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Earth Month 2025 in Charlotte
Apr
1
to Apr 30

Earth Month 2025 in Charlotte

It’s Spring! And as the Earth Awakens…It’s Spring! And as the Earth Awakens Charlotte is preparing to Celebrate Earth Month. April will be chock full of activities and events with something for everyone - contests, speakers, demonstrations, walks and more. All sponsored through the collaboration of Charlotte’s many civic organizations including: Charlotte Public Library, Charlotte Energy Committee, Lewis Creek Association, Sustainable Charlotte, Rutter Family Tree Fund, Pollinator Pathways, Charlotte Grange, Charlotte Land Trust, Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge and the Charlotte Conservation Commission

While fully recognizing all the negative trends and challenges –from climate change to pollinators disappearing to invasives moving in, we are taking a month to celebrate the beauty of Charlotte and all the positive local actions being taken. The kids will compete to draw pictures of their favorite trees, volunteers will plant trees and shrubs and wake up our pollinator gardens. There’s a Repair Café for mending and renewing our “stuff” and a demonstration of how to prune trees to promote their health and vitality.

If you want to go for a walk there will be a chance to climb Pease Mountain with our Trails Committee and the Chittenden County Forester or take a walk in the Park and Wildlife Refuge with VJ, the Burlington Arborist. A Beaver Walk is planned. There are also opportunities to hear experts speak about the health of our water, the birds of our region, and the plants in our gardens.

This will be a month of participation; folks can meet the committee members that volunteer in our town, have one on one conversations and give back, a little or a lot, to the places they love. Below is the schedule for the month.

April Calendar:
Tree Art Contest – Submissions Due Tuesday, April 1, 5 p.m. at the Charlotte Library Sponsored by the Grange

 Pease Mountain Update Wednesday, April 2, 7p.m. at the Charlotte Library Sponsored by the Trails Committee

 Earth Month – Formal Kick-Off Event Saturday, April 5 9 a.m. to Noon at the Charlotte Library. Events will include a Pruning Demonstration at 9 a.m., Exhibit tables, a Talk by Charlie Nardozzi,at 11 a.m. and more!

 Bird Diva Program Wednesday, April 9, 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Senior Center

Earth Based poetry with Jack Mayer April 10, 1 pm at the Charlotte Grange

Easter Island Bird Tour with Hank Kaestner April 10, 7 pm at the Charlotte Library

 Hank Kaestner Friday, April 11, 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Library

 Tree Art Award Presentation Saturday, April 12, 4 p.m. at the Charlotte Grange

 Water Matters! Presentation by the Lewis Creek Association Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Library

 Book Talk: "The Serviceberry" Wednesday, April 15, 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Library

 Charlotte Walks Friday, April 18, 8:30 a.m. at Williams Woods

 Beaver Talk & Walk Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m. at the Charlotte Library

 Dark Sky Vermont Monday, April 21, 7 p.m. at the Charlotte Library

 Pollinator Pathways Garden Clean-up Monday-Friday, April 21-25, Various gardens around town

 Film Showing: "Wrenched" Tuesday, April 22, 7 p.m.at the Charlotte Library

 Arbor Day Tree Planting Friday, April 25, 10 a.m. behind the Charlotte Town Hall

 Repair Café Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UCC Church

 "Trees on Pease" Walk Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m. at Pease Mountain

 Tree Identification Walk at the Park & Wildlife Refuge Sunday, May 4, 9 a.m. meet at the P&W parking lot

 These events are happening all month long:

 Flower Seed Bombs Craft – at the Charlotte Library & CCS

 Tempistry Knitting Project - at the Charlotte Library



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Book Discussion "The Serviceberry"
Apr
15

Book Discussion "The Serviceberry"

Let’s talk about Robin Wall Kimmerer’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World on Tuesday, April 15 at 7 pm at the Charlotte Library. Books will be available at the library nearer to the event.

From the publisher, “As Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer harvest Serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most?”

Author Elizabeth Gilbert writes, “Robin Wall Kimmerer is a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.”

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"Wrenched"--The Movie viewing
Apr
22

"Wrenched"--The Movie viewing

Sustainable Charlotte and the Charlotte Library are thrilled to celebrate Earth Day, April 22 at the Charlotte Library, by watching Wrenched, a movie that looks at the early environmental movement, inspired by Edward Abby. The movie lasts 1 1/2 hours and discussion will follow the showing. This is just one of many events during April’s Earth Month.

Filmmaker ML Lincoln’s documentary Wrenched reveals how Edward Abbey’s anarchistic spirit and riotous novels influenced and helped guide the nascent environmental movement of the 1970s and ‘80s. Through interviews, archival footage and re-enactments, Lincoln captures the outrage of Abbey’s friends who were the original eco-warriors. In defense of wilderness, these early activists pioneered ”monkeywrenching” - a radical blueprint for “wrenching the system.” Exemplified by EarthFirst! in the early ‘80s, direct action and civil disobedience grew in popularity. With tree-spiking, forest occupation and high-profile publicity stunts such as the cracking at Glen Canyon Dam, this group became the eventual target of FBI infiltrators, leading to the arrest of various members.

