The need: While many communities, businesses and institutions are making initial movements to reduce their carbon footprints and prepare for a changing climate (both environmentally and economically), progress overall has been slow compared to the acceleration of the crisis. Communities need to self-organize and get inspired, in order to scale up the adoption of resource-efficient lifestyles and creative leadership.  Rather than “dumbing down” the complex choices that people face, local challenge campaigns can provide smarter, more customized support through focused use of existing outreach tools combined with neighbor to neighbor interaction.

Our response:  The Hudson Valley Ten Percent Challenge campaign is rooted in two-fold invitation:  cut your energy use 10%, and get 10% of your community involved. Its hallmarks are innovative, energetic community outreach and the encouragement of flexible, personally meaningful ways of participating.   Friendly competition for prizes, combined with support and technical assistance, has attracted 14 communities with a combined population over 100,000 as of August 2011.

Goal:  Scale up the Ten Percent Challenge as a one year program and a replicable model, integrating available resources such as the Energize! Program of the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium, and the programs of New York State and the utilities;  working with the currently committed communities, using sponsorships to finance SHV’s role and to link these emerging markets with locally owned, best-in-class product and service providers through such methods as sponsorships, directories and trade shows.

Action:  

• Document the Ten Percent Challenge Red Hook and Warwick pilot initiatives and refine the campaign template based on lessons learned, to produce an organizer guide-booklet, The 10:10 Playbook, and a one year recommended calendar with an October 10, 2011 formal start;
• Create a database of reputable suppliers of the goods and services that support lower-carbon lifestyles, and engage them as campaign sponsors to fund ongoing outreach, technical assistance, documentation and publicity;
• Gear up new, one-year campaigns in Montgomery and its three villages, Wappingers Falls, and Watervliet, while continuing to support the Red Hook town and village efforts, and informally collaborate with the autonomous efforts underway in Warwick and Hudson;
• In each community, build a public outreach program to establish broad leadership and engage at least 10% of the population in household energy saving measures, with customized local projects playing to each community’s strengths;
• Provide ongoing support, technical assistance, and publicity to generate a winner and a buzz – continuing through fall 2012.

SHV’s role in 2012:  Regional coordination of technical assistance and publicity, evaluation and recognition of local campaigns, expansion of rewards and incentives, documentation and dissemination of methods to additional communities.  

Collaborators (formal and informal):  Partner municipalities through their energy consultants and/or  local environmental and energy commissions, Pace Energy and Climate Center, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Energy$mart Communities Program), NuRide, The Solar Energy Consortium, sponsoring businesses.