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Input from Monadnock 2020 World Café
Question 1: What would a sustainable Monadnock Region look like?
Go local
- Food production and distribution
- Waste
- Community currency
- Water
- Energy production/hydro
- Meet in groups for planning
Education
- public schools – teach eco-footprinting and global awareness
- Seasonal foods
- Canning-drying-freezing
- Living closer to nature
Recycling
- especially school and community
Constitutional reform
Regional sustainable council, including a permaculture committee
Factory farming = damaging to health, environment, and animals
- Cost of organics is a barrier for many
Light rail public transportation
Question 2: What resources (people, knowledge, organizations, networks) does our region currently have that are responsive to sustainability issues?
- Recycling Center
- Colleges
- Cities for Climate Protection
- Mayor’s Office
- Students at KHS
- Green Bikes
- WKNH
- Locally-owned business
- Cheshire Mediation
- Tourist Industry
- Wood Pellet industry (Jaffrey)
- Culture/Identity
- Microcredit
- Has a lot of natural resources
- Pioneer Valley Biodiesel initiative
- Pumpkinfest
- Media
- MICAS, Sierra, The Sustainability Project, AVEO, Friends of Open Space
Question 3: What are the most important issues for our region to address to meet the economic, food and energy challenges that lie ahead, and what might the solutions be?
Produce Food Locally
- CSA’s
- Zoning Issues, e.g., Monadnock Marketplace Farmland
- Teaching children at early level about local sustainability
- Seed-saving = food security
- Institutional food-growing (schools, hospitals, prisons)
- Food coops
- Extending growing season (greenhouses, etc.)
Seasonal Eating
Growing Local = Jobs
Local manufacturing and production
Hemp – feedstock
- Fuel - ethanol
- Textiles – clothing
- Building materials – cellulose (biodegradable)
- Also many food uses
Local Energy Production
Transportation/Energy
- Ridesharing
- Bike technology – adapt to multi-use infrastructure
- Living spaces/heating
- Conservation
Question 4. What are the most important issues for our region to address to meet the environmental & health challenges that lie ahead, and what might the solutions be?
Air Quality
- reduce car use – ridesharing
- biking
- signs around community to turn off engines
Water quality
- pharmaceuticals = water pollution
- bioremediation of graywater and blackwater
Food quality
- local gardens/CSA’s
- Organic = healthy
- Schools – teaching nutrition and local farming
- Mercury in water/fish
Land Use
- logging – sustainable
- wild places – Harris Ctr, Hancock, MESA school, KHS
Education
- eco-footprinting – start at young age
- preventative healthcare
- alternative healthcare
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