Abbey’s message has lived on. Young activists are carrying the monkeywrenching torch, using his books as a source of inspiration. Wrenched captures a new generation as personified in Tim DeChristopher, who single-handedly stopped the sale of 100,000+ of acres of public trust lands in southeastern Utah. He was sentenced to federal prison for his actions. The fight continues to sustain the last bastion of the American frontier – the Wild West. And Wrenched, following in Abbey’s footsteps, asks the question, how far are we willing go in defense of wilderness?

 

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From Earth to Earth: A Documentary on Natural Burials
Mar
13

From Earth to Earth: A Documentary on Natural Burials

Join others for a free presentation of an award winning documentary on natural burials. “From Earth to Earth:  The Lost Art of Dying in America” at the Charlotte Senior Center.

This 20 minute documentary describes the reemergence of natural burial as an eco-friendly alternative to current funeral practices and cremation through personal stories of some of its major proponents that led to the (re)legalization of natural burial and the founding of the first cemetery devoted entirely to natural burial in Vermont, and from people who have experienced the ways that natural burial can help with the grief of the death of loved ones and bring comfort to those facing their own deaths.

The documentary will be followed by a Question and Answer session and time for personal discussions. Program provided in partnership with the Charlotte Library and Sustainable Charlotte Vermont. To register, call 802-425-6345.


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Craft Your Closet Mending  Workshop
Feb
4

Craft Your Closet Mending Workshop

This workshop will be hosted 3 times, February 4, 11, and 18 at the Charlotte Library, starting at 5:30 each time.

Snag in a favorite sweater? Tear in your best trousers? Chrissy Bedard brings her sewing savvy to the library for a 3-part series on clothes mending. She'll share the basic clothes mending essentials and provide hands-on guidance for you to mend and make new. 

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How to Love a Forest with Ethan Tapper
Oct
15

How to Love a Forest with Ethan Tapper

The Charlotte Library, Charlotte Conservation Commission, and Sustainable Charlotte welcomes Ethan Tapper for a signing and discussion of his new book, How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World.

About the Author: Ethan Tapper is a forester, author, and digital creator from Vermont. He grew up in Saxtons River, a rural village in Vermont’s Connecticut River Valley. As the Chittenden County Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation from 2016 - 2024, Ethan advised on the responsible stewardship of privately-owned forestland. He also managed Community Forests, administered Vermont’s Use Value Appraisal (“Current Use”) program, wrote a monthly column, and led dozens of public events each year. In this role, Ethan received numerous awards and distinctions — including being named the American Tree Farm Systems National Outstanding Inspector (forester) of the Year in 2024. Ethan left this role to start his own consulting forestry business, Bear Island Forestry, in 2024.

About the Book: How to Love a Forest walks us through the fragile and resilient community that is a forest, introducing us to wolf trees and spring ephemerals, to the cryptic creatures of the rhizosphere and the necrosphere. It helps us reimagine what forests are and what it means to care for them. This world, Tapper writes, is degraded both by people who do too much and by those who do nothing.  He writes that we must take action to protect ecosystems, and that the actions we must take will often be counterintuitive, uncomfortable, even heartbreaking. In this poetic and visionary book, Tapper weaves a new land ethic for the modern world, reminding us that what is simple is rarely true, and what is necessary is rarely easy.

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Author book talk "Regeneration Handbook"
Jul
17

Author book talk "Regeneration Handbook"

Could Charlotte Become a “Regenerative Community?”

Author of The Regeneration Handbook to visit Charlotte for presentation and book signing at the Charlotte Library, July 17 at 7 pm

 Ever wonder what people are talking about when they talk about “regeneration”? Currently applied to fields as diverse as ecology, spirituality, health, and economics, regeneration has become a bit of a buzzword lately.

Defined by Merriam-Webster as the “renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system,” Don Hall, author of The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World, argues that we might come to understand regeneration more broadly as the “act of helping to bring something back to life – ourselves, our communities, and, ultimately, the Earth.”

 In the face of mounting environmental, economic, and social crises, Hall, a long-time activist with the international Transition Towns Movement, observes that “more and more people genuinely want to help bring about a just and regenerative future, but feel overwhelmed or don’t know where to start.” “Fortunately,” he says, “there are so many things we can do right now to make a real difference, starting wherever we are.”

 According to Hall, a regenerative community might look like one where there’s an abundance of small farms and gardens, a vibrant culture and economy powered by sustainable local businesses, solar panels on every rooftop, more bikes than cars, good public transit, and plenty of spaces to gather and commune with nature. It would also be a place where people from all walks of life regularly come together to dream, discuss, and design their own destiny.

