Bringing Hope through Home Energy Workshops
By: Mallory Johnson,
AmeriCorps VISTA
As an AmeriCorps VISTA member, I have committed a year of service to help individuals and communities in Central Kentucky move out of poverty. One of the projects I am working on at Bluegrass Greensource is a series of three sustainability workshops. This series will take place from the fall through spring and will include one workshop on each of the following topics: Energy Efficiency, General Sustainability, and Urban Gardening. Though the workshops are open to the general public, I am hoping to reach at least 100 low-income individuals or families. Each workshop will include information on how the topic can help participants save money, while also creating needed environmental benefits.
The first workshop in the series is focused on Energy Efficiency and will be held at Embrace Church on December 7th from 6-8pm. Rather than listening passively to a presentation, the workshop will be hands-on so that participants get to practice the techniques, use the tools, and receive feedback from experts.
We are so happy and fortunate to partner with Chris Woolery and Rachel Norton from the How$martKY program, a residential energy efficiency initiative run by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). Chris and Rachel will lead the workshop, sharing their years of experience implementing energy efficiency measures in homes and apartments. Our friends at the Central Kentucky Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth are helping us survey residents in the North Side and East End neighborhoods to recruit attendees for the workshop and to help build our understanding of the energy needs our friends and neighbors in Lexington have. We will also provide a free dinner for attendees, as well as child care and energy-related educational activities for children ages four and up. Best of all, through the hands-on learning of the workshop, we will also be helping the good folks at Embrace Church weatherize the parts of their building that get the most use, thus helping them increase comfort this winter and save money, which they can redirect into the community outreach programs they offer.
If you are or someone you know would like to attend the workshop, please sign up at the link below, or call our office at 859-266-1572. The information is available in both Spanish and English:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/home-energy-workshop-tickets-28891654717?aff=es2
Whether helping a family become more comfortable in their own homes this winter by saving energy, or helping people set up a garden next spring, my main focus through this series is to bring people hope and connect them with the tools and resources they need to take action. It is MY hope that these workshops will empower others to make small changes in their everyday lives that will have a big impact in our local environment.
Thanks to our Donors and the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, Some Exciting News!
By: Chris Porter
Bluegrass Greensource
Development Director
At Bluegrass Greensource, we try to make all of our K-12 educational activities as tactile as possible. Fully engaging all of a student’s senses helps them grasp ideas and retain information, all while deepening their understanding of a given lesson.
Animal pelts and skulls are, by far, the most popular hands-on materials that we bring to the classroom and make available to teachers. These pelts and skulls supplement lessons on local wildlife and are used to help children understand animal biology, habitat and how it is affected by various factors, and animal adaptation to weather, climate, and changing seasons.
“Having hands-on materials like pelts and skulls is so important for enhancing student learning,” says Pattie Stivender, Bluegrass Greensource’s Education Director. “A teacher can describe the differences between the teeth of a carnivore and an herbivore. She can have students read a book or complete a worksheet. But when a student is able to touch and experience the different animal teeth first hand, you can see the moment on their face when they connect the dots and the concept comes to life. Nothing compares to that moment.”
The pelts and skulls that we have been using are 10-years old, and because of their popularity and near constant use, they had begun to fall apart. As part of our spring fundraising drive, we reached out to our friends and supporters to raise money to replace this resource. In addition, we applied for and received a grant from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. Thanks to the generosity of the Colonels and our supporters, we are excited to share that we have been able to replace all of our pelts and skulls.
These materials not only bolster our own efforts to provide high-quality environmental education, they also support individual teachers throughout Central Kentucky who access them through our Community Resource Library. “For an individual teacher, the cost of these materials can be a barrier, particularly for something that you won’t use every day,” says Pattie. “So having access to them through our library is such an important resource for the teachers we work with.”
Thank you to our wonderful supporters and to the many good people at the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels! Their generosity and investments ensure our ability to continue providing the first-rate environmental education that we need throughout Central Kentucky.
