Long-Term Eco Stewardship is Part of the Community’s Core Mission
Vermont Business Magazine Life plan community Wake Robin has been honored for its work in sustainability and environmental stewardship — a core value of its 400 residents and more than 200 staff members, including Leslie Parker, the director of environmental services.
Most recently, Casella Waste Systems named Wake Robin as one of its 2023 Sustainability Leadership Award recipients, honored for the community’s integration of Casella’s zero-sort recycling, compost and municipal waste services into its 136-acre campus. Beyond this, Wake Robin has created a Green Committee and Climate Action Taskforce to identify and address new ways for the community to further its environmental activism.
Earlier this year Wake Robin received the Excellence in Environmental Stewardship Award during the 2023 LeadingAge Annual Conference in South Portland, Maine, for its continued efforts to expand conservation practices.
In a video shared on Casella’s website, resident Gail White said, “It’s important for me to protect our environment. Living in a place like this, it’s so beautiful, that you have so much incentive to really maintain the environment and maintain nature.”
Acknowledging that his age group was part of a “throw-away” society, resident Steve Silverman said moving to Wake Robin changed his perspective — finding a home in the community and seeing the passion of residents, staff and administrators alike inspired him to make sure younger generations can grow up in a better environment.
Wake Robin’s ongoing environmental stewardship work ranges from on-site maple production, growing drought-resistant pollinator plants and utilizing gardening waste and refuse into its compost for a complete cycle, to eliminating junk mail to cut paper consumption and focusing on the reduction of food waste from the about 600 meals served daily on campus.
For more about Wake Robin’s continuing leadership in the retirement community realm, visit wakerobin.com/community-life/green-living.
About Wake Robin — Located on 136 acres in Shelburne, Vermont, Wake Robin is a non-profit Life Plan Community offering the full continuum of living options for senior citizens. Ranging from independent living cottages and apartments to the Linden Health Center, a five-star residential care and skilled nursing facility, Wake Robin offers the best in continuing care. Wake Robin is an active, safe, supportive community of adults. We value communication and fellowship, joy, and humor. We welcome a diverse population and believe in everyone’s lifelong dignity and worth. Wake Robin’s first priority is the care and well-being of every resident. To learn more, please visit wakerobin.com.
Source: SHELBURNE, Vermont (July 24, 2023) — Wake Robin
