GREEN BRIEFS

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“We’re excited to bring this program from the Mad River Valley to the broader Winooski watershed,” said Michele Braun of Friends of the Winooski River. “We look forward to working with each other and our watershed neighbors to build a broad and connected Storm Smart community.”

For more information, contact the Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District at (802) 828.4493 x3178 or email info@winooskinrcd.org.

“Every little bit adds up,” said Corrie Miller of the Friends of the Mad River. “By taking small steps on our own properties, together we reduce flood vulnerability locally and downstream, and we keep our swimming holes clean. Soaking up storms reduces erosion, keeps pollutants out of waterways and minimizes flooding. On top of all that, most of the Storm Smart recommendations, like planting trees, converting lawns to wildflowers, or repairing riparian buffers, help our wildlife neighbors, too.”

Scholarships available for green building conference

Efficiency Vermont is offering scholarships for students to attend a full day of the Better Buildings by Design Conference April 5-6 at the Hilton hotel in South Burlington.

The scholarship is named in honor of Blair Hamilton, the late ting it in trash is not the correct answer.

• Do more outreach and advocacy, such as this article, to raise awareness.

• Connect with your local school for information and informational programs about food waste and converting it to energy. How are our schools participating to best reduce food waste?

• Develop lobbying initiatives for renewable energy generated from biodigesters to get co-founder of VEIC, the Vermont-based nonprofit that operates Efficiency Vermont.

“The Blair Hamilton Award seeks to remove financial barriers for students, allowing them to attend informative sessions and network with clean energy professionals,” said Bryn Oakleaf of Efficiency Vermont. “Right now, Vermont is challenged to attract students into skilled trades, including in the clean energy sector. So we are excited to offer this scholarship to students that want to learn more about the career opportunities available.”

Scholarship applications are due by March 1. There are 40 oneday scholarships available to college students, high school students and adult learners in Vermont. Email EEN@efficiencyvermont. com for application information, or visit https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/trade-partners/bbd.

Examples of training sessions and workshops offered at the conference are:

• Smart homes and connected devices

• Conditioning and compartmentalizing high-performance multifamily buildings

• Bringing passive house retrofit solutions to scale

• Shaping equitable decarbonization

• Using natural gas refrigerants to meet decarbonization goals

• Ground source heat pumps

• Hydronics for low-energy net-zero buildings incentives. Contact both your state and federal legislators.

• Work toward having people receive a financial reward for separating food waste.

• Have commercial trash-haulers collect food scraps alongside trash and recycling pickup.

• Work toward creating commercial biodigesters where people can buy shares similar to solar farms.

Project places first

Congratulations to all the fourth- and fifth-grade students of the Green Mountain Homeschool Robotics Team who took home the statewide first place award at the First Lego League challenge and are moving onto the regional competition. There is a lot that we can all learn from the youth of our community, and we should all start by listening.

Green tips

Composting winter food scraps

In a cold climate such as we have in Vermont, winter composting at home can pose challenges. One way to handle kitchen scraps conveniently during the cold months is to place a large container with a cover, such as an inexpensive garbage can, in an easy to access place outside your home.

Fill the bottom of the container with a foot or two of dry leaves and/or shredded paper and dig a hole in the center of this dry material into which you can dump your food scraps. After each addition, add several more inches of dry material.

This will help prevent odors when temperatures warm. In the spring you can stir and adjust the mix in the container to complete composting or add the contents into a larger compost pile.

Source: Adapted from ‘The Vermont Master Composter Resource Manual,’ State of Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, September 2017.