LOCALadk Magazine

Winter 2020 LOCALadk Magazine 15 LOCALadk formative experience for me as well. I was selected to speak alongside our task force coordinator, Erin Griffin; the direc- tor of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, Nicky Hylton-Pat- terson; the mayor of Saranac Lake, Clyde Rabideau; and the commissioner of the DEC, Basil Seggos. Needless to say it was a ver y exhilarating experience for a budding public ser- vant and policy maker like myself. You might be wondering what this metallic certification means for the community of Saranac Lake. What it means is that Saranac Lake now has a better standing with which to apply for grants, including those from the CSC Program. It also means that Saranac Lake has committed to lowering its carbon footprint and to becoming a model of sustainabil- ity. Now the community is recognized by the state for our environmental work, and we are more connected to other certified communities statewide. Saranac Lake has taken ac- tion in the past, hosting Earth Day events and climate strikes and being part of the Sunrise Adirondack hub with its strong statements against the changing climate. Local high school students are also a critical part of The Wild Center's Youth Climate Program based out of Tupper Lake. Now, on top of these achievements, the community has fastidiously docu- mented proof of concrete action taken to lower the carbon emissions of the town. One example is the upgrades to vil- lage-owned buildings to make lights and heating and cool- ing systems more efficient. Another accomplishment is the residential organic waste program, which allows village res- idents to drop off yard wastes like grass and branches to be composted into topsoil that the Department of Public Works can use in various outdoor projects. We are also still working on actions that we didn't complete in time for the September certification but which are still important to the community and may help us gain even higher certifications. Saranac Lake does not want to stop at Bronze. Whether or not we continue to go for the Gold (and Silver), we plan to act on the community's desire for further action to mitigate cli- mate change. If you have ideas for our town or want to learn more about how Saranac Lake achieved certification, feel free to reach out to our coordinator, Erin Griffin, at egriffin@ wildcenter.org. For myself, these experiences have solidified my dream to work to modif y climate change policies on a na- tional level, a job requiring the collaboration and patience much of the work we did here on this task force utilized. I'm excited to take the skills I learned from this process with me throughout the rest of my personal and professional life and I'm proud to have been a part of such an amazing accomplish- ment for Saranac Lake. Eric Adsit

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