About six months ago, Cathy Vinski was reading an article about how reducing the amount of food waste in your garbage significantly decreases how much you contribute to landfills.
“And I thought, if I had known that, I would have been doing that all along,” Vinski said. “And we started. We got a little kitchen composter and we just kept the food waste out, and it does it reduces your garbage by almost 25 to 30 percent, we’re finding.”
Vinksi has been an active member of the Hillsborough community since she moved there 11 years ago, and she said when she saw Mayor Mark Bell at a party, she decided to tell him about the idea the article had pitched.
“You know, do you think the town could do something around Earth Day?,” she said.
The idea quickly grew into the “Hillsborough Climate Challenge,” a month-long collection of events all across town. Vinski said 35 different businesses are involved, including restaurants, galleries and farms. To participate, residents can start by picking up a “Climate Challenge Passport” at the Hillsborough Visitors Center.
The Hillsborough Visitors Center on March 24. 2024. Residents can pick up a Climate Challenge Passport during normal hours from the front desk, throughout April.
Each event visited equals a stamp on the passport, and on April 21st, during the final event of the month, the ten participants with the greatest number of stamps will win a climate-friendly prize.
Bell said the challenge aligns with Hillsborough’s recently adopted Comprehensive Sustainability Plan, which aims to guide future development and the town government’s transition to using only clean energy by 2050. The town Board of Commissioners even agreed to sponsor and fund the challenge.
Five events on the long list will be hosted at the Orange County Public Library. There, a selection of books about climate change and sustainability is already set up.
Caroline Clucas, the outreach and community engagement coordinator at the Orange County Public Library, said she’s excited for one of the more unexpected events scheduled to take place there.
“Something that I’m actually really looking forward to is the earth-friendly burials [event],” she said. “I know that sounds very crazy, but I’m really excited for it. So that’s being put on by Bluestem Cemetery and it’s going to talk about how there are different burial options, including earth-friendly burial options.”
Other events include a composting demo, a visit to Gold Park’s bee hotel, tours of local farms and a variety of walks and talks.
A full list of the events and activities in the Hillsborough Climate Challenge included on the passport.
In addition to the array of scheduled activities, participants will also be asked to fill out a card with three climate-saving pledges. Bell said the organizers plan to reach out to attendees for feedback and to see whether they’ve been able to keep up their commitments, three months later.
Bell said the event is all about the importance of community motivated action against climate change.
“You have to do [it] at the micro scale,” Bell said. “‘What do I do personally? How can I reduce my carbon footprint? How do I avoid things that are harmful to the environment?’ So having personal experience and responsibility for climate change is just as essential as, at the macro scale, when governments, businesses and countries have climate goals.”
For Clucas, the creation of the challenge itself is a reminder about the significance individual action can have.
“It all started with Cathy Vinski and how she said, ‘I have this idea,’ and now it has turned into this whole thing – the library is in it, the town is in it, different local businesses, and it came from one person. So I think that is something we should all [keep] in mind. Truly, if you have something, just put your mind to it, it can become something just like this and I think it’s amazing. I think it’s a beautiful effort.” Clucas said.
To get involved in the Hillsborough Climate Challenge, you can pick up a passport at the Hillsborough Visitors Center, the Orange County Public Library or tonight, at Last Fridays, outside Cup A’ Joe. For more details about the activities and events scheduled throughout the month, click here or follow @hillsboroughclimatechallenge on Instagram and Facebook.
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