Lenox Hires Sustainability Coordinator to Lead 'Lenox Unplugged'
LENOX, Mass. — The Town of Lenox, with the support of grant funding, has hired recently returned Peace Corps volunteer Natalie Grillon to fill a new sustainability coordinator position from now through September.Grillon, 25, has already begun work on several projects which she will coordinate in the coming months, including the “Lenox Unplugged” campaign, a community-wide effort to help residents, businesses, and community groups save money while meeting their energy challenges.
The "Lenox Unplugged" campaign will start at the end of March and will ask homeowners, businesses, and even schoolchildren to pledge to work together to reduce their energy consumption and "unplug" from their preconceptions about their energy use and its impact. The campaign hopes to serve as a catalyst for a community dialogue on the town’s plans for its future energy needs and the potential for a green community and economy. Lenox Unplugged is affiliated with the Western Mass Take Charge Campaign, which plans to spread to other towns in the Berkshires and is modeled on the Take Charge North Adams campaign, launched in 2008.
Pledge Cards, which can be filled out online or on paper at the Town Hall and other locations around town, will feature simple pledges one can make, like signing up for a free home energy audit, lowering the thermostat in the winter and raising it in the summer, carpooling once a week, or installing programmable thermostats. Each interested resident or business owner can simply check off the actions he or she pledges to take and then sign to signify his or her commitment.
Grillon plans to use a Web site and numerous community activities, like workshops, a "Green Fridays" program and an unplugged artist series to encourage residents to uphold their pledges and make the experience fun and collaborative. She also plans to organize several energy forums for the public on what energy we’re currently plugged in to and what other options exist to save the community more money, source clean energy, and become more energy independent.
Grillon plans to bring many of the community organizing and project management techniques she learned as a volunteer in the Peace Corps to her work in this new position. She served 28 months as a Natural Resources Management Agent in the country of Mali, in West Africa, and returned to the Berkshires in December.
"The working conditions in Mali were a little less luxurious – they live without running water or electricity… But despite the differences, I definitely see a lot of parallels in my work: helping each community unite around a cause and work together towards sustainable development," she said.
The new position is funded by a grant from the Clean Energy Choice Program, from the Chorus Foundation through the Center for Ecological Technology, and grants from Berkshire Bank and the New England Grassroots fund.
Grillon also will assist the town to complete all steps required by the Action Plan for the 2008 Green Communities Act. As soon as the town meets all five of the Act’s criteria, Lenox will qualify for grants of up to $1 million in funding for green and sustainable projects.
Grillon will be holding "office hours" from 9 to 10 a.m.on Wednesday each week at Haven Cafe and Bakery on Church Street, and she encourages community members to approach her with questions, ideas and any input they may have on any green or sustainability topics. She can also be reached at lenoxunplugged@gmail.com.
More information about the campaign can be found at www.townoflenox.com/lenoxunplugged and www.lenoxunplugged.wordpress.com.
