Wherever you look, whatever you read, be it business or pleasure there is the word “green.” It is an adjective that qualifies a wide range of issues and topics: energy production and use, food manufacturing and distribution, housing design, diet and lifestyle, etc. On 7/7 the State House had no fewer than 3 “green” items on its schedule: Global warming and climate change hearing, a gathering of supporters of the bottle bill, and a tour of state-owned buildings specifically regarding their energy efficiency systems.

Here in town Milton currently has several initiatives underway. There are solar panels on the high school. Installations are planned for both the Collicott Cunningham Schools and town hall. The town is also moving forward with a wind turbine on town land leased to Quarry Hills. Local streets were recently marked with bicycle symbols to promote two-wheeled awareness and safety. There is a local organization that has been involved in almost all those initiatives. It is devoted to promoting energy-efficient lifestyles and sustainable habits on the local level. It is Sustainable Milton and we recently spoke with its President, Sarah Mills.

Sarah Mills took over from founder Laurie Macintosh early last spring. Mills environmental consciousness was ignited by research she did in the course of a program on sustainability she worked on at WGBH where she was a producer. The more she learned the more committed she became. She left WGBH and now devotes herself full-time to educational efforts around sustainability, working to expand the reach of the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation, a New York based non-profit (see related links below).

A primary objective is informing the public on strategies and techniques for a sustainable lifestyle and why that matters. But people need to know the organization exists. To that end Mills identified how the organization practices marketing savvy at the same time it achieves its goal. The group sells stainless steel water bottles (you may have seen town officials using them), organic cotton T-shirts, and shopping bags made from recyclable materials.

Two of these items are examples of a green axiom: recycle is good; reduce is better. On the subject of recycling Milton ha a pretty good record; but there is room for improvement. Mills cites Nantucket as a leader in recycling where 90% of waste is recycled. An example of where the town could improve is to systematically institute recycling bins as part of the event planning process.

Sustainable Milton also works closely with the library where they hold their monthly meetings the third Wednesday of every month. They have donated ten copies of “The Low Carbon Diet” (363.7Ger on nonfiction stacks), a 30 day guide to reducing your carbon footprint that save energy and money. You can also obtain “Kill-A-Watt” devices from the library. These “make the invisible, visible” according to Mills. They sit between your outlet and any energy device that monitors an appliance’s energy consumption. Lastly, they donate copies of films they have shown to the library collection (e.g. Food, Inc.).

Like many educational initiatives that strive to change long-standing habits, the earlier the education starts, the better. Mills says that it is important to “get [children] on a path where they have a relationship with where they are.” Here in Milton The Cunningham School has been especially active. Recycling efforts at the school include books, sneakers and an active outdoor classroom which is part of the science curriculum across all Milton Schools.

To learn more please see the related links below.

Related Links:

• Sustainable Milton
• Information on joining a Sustainable Milton Eco-team
• Extras for Creative Learning (ExCL)
• Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation
• Got Books – book recycling
• Staples Recycling – inkjet cartridges and more
• Nike Reuse a shoe program recycle sneakers and athletic shoes