Environmental summit shares message of conservation

KENT — The second Kent Environmental Summit, held at Kent Center School on Saturday, Feb. 26, showed attendees tips, tricks and new ideas to save money and make their surroundings more eco-friendly. “While the turnout was lower than last year, the event was great,” said Karren Garrity, chair of the Kent Energy and Environmental Task Force. She speculated that the lower attendance might be due to people thinking they had already learned what there was to learn. She pointed out that this was not the case.“Out hope for the summit was to engage people in the conservation conversation,” Garrity said. “People need to embrace the concept that conservation is our next alternative energy.” The summit began weeks ago with a film series that explored issues such as farming, energy conservation and oil dependence. A film was shown each Tuesday leading up to the summit. On the morning of Feb. 26, about 100 people gathered at Kent Center School for the summit. Roger Lidell, vice chairman of Clear Harbor Asset Management, LLC, opened the day with a keynote address about becoming a better consumer through conservation. After the address, attendees headed to one of the two workshops offered in the morning session, ABCs: First Steps and Beyond and Systems: What’s Next, What’s Out There. ABCs was run by a panel that consisted of Peter Callan, Al Ginouves, Joe Novella and Bob Whelan and taught homeowners how to retrofit their homes to become more energy efficient and ultimately more economical. Systems, led by panelists David Hempel, Rich Vocke, Wes Wyrick and Ian Hochstetter, introduced attendees to new technologies and systems such as wind turbines and geothermal energy. After the morning session, everyone gathered for a “locavore” lunch that featured locally raised and harvested food. Chef Anne Gallagher of Washington Depot cooked the meal of squash soup, beef chili, salad and bread.The afternoon workshops focused on what can be done to improve yard issues. Honey I Shrunk the Lawn, led by panelists Jane Didona, Karen Bussolini, Sean Hayden and Cynthia Rabinowitz, taught the audience about making lawns both comfortable and suitable for the natural environment surrounding their houses. Protecting Your Liquid Gold — Water, with panelists Jesse Klingebiel, Matt Pawlik, William H. Schlesinger and James Belden, focused on lessening the negative impact on the water supply by considering what is seeping in through land or flushed down the toilet. Throughout the day, various legislators made visits to the summit, though their schedules did not allow for a structured “legislator’s lunch” as originally planned. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal had the opportunity to visit workshops as they were going on. Blumenthal, who is an advocate for conservation, answered audience questions and invited all to share their thoughts with him.U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-5), state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30), state Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64) and state Rep. Richard Smith (R-108) made themselves available to talk with individuals throughout the day.An expo floor in the school gymnasium included local vendors Annie Bananie Ice Cream of Kent and Longmeadow Farm of Cornwall as well as vendors informing attendees about energy-efficient light bulbs or wind energy.

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