities need to achieve their full potential. To these ends, Sustainable Woodstock has increased our capacity as a leading local and regional grassroots organization that reaches across social, economic and cultural barriers to promote Sustainable Opportunities for All. We have increased the events and initiatives that provide support and security in regards to food and energy needs for those from all backgrounds and income levels. The links between Earth stewardship, social justice and racial equality are more clear and present than ever before.

2022 Highlights

• Sustainable Woodstock—The Whole Environment: Working with the community to foster Woodstock’s unique legacy of stewardship, sustainability and resilience—yesterday, today and tomorrow. 
• Climate Change Leadership: Producing and partnering on numerous public programs, student and community actions, films, articles, solar energy projects, energy conservation and transportation initiatives and programs, including a Regional Climate Action Plan to curb carbon emissions and mitigate global warming.
• Energy & Transportation Action Group: Collaborating with the Town and Village of Woodstock and the Intermunicipal Regional Energy Coordinator (IREC/Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission) to design and retrofit buildings to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at considerable savings to Woodstock residents over time.
  • Equal Energy Opportunities for All: Raising $100,000 to implement energy-efficiency improvements & upgraded systems for income-sensitive households—from weatherization to heat pumps.
  • Renewable Energy for All: Promoting the means to make renewable energy affordable for everyone. Partnering with Norwich Solar Technologies, Twin Pines Housing, SEVCA and IREC to plan a solar array to serve low- to moderate-income households. 
  • Window Dressers: Implementing a 2-year project for income-sensitive households in Woodstock and the surrounding towns, making some 450 interior storm window inserts to reduce cold drafts, save energy, lower heating costs and reduce carbon emissions: https://windowdressers.org/
  • eBike Trials: Provided 67 free public eBike trials (to date) to promote low-impact transportation, in partnership with Vital Communities, Local Motion, Norman Williams Public Library and St. James Church.
• Community Gardens & Food Security: Helping to meet the crucial need for sustenance as the root of sustainability for individuals and families. SW expanded our Billings Farm and King Farm community gardens and planted additional food security plots. Our GROW YOUR OWN GARDEN project created 225 beginner gardening kits that were distributed free to income-sensitive households—feeding some 600 people. This year we also funded raised beds at Woodstock’s Riverside Mobile Home Park.
• Natural Resources Projects & Funding: On behalf of the Town and Village of Woodstock, Sustainable Woodstock applied for $280,000 in state funding to implement natural resource projects related to water quality. Procured a project design grant from VT Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and Watershed United Vermont to mitigate erosion along Barnard Brook (in partnership with the Woodstock Resort Corporation & Billings Farm). Initiated a process—in partnership with the Connecticut River Conservancy, Woodstock Resort and ANR—to remove the three remaining dams restricting fish passage along Kedron Brook.
• Advocacy: SW advocates on the local, regional and statewide level for sustainability and community benefits, ranging from climate change mitigation and community resiliency to quiet alternatives to leaf blowers.
• Upper Valley Partners & Leadership: No town is an island. Sustainable Woodstock has worked on regional sustainability initiatives, educational programs and events in partnership with more than 60 organizations and municipal bodies throughout Woodstock, the Ottauquechee Watershed and the Upper Valley. As a result of SW’s success, residents in Lebanon, Brownsville and Plymouth asked for help with forming organizations to address sustainability and resiliency in their own communities.
• Celebrating the 4th year of partnering with Pentangle Arts on monthly screenings of our Upper Valley Climate Change & Sustainability Film Series—with attendance of over 4,500 people (to date) from  the Upper Valley and beyond, including online viewers from Europe to New Zealand! Inspiring viewers to act on critical environmental and social issues, with generous support from underwriters Mascoma Bank & Vermont Community Foundation, and sponsors Mark D. Knott DDS, Ellaway Property Services, Unicorn and Yankee Bookshop.
• Bridgewater Community Center: SW is in the 4th year of helping to transform the Bridgewater Area Community Center into a resilient, sustainable hub, including the Bridgewater Community Childcare, which opened its doors to children and families in June 2022! During this time, we have spearheaded a successful $100,000 grant from the State of Vermont and National Park Service to restore and weatherize historic windows and install new storm windows throughout, and co-authored a successful $75,000 grant from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust to install energy-efficient systems.
• Completed 7 years of monthly Green Drinks discussions, reaching a growing audience with presentations and discussions on sustainability initiatives in Woodstock, the Upper Valley and beyond—a dynamic venue for networking, public education and collaboration between sustainability and resilience organizations. 
• Weekly Columns: 12+ years of writing weekly columns for the Vermont Standard. (A special thanks to the Vermont Standard staff!)
• Community Recycling: At SW’s Annual Recycling Day, on October 15, 2022, participants recycled nearly 11,000 pounds of used electronics, and 5,000 pounds of documents. Forest Carbon Action Group: Marking 4 years of leadership educating foresters and landowners about managing forest carbon to mitigate climate change. Published a 24×36 full-color Family Forest Carbon Poster with Northam Forest Carbon. 

Sustainable Woodstock is honored and grateful for the energy, enthusiasm and hard work of our dedicated volunteers—and for the incredible generosity of our supporters—all of whom make it possible to accomplish so much on behalf of our communities and the environment. Thank you!

Photo caption & credit: A sampling of harvests from Sustainable Woodstock’s Community Garden at Billings Farm that were donated to the Woodstock Community Food Shelf. (Photo: Amy Wheeler/Sustainable Woodstock)