Neighbor To Neighbor: Upper Valley Earth Week Open House

WHAT: Residents of 10 Upper Valley communities invite their neighbors to come see and discuss the earth-friendly strategies they’ve adopted like solar power, electric vehicles, heat pumps, electric snow blowers, and much more. Neighbors talking to neighbors is the best way to learn from each other how to move toward a sustainable lifestyle at lowest cost – including what was easy, what was hard, and why. Open House sites include:

• 24 sites with solar panels or shares in community solar projects or community power
• 23 sites with electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid EVs
• 19 sites with composting (including an entire school!)
• 17 sites with heat pumps for heating and cooling
• 16 sites that have done work on insulation / weatherization 
• 16 sites with electric lawn/garden tools and/or snowblowers
• 14 sites with electric or induction-electric stoves
• 12 sites with water heaters that are solar, electric, or hybrid electric/heat pump heaters
• 13 sites with double- or triple-paned windows and/or removable inserts for insulation
• 12 sites with earth-friendly gardens or grounds
•   8 sites with electric bikes
•   5 sites with smart thermostats
•   3 sites with rainwater collection
•   2 sites with battery back-up to store solar power

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: 24 homes, 1 school, and 1 church in 10 Upper Valley communities in New Hampshire and Vermont. Sites include 22 houses and 2 condos, with 2 off-grid homes. Locations include:

IN NEW HAMPSHIRE:

• Lebanon and West Lebanon (5 sites)
• Hanover (4 sites)
• Etna (2 sites)
• Enfield (1 site)
• Meriden (1 site) 

IN VERMONT:

• Norwich (5 sites
• Thetford (2 sites)
• White River Junction (5 sites)
• Wilder (1 site)

VISUALS: Pre-event interviews and photos available upon request, and day-of interviews/photos/videos with homeowners and visitors looking at solar panels, EVs, e-bikes, heat pumps, induction stoves, insulation, window inserts, electric water heaters, rainwater collection, electric garden tools and snowblowers, and sustainable gardening practices.  

WHO: Residents who’ve made some changes in their lives and homes to be less damaging to the planet and to our communities.

MORE INFO: For the Upper Valley Earth Week Open House, see https://driveelectricearthmonth.org/event?eventid=4637 or call 415-730-9797. For all of the Drive Electric Earth Month events see https://driveelectricearthmonth.org

BACKGROUND: The Lebanon Energy Advisory Committee organized the Upper Valley Earth Week Open House, with co-sponsorship bythe Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, Sustainable Lebanon, Sustainable Hanover, Sustainable Woodstock, Vital Communities, 350 New Hampshire, and the New Hampshire Network.

The Earth Week Open House is one of many events happening across the United States in April for Drive Electric Earth Month, sponsored nationally by Plug In America, the Electric Vehicle Association, the Sierra Club, EVHybridNoire, and Drive Electric USA. 

* This article was originally published here