It’s been 6 months since the Winona County Water Contest began, and we’re excited to announce the worthy winners and share the wisdom they’ve gained over the last half year. Each winner will receive a cash prize, a smaller water footprint, and a lifetime of knowledge about the value of water conservation. Based on what they’ve learned, here are some insights they’d like to share for homes and businesses considering water conservation practices.
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Author: nicholson.camille@gmail.com
Winona County Recognized for Energy Efficiency
This year, at the Community-driven Clean Energy Conference (hosted by CERTs), Winona County got to show off much of the work on energy efficiency happening here. In a breakout session and a conference-wide panel, representatives of each of the 7 Community Achievement Award-winning communities shared their accomplishments and lessons with other interested folks from across the state, with the “Moving Winona Forward: A Rural Energy Collaborative” represented by John Howard from the City of Winona.
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Announcing Winona County Energy Contest Winners!
It’s been over a year since the Winona County Energy Contest began, and we’re excited to announce the worthy winners and share the wisdom they’ve gained over the last year. Each winner will receive a cash prize, reduced energy bills, and a lifetime of knowledge about the value of energy conservation. Based on what they’ve learned in the last 365 days, here are some insights they’d like to share for homes and businesses considering energy efficiency improvements.
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City of Altura Saves Money, Energy and is a Clean Water Steward
Minnesotans value clean water.
We know this, because our fair state changed our constitution in 2008 to provide for additional protections. Whether it’s safe drinking water, trout stream fishing, swimming in a pond or industrial or agricultural uses, water is critical to our public health and the environment that supports us.
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Winona Residents Plan for Energy Conservation
The Winona Energy Action Team launched their residential outreach and engagement effort on Tuesday, January 23, with an afternoon workshop at the Friendship Center on the topic of energy conservation. About 20 residents came to receive free LED light bulbs and learned how they could save energy and money while advancing the city’s goals to reduce energy use 10% by 2025 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
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The Benefits of GreenStep Cities and B3 Benchmarking: La Crescent’s Story
This blog post was written by Chris Meyer of the Southeast Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Team
It’s true: the majority of La Crescent is not in Winona County. But, the community has a story to tell about leadership and taking common-sense action. We’re hopeful communities across the state can learn from their experience and understand the financial value in B3 benchmarking.
It’s been just 2 short years since La Crescent, MN (population 5,200) became a GreenStep City in October 2015, but they have big achievements to share. In June of 2017 they advanced to a Step 2 city and City Administrator Bill Waller indicated that they are on track to achieving Step 3 in 2018. They were also one of three finalists in the top 3 “Best of B3 Benchmarking” competition for the state, being narrowly beaten out by the larger Prior Lake.
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Winona County Energy Conservation Program Powered by Collaboration
Ah, winter in Minnesota. Fresh snowfall, ice fishing, polar plunges, cozy sweaters, hot chocolate and… outsized energy bills? While we expect temperature drops as winter approaches, many households struggle with increased heating and light bills as the season begins. That’s changing in Winona County, thanks to a collaboration between Xcel Energy, Semcac, the City of Winona, Winona County, CERTs, Next Step Partners/Sustain Winona, and the Jefferson Center. In 2017 alone, 197 low-income households served by Xcel Energy in Winona County have received Home Energy Squad visits, which include energy audits, upgrades to LED lightbulbs, water and energy-saving showerheads, programmable thermostats, weather stripping for doors, and more – at no cost to the households.
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A New Collaboration to Promote Sustainability in Winona County
A group of Winona County citizens, local nonprofits, and government officials are working together to promote sustainability and climate resilience across the county, thanks to a new grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The collaboration, called Next Step Partners, stems from Sustain Winona – which includes representatives from the City of Winona, Winona County, and local schools and colleges – and a community engagement and organizing process initiated last spring that brought together a representative microcosm of Winona County residents to assess key challenges and opportunities relating to the local impacts of extreme weather and a changing climate. The community recommendations from that process, the Winona County Climate Dialogue, targeted healthy watersheds, clean energy, and community awareness of sustainability and climate resilience.
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