It’s Official! Green Check Certification Program Launches for Fayette County Businesses
Lexington launches Green Check Program and recognizes inaugural businesses
From the City of Lexington
Last Thursday, September 29th, the City of Lexington launched the new sustainable business certification program Green Check. Green Check recognizes businesses for their green initiatives and helps them expand their sustainability efforts. Six businesses were recognized for their role in piloting the program: Bullhorn Creative, Good Foods Coop, Habitat for Humanity, Lexmark, RossTarrant Architects and Trane.
“We are excited to see such diversity represented in this inaugural class of Green Check Members,” says Dowell Hoskins-Squier, Lexington’s Environmental Quality and Public Works Commissioner. “The certification process is rigorous, but flexible, to ensure that any business who wants to make a greater commitment to sustainability can participate. We can’t wait to see Green Check Member stickers in business windows throughout Fayette County.”
Becoming a Green Check Member business begins with a personal consultation and completion of the Green Check Sustainability Scorecard. The Sustainability Scorecard caters to organizations across a variety of sectors, including restaurants, non-profit organizations, retail, and manufacturers.
Based on their baseline Sustainability Score, the business or organization is awarded Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Member designation. Although the certification is valid for three years, member organizations are encouraged to pursue higher tiers through continued participation and achievement.
The six inaugural Green Check Member businesses all demonstrate a commitment to increased sustainability within their facilities and operations. Examples initiatives from the pilot businesses include parking lot renovations with permeable pavers, installation of rain gardens, upgrades to energy efficient lighting, office compost programs and promotion of alternative transportation. RossTarrant Architects, host site of the Green Check launch, renovated their office space to earn LEED Gold and ENERGY STAR certifications. Beyond these high-impact features, there are lots of actions individual team members can take to improve sustainability in the workplace.
“You have to start somewhere. The Green Check certification process, using the Sustainability Scorecard, establishes a baseline,” says Brian Buckner, Project Manager at RossTarrant. “Our renovations made energy saving a priority, but there is always something more we can do. For example, we drink a lot of coffee in our office and realized the hot water element was keeping the water hot all of the time, and wasting a lot of energy. By placing it on a timer, we calculated that we can save almost $1,000 every year just by making this small change. We’re also looking into composting at the office again. Every energy-saving change has economic and environmental benefits.”
Green Check is a program of the City of Lexington, managed by Bluegrass Greensource. For more information, including how to become Green Check Certified, please visit www.LexingtonKy.gov/GreenCheck.
The Recycle Challenge Kicks Off October 4th!
The Recycle Challenge, a program of the City of Lexington, is designed to increase participation in the city’s residential, curb-side recycling program, by working through the local public elementary schools. Students at Arlington, Harrison, and Williams Wells Brown elementary schools have been challenged to increase recycling participation in their school districts by 50 percent. In the process, they can earn rewards for their school worth up to $12,000!
In celebration of the kickoff assembly on October 4th, our educators made a short PSA to inspire students to get excited about this year’s challenge. Look out for similar PSAs coming from Lexington elementary schools participating in the Recycle Challenge!
Click here to learn more about the 2016 Recycle Challenge, request a recycling cart, and learn more about how you can support the participating schools!
We’re celebrating 15 Years of serving Central Kentucky!
We want to hear your stories!
By: Amy Sohner
Bluegrass Greensource
Executive Director
2016 is Bluegrass Greensource’s 15th anniversary! We were founded in 2001 to empower the 20 counties in Central Kentucky to create a more sustainable environment. Whether positive changes are made through increasing recycling, making a residence more energy efficient, installing a rain barrel or rain garden, or something else, for 15 years we’ve worked to provide central Kentuckians the knowledge and know-how needed to impact their local environments.
Much has changed in the past 15 years. In 2010, we changed our name from Bluegrass PRIDE to Bluegrass Greensource, and unveiled a brand new logo that better captured the scope of our mission and services. We strive daily to be a region-wide source for environmental education—particularly for preK-12 students—and direct outreach, all in an effort to build environmental literacy and connect people to the resources they need to lead more sustainable lives.
A core aspect of our work that has remained central is the importance of the connections we make with individuals throughout Central Kentucky. Whether volunteering for a litter clean up, participating in a workshop at GreenFest, attending one of our rain barrel workshops, or participating in other activities, your engagement with us has been a key to our ongoing success.
