Warmth. We crave it during these shortest days of early winter. But it can be hard to come by in local homes that are drafty, poorly insulated, or running on inadequate heating systems. Thanks to Sustainable Tompkins’ supporters, occupants in 24 dwellings are now enjoying the warmth of cozy, efficient homes after receiving grant awards from the Finger Lakes Climate Fund.

And more warmth is on the way.  We just concluded our second fall ‘Seal the Cracks’ campaign — surpassing our goal of 500 tons of CO2 removed from our atmosphere via individuals, businesses, and organizations taking responsibility for the carbon emissions from their travel or building use.  As of the winter solstice, over $15,200 in carbon offsets equal to 608 tons CO2 have been made available for grant awards to lower-income households in 2017.

During this holiday season of good will and gatherings with loved ones, we can share the gift of climate resilience with others by offsetting CO2 emissions from holiday travel.  It’s quick, easy, and affordable at FingerLakesClimateFund.org.

Recent awards include the Bordoni Home in Ithaca that will receive much-needed attic and crawlspace insulation along with air sealing so the owner will have lower energy bills when he retires.  Another award went to the Licitras in Lansing to help pay for highly efficient air-source heat pumps for both space heating and domestic hot water. Thus far, the Climate Fund has given over $35,000 in 20 awards based on the tons of CO2 eliminated through energy efficiency measures.  The largest award of $3,457 paid for the insulation of the first six cottages at Second Wind for homeless men.

It looks like the race to limit greenhouse gas emissions and climate disruption will fall even more on states and local communities in the next few years. Sustainable Tompkins’s Climate Fund is working toward a goal of including everyone in the transition to a clean energy future while providing a means for taking responsibility for our unavoidable carbon emissions.