During Choose Indie Sustainable Month let's focus on our region's TRIPLE -BOTTOM-LINE BUSINESSES (locally owned businesses that measure their success based on profits, as well as social and environmental impacts). 

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In 2017, we brainstormed a list of triple-bottom-line businesses in the Monadnock Region, as well as organizations and initiatives that support these businesses sustainability efforts -- efforts that strengthen our Monadnock Local Living Economy. See our list below.

Rebecca Hamilton (Badger Balm) speaks at B Inspired Conference on evolution, economics, and why both can be kinder than we expect.

Triple-Bottom-Line Businesses (Monadnock Region)

• Badger Balm
• Bensonwood
  
• Filtrine Manufacturing
• Frisky Cow Gelato
• Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship
  
• Inn at Valley Farms
  
• Monadnock Food Co-op
• Monadnock Paper Mills
• Monadnock Sustainability Hub
  
• Orchard Hill Breadworks
• The Works Bakery Cafe

Supporting Organizations and Initiatives

• Antioch University: Sustainable Business Certificate
  
• City of Keene: Environmental Preferable Purchasing Program (EP³)
• NH Businesses for Social Responsibility
  
• National Co-op Grocers: Co+efficient Program
  
• B Lab: B Corp Certification Program
  

Next Steps:

• Document certification programs used by local businesses to help them track and strengthen their triple bottom line.
• Brainstorm how TLC Monadnock can help connect the dots and make these supporting organizations and initiatives more accessible to our region's locally owned businesses?
  
• Have a business or next step to add?  Email us today!
  

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This week's online discussion focuses on ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP.

Help us brainstorm a list of businesses, organizations and initiatives that support Environmental Conservation & Stewardship in our Monadnock Local Living Economy.

This week's online discussion focuses on CLIMATE ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE.


Help us brainstorm a list of businesses, organizations and initiatives that support Climate Adaptation & Resilience in our Monadnock Local Living Economy.

This week's online discussion focuses on GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN.

Participate in the discussion

Help us brainstorm a list of businesses, organizations and initiatives that support renewable energy sources in our Monadnock Local Living Economy.

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This week's online discussion focuses on RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Participate in the discussion

Help us brainstorm a list of businesses, organizations and initiatives that support renewable energy sources in our Monadnock Local Living Economy.

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Monadnock Food Co-op is the host of the first locally owned Community Supported Solar project in New Hampshire. Community Supported Solar is locally developed, funded, owned and controlled, whereas most community solar projects are owned and controlled by developers or utilities.

The 43.5 kW photovoltaic project, was installed by the Keene-based design and installation firm Solar Source, and covers our entire available roof area with solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. Based on the actual production of the Brattleboro Food Co-op’s PV system, the predicted annual power output of this system is 48,000 kWh per year.

Community Supported Solar at the Co-op

The Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) and the Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) are seeking businesses and organizations in Troy and Hinsdale to participate in Rack it Up!, a community based bike rack initiative that works to increase bicycle infrastructure and bike parking space availability in the Monadnock Region.

ONLINE INTEREST FORM

Over the past two years, the Rack it Up! Program has provided 230 secure bicycle parking spaces in Keene and Swanzey at locations such as Monadnock Food Co-op, Savings Bank of Walpole, Stratton Free Library, and Brewbakers Café.  Due to the program’s success, NH Magazine featured Rack it Up! in its “Best of New Hampshire” 2015 awards. 

Keith Thibault, Chief Development Officer for Southwestern Community Services, and a 2014 program participant, says Rack it Up! helped to address bicycle parking needs for employees. “Before [our employees] had to chain their bikes to a tree or a fence.  Now they know they have a secure and convenient place where they can place their bikes.”

Bicycling is an affordable, and increasingly popular mode of transportation that has significant community health and environmental benefits.  Expanding parking options to include cyclists also accommodates a wider range of users and supports healthy lifestyles.  To apply, go to www.mastnh.org/rackitup, or contact Liz Kelly for more information.

About Rack it Up:
The Rack it Up! initiative is a program of the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) that provides free or subsidized bicycle racks to businesses, non-profits, and community institutions in Cheshire County.  Started in 2014 with a grant from the NH Charitable Foundation, the program is currently funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention through the Partnership to Improve Community Health.  To date, the program has provided 230 secure bicycle parking spaces in Keene and Swanzey.  To learn more, go to www.mastnh.org/rackitup.

About the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation:
The Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) is a coalition of organizational and individual members working to implement sustainable transportation solutions in the Monadnock Region. MAST recognizes the broad impacts that our transportation system has on us as individuals and as communities; everything from our jobs to our cost of living to our health.  To learn more about MAST, visit www.mastnh.org.