And now we need your help!
As part of our 15th anniversary, we want to gather stories about your experiences working with us. What have been your most meaningful or rewarding moments working with Bluegrass Greensource? How have we helped support your efforts to become more sustainable? What would you like to see Bluegrass Greensource accomplish in the next 15 years? Click here to visit our Google form where you can share your stories! We will collect these stories and then share them throughout our 15th anniversary year in order to celebrate the important connections we have with our many friends and partners!
Bluegrass Greensource Announces Grant from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mollie Harris, Communications Specialist
Phone: 859-266-1572
Email: mollie@bggreensource.org
Bluegrass Greensource Announces Grant from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels
Bluegrass Greensource is the recipient of a 2016 grant provided by the Honorable Order of the Kentucky Colonels. This grant will provide for the purchase of new educational resources like animal pelts and skulls, books, and other materials that Greensource educators and many Central Kentucky teachers use to enhance classroom learning.
The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels is a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization of talented and capable men and women appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky because of their service to the state. The Order acts as the Governor’s ambassadors of Kentucky’s heritage and rich history of arts and entertainment.
The primary objective of the Honorable Order is to support needy Kentucky charities and worthy Kentucky organizations by raising money from its membership to help these organizations who stand ready to help our citizens share in Kentucky’s boundless future. The order celebrates this mission and encourages and affirms its members in these efforts.
Bluegrass Greensource is a 15-year old nonprofit providing top-notch environmental education to 20 Central Kentucky counties. In 2015, Greensource reached 4,352 classes and 189,238 people on topics as diverse as waste reduction, water quality, energy efficiency, general sustainability, and urban forestry. In addition, they invested $70,000 in green infrastructure, helped Central Kentuckians install 37 rain gardens, and built 231 rain barrels.
Green Waves Radio: September 9, 2016 |Jim Kreiner, Habitat for Humanity
Green Waves Radio: September 9, 2016
Host: Rob Gates, Outreach Specialist
Guests: Jim Kreiner, Habitat for Humanity
Rob interviews Jim Kreiner, ReStore Director at Lexington Habitat for Humanity, about their operations, sustainability principles, and experience as a Green Check pilot business.
Green Check Launch: September 29, 2016
By: Rob Gates
Outreach Specialist
Bluegrass Greensource
Beginning fall of 2016, a new program aimed at increasing business sustainability will launch throughout Lexington and Fayette County. The program, known as Green Check, will build upon the past successes of the Live Green Lexington Partner Program by highlighting businesses and organizations throughout Lexington/Fayette County that have made a commitment to sustainability and taken the next steps to integrate green principles into their core philosophies and practices.
Green Check is a program of the City of Lexington, developed and administered by Bluegrass Greensource, and is open to all businesses and organizations, regardless of size or type, within Fayette County. Taking part in the program is simple, free and offers a wealth of benefits to members. Perspective members undergo a personal consultation with Bluegrass Greensource staff to complete a comprehensive sustainability scorecard covering a wide array of sustainable initiatives and policies. Through this process, members identify green initiatives already in place as well as recognize potential opportunities to increase sustainability. Members then work closely with Bluegrass Greensource to set goals, timelines, and identify useful resources to make these opportunities a reality.
After completing the process and accomplishing a baseline score, participating businesses/organizations enter the program as Green Check Members. Those that go above and beyond and reach established benchmark scores will be recognized for their efforts with special premiere membership levels (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) and will be entitled to additional promotion and benefits.
Over the past year, eight businesses of various types and sizes have take part in the Green Check Pilot program. These businesses (Ross Tarrant Architects, Trane, Lexmark, Good Foods Co-Op, Bullhorn Creative, and Habitat for Humanity) have helped shape the program and will represent the inaugural class of Green Check Members.
An official launch party will be held at Ross Tarrant Architects on Thursday, September 29 at 3:30 pm to recognize these pilot businesses and celebrate the launch of this exciting new program! For more information, please contact GreenCheck@lexingtonky.gov.
Back to School with Bluegrass Greensource!
