Stories about Local Champions
The Local Champions Blog highlights some of the amazing work our community accomplishes and motivates us all to work better together. We are lucky to work with so many champions who are a model for positive behavior change and influence us to go the extra mile. Our local champions are building connections within the community every day. Filter our stories by categories listed below or browse them all. We hope you’re inspired by the local champions in our community, too!
Sustainable Connections program areas:
Food & Farming
Think Local First
Toward Zero Waste
Food Recovery Program
Energy and Green Building
Resources:
Press Releases
Sustainability Champions
Business Resources
Recipes
Guest Contributors:
Sustainability Spotlights by Peak Sustainability:
Bellingham Public Schools
Holly’s Meat Pies
Brio Laundry and Cleaners
Chuckanut Builders
Aslan Brewing
Tony’s Coffee
View all stories:
Busting Waste With Beers!
n the beginning a massive beer party seemed like a daunting task and I had my doubts how we could make the Toward Zero Waste efforts a successful one. Events themselves pose additional challenges and each event has its own intricacies that complicate the process. When you combine hordes of people, music, food trucks, a festive atmosphere and a few adult beverages, at first one may think as I did, this could be a recipe for waste stream contamination disaster!
Viva Farms: Growing delicious food & Launching the next generation of farmers
By Alex Smith The farming lifestyle is an alluring one. Waking up with the sun, spending time outdoors, the independence of knowing that your food is coming from within walking distance – what’s not to love? Given this idyllic picture of the American farmer, it may...
30,000 Pounds of Food and 12,000 Meals
The recurring image of edible foods discarded into the compost bin or worse the landfill bin was constantly on my mind and a catalyst for a major initiative I was hoping someday Sustainable Connections as an organization could take on. Other local hunger relief organizations are working hard to collect and deliver non-perishable foods and redistribute them but where a large gap exists is prepared edible foods that need to be redistributed in a much shorter time frame.
Homeskillet: Wild, wonderful, and a little bit weird
By Diana Meeks If you don't know these two, I'd like to warmly introduce you to Kirby and Tina White, owners of Homeskillet. Antartic dwellers, world explorers, artists, community builders, and comfort food extraordinaires. In 2012, they opened Homeskillet to...
Bellingham Finishes Third in Nationwide Competition for Innovative Energy Efficiency Solutions
By Mark Gardner, Legislative Analyst / December 18, 2017 The city of Bellingham tied for third place in the final round of the Georgetown University Energy Prize (GUEP), a two-year, nationwide competition involving 50 communities to rethink the way America’s small...
Appel Farms
The second generation of Appel Farms ownership, from left to right: Rich and Ann Appel, and Ruth and John Appel The Fine Art of Farmstead Cheese By Alex Smith, February 2018 Take a moment to think about the word 'values'. It's come to be used in a number of ways and...