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4CORE & Partner Events
Zero Net-Energy Ready Homes 4CORE and the Colorado Green Building Guild
May 9, 1:30 to 4:30 PM $25 for guild members, $50 for non-members Learn more and register here
Intro to Your Green MLS & the Benefits of a High Performance Home
First National Bank of Durango
259 West 9th St, Durango
Homebuyers Class (2 Sessions)
Regional Housing Alliance (RHA)
1st Session:
May 8, 5:30-8:30 PM
May 11, 8:30 AM -1:30 PM
2nd Session:
May 14, 21, and 28, 5:30-8:30 PM
4CORE will present info on how to make improvements and save money on bills.
Call for location and to sign up: |
The Journey of a Traveling Tomato
And the Energy it Takes to Get to Your Tummy
Tomatoes are picked in the field, often by machines (fuel), boxed, and stacked waiting for pick up by the truck.
The boxes are loaded into the truck by a fork lift (fuel), driven to a rail station or trucking terminal (more fuel), where they are then shipped via rail or truck to a supermarket's central warehouse (fuel), and shipped to the various stores (lots more fuel).
Next they're loaded into the store display, picked over, put in the cart, and travel through the check stand (electricity is used at store for lighting, refrigeration, powering cashier stations, and more).
Once you've purchased your tomatoe, into the car it goes to be taken home (more fuel).
Now that you have your tomato home, you will wash it (energy used to heat and pump water), and then you could slice it by hand, but many of us like to use a food processor to turn it into sauce or dice it up (electricity). We often cook it next (electricity or natural gas).
Finally our tomato's journey is over as we eat it and it is turned into energy for our bodies!
Adapted from Wiser.org
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Free Rider Day
on Durango Transit
May 24
Ride the bus all day for free!
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Your Home in the Spotlight
Your house could be on the Home Spotlight tour this summer! If you have an efficient or innovative home that is newly finished, renovated, or under construction, nominate it here.
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Heads Up! Electronic Recycling is Now the Law
Electronic Recycling Jobs Act
Beginning July 1, 2013, Colorado residents may no longer dispose of most electronic waste (e-waste) in their household trash because Colorado landfills may no longer accept e-waste. For the official bill, answers to FAQs and additional information, please visit: www.colorado.gov/cdphe/ewaste.
The website also hosts toolkits containing downloadable materials such as a brochure, posters, fact sheets, public service announcements and more.
Durango holds their next e-waste recycling event on Friday, June 14th and Saturday, June 15th, 9 AM to 2 PM at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. Save up your electronics for this!
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 Energy to Evolve
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Join Our Mailing List!
Energy News you Can Use
is published monthly
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Thank you
Local Funding Partners!
Thank You Collaborative Partners!
Alpine Bank
Americorps
Atmos Energy
Bright Green
Colorado Energy Office
Durango Discovery Museum
Empire Electric Association
First National Bank
Fort Lewis College Environmental Center
Healthy Community Food Systems
Healthy Lifestyles La Plata
Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado
Housing Solutions for the Southwest
La Plata Energy Council
Local First
Regional Housing Alliance
Source Gas
Southwest Conservation Corps
Southern Ute Community Action Program
SW Connect
Tri State Generation and Transmission
4CORE Partnerships
are defined here
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Call 4CORE at 970-259-1916 if you have any questions or need assistance.
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Resource News You Can Use
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Happy May Day!
This issue is dedicated to one of our favorite subjects: food!
Embodied energy in food includes everything from the diesel used to transport it, to our grocery store lighting and refrigeration, to the microwave or oven you use to cook it. The Department of Agriculture's report Fuel for Food: Energy Use in the U.S. Food System found that energy consumption per capita fell by 1 percent between 2002 and 2007, but food-related energy use grew nearly 8 percent, as the food industry relied on more energy-intensive technologies to produce more food for more people.
One solution is going local. We're talkin' back yard local.
Did you know that 37% of Americans are planting gardens to supplement their food sources? Others are buying from local producers at farmers markets and through community supported agriculture (CSA) cooperatives.
Read on to learn more how you can get involved in reducing the embodied energy of your food! |
Some solutions to Reduce Embodied Energy
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 Top 5 Tips to Decrease Energy Needed to put Food on Your Table Buy local, sustainably produced foods.
- Reduce unnecessary shopping trips for just a few items-unless walking or biking of course!
- Grow your own food.
- Reduce unsustainably produced meat and dairy products in your diet and buy local, grass-fed.
- Rely less on your refrigerator or freezer by using cold storage and sustainable food preservation.
- If you can't grow your own food, join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group and have fresh local food provided weekly!
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Give Me the Deets (AND Beets)!
