Participants at our Sustainable Crafting & Community Gathering

This past year has been full of gatherings. You have joined us for summer picnics at our community gardens, a sustainable holiday crafting party in December, and lots of film screenings about important environmental issues. You have also joined us for events that are as much about fun as they are about learning and giving back, like our annual Window Dressers build. You, our community, are what make these events special.

We are deeply grateful for the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work of our dedicated volunteers, and for supporters like you—the lifeblood of Sustainable Woodstock—who make it all possible! See the below select list of this year’s accomplishments:

• Low-Income Weatherization: Worked with partners to offer grants for low-income households to implement energy-savings projects, including weatherization and heat pump installation. Completed our fourth year of constructing free Window Dressers inserts for low-income families, in partnership with host North Chapel. This coming winter, the inserts from our four builds combined will save recipients over 8,000 gallons of heating fuel, improving residents’ comfort and lowering costs.

• Riverside Mobile Home Park: This past year, Sustainable Woodstock joined forces with local organizations and nonprofits to work with residents of Riverside on flood preparation. We began convening a group of park residents to create an emergency flood plan and have received a $200,000 grant to conduct an engineering study at the park to determine how it can be made safer for residents.

• Climate Change Leadership: SW guides the work of Woodstock’s Shared Energy Coordinator (SEC). The SEC received a grant for level-three EV fast chargers in Woodstock, which were installed at the Bridgewater Mill this fall. The SEC is also working with the Woodstock Planning Commission to update zoning bylaws to allow for smart growth housing.

• Energy & Transportation Action Group: Held events about native pollinators and electric lawn care, and sponsored our fourth year of free e-bike trials. Working with Wilde Bee Farm, we planted four native pollinator gardens in Woodstock this past year.

• Education: Held monthly Green Drinks education programs, published weekly Vermont
Standard columns, and hosted a monthly Climate Change & Sustainability Film Series with
Pentangle Arts.

• Food Security: Ran the 6th year of our Grow Your Own Garden Program, enabling (to date)
1,000+ children & adults to grow their own vegetables. Donated 400 pounds of vegetables grown at our community garden to the Woodstock Community Food Shelf. Built 19 free raised garden beds at Woodstock’s Riverside Mobile Home Park, with the help of residents Josh and Dan Putnam.

• Water Quality: In 2024 we became the first nonprofit to manage funds from the State Water Infrastructure Sponsorship Program (WISPr). Using this funding, we are now managing a buffer restoration project along Barnard Brook. We expect this project to be implemented in 2026.