Come One Come All to the Burnett County Earth Fair!
The fair is a cooperation between NWRPC’s Recycling Control Commission and the WDNR. It will be held on Saturday, May 17th, from 10 am - 3 pm at the Forts Folle Avoine Historical Park in Danbury. This is a free family event, please click below to view the flyer.
Burnett County Concerned Residents Desperately Needed
Burnett County residents, governmental and municipal leaders, educators and student we need you! The Burnett County Sustainability study-group needs your input and ideas. It is not too late to join; the group meets again on Thursday, March 13 from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm at the Siren Village Hall. The group needs more participants to strengthen their conversations about ways to help sustain our natural environment in Burnett County. We need some “Fire Souls” to help spark ideas.
A sustainable community respects its own diversity and accepts responsibility for social, economic and ecological well being of the present and future generations through individual and collective actions. Without more interested participants, this is going to be a challenge.
The idea of the sustainability study-circle is to help you learn about, and live a more sustainable lifestyle. The groups hope is to help communities, schools, congregations, governmental and municipal leaders, citizens and conscious consumers to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.
The efforts the average consumer makes can create a real difference in terms of reducing our environmental impact, and inspire people to take practical action to create an unstoppable force for sustainability. Together, through collaborative grassroots efforts, we can shift toward more conscious communities, local government, schools, congregations and consumers, but we need your participation to make that happen.
We’ll keep you abreast of our progress through the website www.nwrpc.com. Check out updates on our projects and actions you can take to make a difference. Or call us to share ideas or get involved with our activities and programs.
Ideas the group has already been discussing include: energy conservation, tree plating, rain gardens, community gardens, walking and biking, water quality, local food, clean air and zero waste. Do you have a topic area you’d like to discuss? Join us at our next meeting and share those ideas with others. If you need more information regarding this group, or the Washburn County group, please call or email Jen at 635-2197, or jbarton@nwrpc.com.
We had a wonderful turnout for our first meeting of over 30 people last Thursday evening at the Washburn County law Enforcement Building! Dorothy Lagerroos of Northland College talked to participants about the idea of using study-circles to learn about the thoughts and ideas of others in our process of learning The Natural Step. She talked about how beneficial this type of learning can be and how well it worked for the groups in Northern Wisconsin. There are currently 3 eco-municipalities in Northern Wisconsin; they are Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield.
After Dorothy spoke to the group, introductions were made by all those present. Rick Schneider and Jen Barton- both of NW Regional Planning Commission will be facilitating the Washburn and Burnett County groups. There were a broad range of those attending. From business owners and County Board Supervisors, to ordinary citizens-this is a well diverse group!
The book, “The Natural Step for Communities” will be the framework used in these groups. Participants will be assigned some reading to be done at home.
Homework: Chapters 1-3 were assigned to be read by the next meeting (Thursday, February 21st).
Burnett County, in partnership with Washburn County, is pleased to announce that they have received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Environmental Education program to conduct education (study groups) for its residents, municipal leaders, and institutions, dealing with sustainable development and how we can utilize this idea to minimize the impact of environmental problems in our two-county region.
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