Don Hall has served in a variety of capacities throughout the Transition Towns Movement over the past 15 years and is currently Training Coordinator for the international Transition Network. Don holds a Master’s in Environmental Leadership from Naropa University, blogs at evolutionarychange.org, and lives in community in Boulder, Colorado. https://evolutionarychange.org/don-hall

 

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Invasives Taking Over?
Jul
9

Invasives Taking Over?

Overwhelmed with Invasive Plants?!  Is buckthorn and honeysuckle overrunning your woods?  Is your field becoming a poison parsnip minefield?  Is your garden a garlic mustard mash?  Let’s tackle them together!

Sustainable Charlotte, the Charlotte Conservation Commission and the Charlotte Library is hosting a workshop on Invasive Plants at the next Green Drinks gathering on July 9 at 5:30-7:00 PM  (rain date July 10) near the pollinator gardens at the corner of Roscoe and Lewis Creek Rds in Charlotte .  We will have appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages.  Suggest bringing a folding chair, work gloves, and bug repellent.  Spread the word and hope to see you there!

We are bringing together four speakers with expertise and experience  to help us with identifying, understanding, and managing these plants.  Various tools and techniques used in removal work will be demonstrated and all can try their hand on removing onsite plants.  Speakers will include:

 

-Julie Parker Dickerson, master gardener and creator of the many Pollinator Pathway gardens in East Charlotte who can talk about why we should be concerned about invasives and what to plant in their place.

 -Andrea Morgante, conservationist and professional landscaper who can share her professional experience helping landowners deal with invasives through a variety of methods.

-Debra Sprage, Monkton Conservation Commissioner  who works with a group of volunteers and solo clearing Monkton public lands of all kinds of invasives.  She has lots of experience doing this hands-on work.

-Mark Dillenbeck, Charlotte's former tree warden, can share his experiences in dealing with invasives on his land.  

One goal of the workshop will be to explore the creation of a “system" for us to volunteer and team together in tackling invasives on each others properties.  E.g., next Saturday afternoon a bunch of us are going to tackle buckthorn and honeysuckle at Suzie’s place.  We’ll bring the tools and she’ll provide some beverages and snacks and we’ll have a ball ripping out nasty plants.  The following Saturday we’ll work on Joe’s woods. Next, the Town park.  You get the idea.

We will have appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages.  Suggest bringing a folding chair, work gloves, and bug repellent.  Spread the word and hope to see you there!

Email info@sustainablecharlottevt.org with questions or comments.



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Book discussion--Saving Us
Mar
13

Book discussion--Saving Us

Register in advance for this meeting here to receive the link.

Wildfires, hurricanes, blizzards, droughts. The extreme effects of climate change are frightening—and threaten every aspect of our daily lives. But award-winning climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe has a hopeful message. This is a very timely book and it should be a springboard for engaged conversations.

We will gather via Zoom over 5 Wednesdays beginning March 13, 2024.

Register in advance for this meeting here to receive the link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Books will be available to borrow at the Charlotte Library about a month before the first meeting.

Katharine Hayhoe is chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy. She has been named a United Nations Champion of the Earth and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. Her TED Talk, “The Most Important Thing you Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It” has been viewed over 5 million times.

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Window Dressers Community Build
Nov
3
to Nov 6

Window Dressers Community Build

You’re invited to participate in a “Community Build” of insulating window inserts, starting on November 2. Sustainable Charlotte VT works with the non-profit organization Window Dressers to bring custom-built insulating window inserts to homes in and around Charlotte.  These window inserts made of wood frames with foam gaskets and a double thickness of clear plastic film will reduce drafts, save money and energy, and still allow the sunshine through!  Depending on the efficiency of the windows and home, the resident could reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and see fuel savings of up to 20% with inserts in place.

When someone signs up to participate, one of our volunteer measuring teams will visit the home to take precise measurements so we can order the materials for the inserts. 

When the materials arrive, we’ll have a community build/assembly workshop, and will work together to build your inserts.  These workshops are fun events, with the feel of a community barn-raising – come join us!  Assembly is easy and many hands make light work. No carpentry skills are required. Register here. A calendar will appear to show you what days and times are available.

Contact us to learn more about the program.

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Aug
20

Pollinator Community Potluck

Come celebrate our expanding, and beautiful

CHARLOTTE POLLINATOR PATHWAYS

COMMUNITY POTLUCK

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20

Gathering at 5:30 PM

Serving at 6:00 PM

 

  

At Quaker Corners: the intersection of Lewis Creek and Roscoe Roads 

LEARN ABOUT POLLINATOR PATHWAY GARDENS

WITH MASTER GARDENER

JULIE PARKER-DICKERSON 

Please bring a dish to share with your neighbors, lawn chairs, plates, cups, cutlery and your own beverages. 

Sponsored by Sustainable Charlotte and the Charlotte Chapter of Pollinator Pathways

Questions? Rain Cancellations: call John 802-734-8820 or email johh@gmavt.net

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