Originally posted in the Monadnock Shopper News

A sustainable community is one that is economically, environmentally and socially healthy and resilient.  It meets challenges through integrated solutions rather than through fragmented approaches that meet one of those goals at the expense of others.  And it takes a long-term perspective — one that’s focused on both the present and future, well beyond the next budget or election cycle. – The Institute for Sustainable Communities

The City of Keene’s Comprehensive Master Plan reflects this call for a long-term perspective — and sets its sight on a vision for Keene in the year 2028.  This plan, based on a shared community vision, is now in its fifth year.  It’s time to collectively assess our progress around implementing this roadmap to a more sustainable community.

One opportunity to come together and reflect on our progress is at the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship’s CONNECT2015 event on Wednesday, October 28 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole.  The event includes an interactive session with six visionary community leaders speaking about the importance of the Comprehensive Master Plan while focusing on six focus areas:

• A Quality Built Environment: Tedd Benson, Bensonwood Homes;
• A Unique Natural Environment: Ryan Owens, Monadnock Conservancy;
• A Vibrant Economy: Taylor Caswell, NH Community Development Finance Authority;
• A Strong Citizenship and Proactive Leadership: Jim Rousmaniere, author and former newspaper editor;
• A Creative, Learning Culture: Jeff Miller, board chair of Impact Monadnock and formerly President of Markem-Imaje;
• A Healthy Community: Linda Rubin, Healthy Monadnock.

“As a part of the community, you contribute to the growth and development of this region,” states Mary Ann Kristiansen, Hannah Grimes Center’s Executive Director.  “Our goal this year at CONNECT is to have you leave feeling inspired by the collective impact that you and the 150 people around you can have when you find creative ways to support a well-thought-out vision. It’s a night to be inspired by what is possible when you mix together great vision and visionaries with creativity and collaboration.”
Learn more about CONNECT2015.

In addition to coming together and acknowledging our progress, we can also look outside our region for inspiration.  How are others manifesting their vision for a sustainable community?  Here are examples of cities that focus on two of the six Comprehensive Master Plan areas — stay tuned for future articles highlighting the four others.

A Quality Built Environment
This focus area includes our homes, businesses, roads, sidewalks and everything we have built around us.  It considers how this infrastructure looks, how we use it and how it impacts our economy and health.  Before highlighting an example outside of Keene, we wanted to acknowledge the great work of many to bring a Complete Streets Policy to our community (which we’ve written about before).  Read Complete Streets Policy updates.

Another tool communities use to better their built environment is called Adaptive Reuse, the practice of reusing old buildings rather than demolishing them and building new. Local First Arizona, a statewide Buy Local group, helped Phoenix, AZ adopt an Adaptive Reuse Program that saved over 100 buildings.  The program streamlines the permitting process, offers financial incentives to developers and provides a city team to support the process. “It’s transformed the landscape and the entrepreneurial energy for our city,” says Kimber Lanning, Director of Local First Arizona.

Adaptive Reuse offers many environmental benefits such as reducing demolition waste and curbing urban sprawl.  Most notable, however, is its positive impact on carbon emissions and climate change.  One study notes that in Portland, OR retrofitting just one percent of the city’s office buildings and single-family homes currently destined for demolition would save 231,000 metric tons of carbon. This amount represents 15 percent of the carbon reduction target for their entire county.  See more at www.preservationnation.org/greenlab. In a future article, we’d love to highlight Pocket Neighborhoods as another great tool to bolster our built environment.

A Unique Natural Environment
Our built environment is nested in our natural environment, including green spaces, waterways, parks, farms, forests and gardens.  The focus of this area is how these features influence our food system, greenhouse gas emissions and ability to adapt to climate change.

One inspirational example is the reLeaf Program in Seattle, WA.  According to the American Forests website: Seattle’s 4.35 million trees reduce the city’s building energy use by $5.9 million annually.  To protect and enhance this resource, the city adopted an Urban Forest Stewardship Plan to increase their forest canopy (the amount of the city covered by trees) by 30 percent by 2037.  They’re working to achieve this by taking better care of their existing trees, planting new ones and conserving forested areas. The city has an Urban Forestry Commission which advises the Mayor and City Council on policy to manage and preserve trees and vegetation and Urban Orchard Stewards program that trains volunteers to care for exiting fruit trees in public parks.   If you’re interested in this topic, be sure to check out the Beacon Food Forest Permaculture Project.

Woven into all this work is the need for strong citizen participation and proactive leadership.  We all need to find ways to contribute to our shared vision for Keene and the Monadnock Region.  Attend CONNECT2015 and watch for future opportunities to connect with the Keene Comprehensive Master Plan.