At the October 8 Co-op Council meeting, the Co-op Sustainability and Resilience Committee Charter was approved. The Charter states, “The Sustainability and Resilience Committee will offer information and progress reports about how the Co-op is increasing its environmental sustainability by reducing carbon emissions, becoming more resilient to climate change impacts, and helping to increase environmental sustainability and climate change resilience in the community.”

On October 30, we had our first Sustainability and Resilience Committee meeting. We discussed the physical and financial challenges of transitioning the Co-op’s kitchen equipment from propane to electricity, how the Co-op could continue to reduce and recycle plastic waste, and how the Co-op could increase local food options for shoppers. We have 61 new local vendors for a total of 423 local vendors, and we would like to have more.

On November 20, we had our second Sustainability and Resilience Committee meeting. We discussed Meteorologist Roger Hill’s presentation “Climate Forecast” that he had just given on November 19 at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier. Roger Hill starts speaking at 14 minutes into the video recording.

We further discussed the need for the Co-op to increase our focus on resilience, the steps we can take to make the Co-op more resilient, what Montpelier businesses are doing to become more resilient to floods, and more ways that the Co-op can reduce emissions.

The Sustainability and Resilience Committee
Catherine Lowther, Council Member and Committee Chair
Mary Mullally, Co-op General Manager
Carl Etnier, Council President
Amanda Sardonis, Co-op Member