Heating season is here, and it’s time to button up. Standing before a display of weather stripping, caulking and other heat-saving materials at Montpelier’s Aubuchon Hardware store, Gov. Peter Shumlin recently urged Vermonters to pitch in on the Button Up Vermont Day of Action on Saturday, November 1. “Button Up Vermont is a rallying day for us all to come together and tighten up our homes for winter,” he said. “This is important: it will put money in your pocket, it’s good for the planet and it’s good for our kids and grandkids.”
This second annual Button Up Day of Action is aimed at bookending Vermont’s successful “Green Up Day,” with the goal of motivating Vermonters to do something simple – or significant – to stop wasting heat (and money).
Spearheaded by the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network, Efficiency Vermont and other organizations, the goal is to engage Vermonters with simple as well as more advanced solutions that will help them stop hemorrhaging heat out of their drafty homes and start saving money.
Organizers are promoting many steps people can take – or help their neighbors take – on November 1. Seal your storm windows. Caulk drafty doors and windows. Put plastic over leaky windows. Get an energy audit. Or, best of all, undertake a comprehensive energy retrofit which could save 20-30 percent on your fuel oil bill.
Many hardware stores are supporting this effort, promoting energy efficiency solutions and providing discounts on Do-It-Yourself weatherization supplies. And in many communities, under the leadership of the local energy committee, several events are taking place on November 1.
In Montpelier, energy committee members will table at Aubuchon Hardware on November 1, promoting DIY energy saving solutions and more significant retrofits. In Weybridge, 12 lucky homeowners will receive home visits to install free door sweep insulation and an LED lightbulb, and they will be left with free information on home energy audits. A gathering in Dummerston at the local school will feature presentations from energy experts, live music and local food.
Jim Merriam, Director of Efficiency Vermont, said Button Up Day is a great way to inspire people to work together, with their neighbors, to make beneficial efficiency investments.
“Vermont has long been a leader on energy efficiency, but we still have a long way to go in meeting our state’s home energy goals,” he said. “Button Up day will be a chance to celebrate our communities – and take real actions to move the state forward while helping Vermonters save money on their energy bills this winter.”
To learn more about Button Up day, or to sign your town up, visit www.vecan.net or buttonupvt.org.
About the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network
VECAN is the growing network of over 100 grassroots energy committees and organizations in Vermont working to help people and communities stop wasting energy and start transitioning to clean, renewable energy supplies.