Oct. 21, 2005
 
Sustainable Communities Project Under Way in Braxton, Nicholas Counties
 
By HNN Staff
 
Charleston, WV (HNN) – By replacing just one traditional light bulb with an energy-saving one, homeowners can save roughly $38 a year on their electric bills.
 
Throughout the next year, citizens in two counties have the opportunity to learn energy-saving and water conservation tactics through the West Virginia Sustainable Communities Project, a year long pilot pollution prevention effort targeting Braxton and Nicholas counties.
 
Pollution prevention means reducing waste at its source. This project focuses on pollution prevention in the form of energy efficiency, water conservation and waste minimization promoting the Three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle.
 
The West Virginia Sustainable Communities Project is a joint venture of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and the Student Conservation Association, Inc.
 
Members of the SCA corps will work to educate homeowners, schools, businesses, and communities about options for resource conservation and waste reduction. They will conduct environmental outreach and education activities and lessons related to community sustainability for schools and youth groups. The team also will lead community workshops for the public and launch a statewide outreach campaign to get citizens involved in sustainability issues.
 
The corps celebrates West Virginia’s unique natural, social, and cultural opportunities and will be working to preserve them for generations to come. Members of the corps hail from as close as Fayetteville, WV to as far away as Washington State. They bring with them broad expertise with degrees ranging from environmental science to religious studies, and from economics to ceramics.
 
One of the most important aspects of the project is to involve and invest citizens in this pollution prevention effort. To get involved or to bring the corps to your organization, please contact John Donley, project leader, at (304) 619-0668 or e-mail him at WVCorps@TheSCA.org.
 
For media inquiries, please contact Greg Adolfson of the DEP’s Office of Innovation at (304) 926-0499, ext. 1332, or e-mail him at gadolfson@wvdep.org.
 
About the sponsors:
 
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is the state’s environmental regulatory agency.
 
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation is an independent foundation established in 1944 by Michael and Sarah Benedum, natives of West Virginia. Its mission is to encourage human development in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania and to honor its founders’ beliefs in helping people help themselves.
 
The Student Conservation Association is a national organization founded in 1957 to give American youth an opportunity to give back to the country through service to the land. The SCA has long been recognized for natural resource conservation and environmental education.