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Sustainable Tompkins is a citizen-based organization working towards the long-term well-being of our communities by integrating social equity, economic vitality, ecological stewardship, and personal and civic responsibility.
News & Events
Shared Vision of Sustainable Future Emerges from Building Bridges Workshop
New Vision Statement for a Socially Just and Ecologically Sound Local Economy in the Tompkins County Region
This vision was first created in images by over 100 local residents at the Building Bridges workshop on November 15-16, 2011. The pictures showed people of all ages, in the city and in rural areas, celebrating life, experiencing an abundance of local food, engaged in a thriving local marketplace rich in culture and diversity, using renewable energy, and connecting across former divides.
In words, we envision a community that is earth-centered, people-centered, fair, and equitable. We envision a Tompkins County that identifies itself by its human rights and ecojustice values, and exemplifies for other regions and communities throughout the nation how to live by these values. In this vision, all citizens can be heard, recognize their interdependence and are active in shaping the priorities of this community. Our commitment to Tompkins County is not isolationist; rather, it is made with a view toward maximizing the benefits of our actions with respect to other communities, ecosystems, and people across the world. Read more…
Building Bridges Initiative Aims for Just and Sustainable Economy
A major new collaborative initiative on a sustainable economy was launched last month by Sustainable Tompkins, Dorothy Cotton Institute, Ithaca College’s Committed-to-Change Program, Groundswell Center, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Multicultural Resource Center, Center for Transformative Action, Dryden Solutions, and CCE-Tompkins’ Environment Program, Natural Leaders Initiative, Whole Community Project, and Green Jobs Program.
On Nov. 15-16, over 100 community members — representing government, business, community programs, individual entrepreneurs, foundations and investors – came together to strengthen relationships, develop a shared vision, and identify ways to build bridges between local sustainability and social justice efforts that will result in a socially just, resilient regional economy that preserves and maintains our natural environment.
The initiative identifies equity as the preferred driver of both economic development and ecological sustainability, and prioritizes jobs for low-income people both in the city and in rural towns. The ultimate goals are eliminating structural poverty and racism, creating a local economy that works for everyone, and protecting the ecosystems that sustain the region. Read more…
ST and Finger Lakes Bioneers cosponsor Empowered screening on December 7
Cinemapolis will be screening the latest version of the new film EMPOWERED on Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm followed by a panel discussion. EMPOWERED is an independent, locally-produced feature-length documentary that showcases the many ways in which Tompkins County residents are embracing renewable energy. This event is co-presented by Finger Lakes Bioneers, Ithaca Green Building Alliance (IGBA), Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group and Sustainable Tompkins. Tickets are $10 or $8 for members of Sustainable Tompkins and IGBA.
Director Shira Golding Evergreen (Frac Attack) and Producer Suzanne McMannis have collaborated to illustrate vividly in EMPOWERED that it is our friends and neighbors who are pioneering alternative energy. Right here in Tompkins County, so many have already taken the leap to a sustainable future, and in EMPOWERED they enjoy the opportunity to tell their stories to the public: what inspired them; what first steps they took; how things are working. Read more…
Signs of Sustainability
Beyond Arguing About Fracking for Natural Gas: A Cleaner … and Cheaper… Sustainable Energy Future for New York State
Tompkins Weekly 1/16/2012
By Helen Slottje
The ongoing debate about fracking has people asking many questions among them: What can be done to move America toward cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions? Is there a plan out there that does not suffer from the flawed assumption that natural gas is clean? Are we really going to let industry define “clean” as anything the least bit cleaner than burning coal? Are opponents to fracking compromising jobs and energy security simply to protect their health? Isn’t it unfair for New Yorkers to dare to say no to fracking when so many others around the globe are suffering the ill effects of energy extraction pollution? Is it a foregone conclusion that we must all sacrifice our health and environment in the name of energy? Read more…
Living Green Starts From the Ground Up
Tompkins Weekly 1/9/2012
By Carole Fisher
Is a green home necessarily a healthy home? Recently, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) looked at some of the national green building and indoor air quality guidelines to see how they compared against the NCHH healthy housing principles. Their report states that “while all the programs have components aimed at improving resident health, many are missing critical elements” such as injury prevention and protection from contaminants such as lead, radon, and pesticides.
Most communities rely on residential housing codes for protection of residents from health and safety hazards, but some of the factors that influence indoor air quality are often not addressed. As noted above, even homes that pass some green building qualifications do not require builders to address all potential health hazards. Read more…
Steps to Sustainability- Part 4 of a Series: Unique Empires
Tompkins Weekly 1/2/2012
By Richard W. Franke
The modern concept of sustainability was launched in 1987 with the publication of Our Common Future, the report of the United Nations sponsored “World Commission on Environment and Development.”
Sustainable practices, however, existed from ancient times in many traditional societies. We saw in the previous two installments that both Native American and African peoples developed many effective traditional sustainable practices. Some sustainable practices can also be found in the developed empires of these two areas. Among the most successful of these were the Inca Empire of the Andes and the Fulani Dina of 19th Century West Africa.
The Inca empire ran from 1438 to 1532, and was the culmination of up to 5,000 years of indigenous development in the Andes Mountains of modern day South America. Read more…
ST Blog
Celebrating Sustainably
by Alex Colket
I promise I am not a Scrooge. I like the spirit of giving that this holiday season embodies, and I can appreciate the beauty of all the colors, lights and other decorations that are synonymous with the season. Certainly, I enjoy the music, the family, the celebrating, and the food. However, I think it’s high time that we re-examine some of the traditions and behaviors associated with these (and other) holidays and ask if they are really something we should be continuing in light of the growing environmental crisis we face. Read more…
Young Farmers’ Difficulties
Young Farmers Find Huge Obstacles to Getting Started
By ISOLDE RAFTERY
Published: November 12, 2011
Emily Oakley, who had worked on an organic farm in California, moved with her husband, Mike Appel, to Oaks, Okla., in pursuit of cheap farmland. But even though they had $25,000 saved, the couple could not get a bank loan. When they applied for a government loan, the loan officer threw back his head and laughed. Read more…
Thank you, Rachel Carson
Thank You, Rachel Carson
By Richard W. Franke
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology: Montclair State University, New Jersey
Resident: Ecovillage at Ithaca; Board Member: Sustainable Tompkins
October, 2012, will mark the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, just a year and a half before her untimely death from breast cancer and other illnesses at age 56. We in the sustainability movement today, owe a lot to Rachel Carson – to her intellectual brilliance, to her beautiful writing, to her courage and to her perseverance. And to her insistence on the people’s right to know. Read more…