Details from a Mother Nature Network Infographic
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Join these groups to decrease our food's embodied energy!
Mission: to help communities build healthy sustainable food systems through effective systems planning and development.
Visit their website
Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado
Since 2004, Growing Partners has collaborated to support a fair, sustainable local food system that reaches all ages, incomes and cultures. Visit their website
The Garden Project: Growing a healthier community one garden at a time
The Garden Project is taking names of interested members for the new Ohana Kuleana (OK) Community Garden, located in Durango - below Riverview Elementary. If you are interested in signing up for a garden plot, contact contact Mia.
This growing season The Garden Project is also working on the gardens at Manna Soup Kitchen and Needham Elementary. Volunteers are needed for work days. Please check their website or Facebook for updates.
Healthy Lifestyles La Plata Eat Local Eat Healthy
Goals are to:
- Provide healthy, locally sourced menu options for customers
- Promote local, sustainable, and nutricious meals
- Encourage restaraunts and customers to support local farmers
Visit their website
Local First Eat Local Celebration
In an effort to spotlight, preserve and utilize La Plata Counties local food systems in existence, join Local First's celebration of abundance of local food with inspiring, informative events and activities. Visit their website
Do you know of other growing resources that we should be listing on our website? Please email them to us!
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Local Foodie Resources
Local Farmer's Markets in our region:
- Mancos Farmer's Market: Starts in June
Support those that purchase Locally Grown Food:
Choose Sustainably Produced Food:
Did you know that by rough estimate, La Plata County residents spend at least $129 million on food each year (not including tourists) and much of that goes to energy costs rather than to the growers (we import much of our fuel and energy, so this money leaves our community altogether).
So, you want to buy a tomato? The diagram below shows the basic choices facing you:
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Growing Food, Heart, & Soul 
By Patty Dickenson, 4CORE Intern (SER Jobs for Progress)
What do I enjoy about the "Shared Harvest Community Garden"? Multiple things! First of all I'd have to say being in the country on 36 acres containing a half mile of the Florida River at 7,000 feet above sea level is slice of heaven. This is only due to the generosity of owner Bob Kauer and his wife, Jama. Bob has gradually increased his husbandry from dogs, cats and horses to include Scottish Highland Beef cattle and goats. He started this garden in 2001.
I discovered the garden in 2002 and have been an organic gardener there for 11 years now. This has been a community experience that I so enjoy in several ways...
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Truth or Dare?
Win a Cruiser Bike!
The Truth or Dare Challenge is a fun and easy way for YOU to win a bike and other goodies while supporting the health of our community.
The Resource Smart Business Program (RSBP) adapted the Truth or Dare contest used in Telluride and brought it home to La Plata County. We invite La Plata County to take on a series of "Dares," or opportunities to reduce energy use, pollution and improve health. Each "Dare" is accompanied by the "Truth" of what happens if we fail to take action. Participants that earn the most points will be awarded prizes for their efforts. The contest is hosted on the RSBP website and Facebook page.
Find details and register here
Thank you to our sponsors!
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We've Got a New Mission!
4CORE serves Southwest Colorado as the leading resource for the effective and efficient use of energy to promote and sustain vibrant local communities.
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As always, if you have any feedback or questions about becoming more energy efficient, please contact us. |
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About Our Newsletter Sponsors
 
Christina moved to Durango in 1999 and brought with her a passion for healthy communities. Her education in environmental science at Purdue University led her to seek out projects that reflected her values for in-fill, green building practices, and reuse of centrally located space. Currently serving on Durango's City Council, Christina thrives on the blend of serving the community and reinforcing sustainability through her work, her civic roles, and her commitment and passion for matching people with the perfect home or office. She is currently highlighting a passive solar home with partial earth berm construction, made with recycled materials. Click here for a virtual tour.
The Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado is a non-profit professional association of 100 member companies, all local businesses, whose diverse services include building homes, remodeling, architecture and design, real estate sales, banking and mortgage refinancing, insurance, subcontracting and material suppliers. We are affiliated with the Colorado Association of Home Builders which has more than 3,200 member companies and the National Association of Home Builders which has 216,000 member companies. All three organizations have extensive social, political and educational programs. Our members employ many of the people working in our community, several thousand here locally in La Plata County. These employees provide a significant contribution to the local community.
Southwest Solar Transformation Initiative (SSTI) represents a regional team of public and private  partners committed to advancing solar power adoption across participating municipalities within the Southwest region. SSTI is targeting communities in the Southwest because the solar resource is abundant, but its enormous potential has been largely untapped. The focus of this program is to drive solar market maturity via significant improvements in five key areas: Permitting, Planning and Zoning, Interconnection, Net Metering and Financing.
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