But let's also take off our rose-colored glasses and take a long hard look at what it is that we as individuals and we as communities are doing to the planet ourselves. Let's start with our cars.
Do we need to make multiple trips to town/school/post office/shops daily? Could our trips be combined? Shared with our neighbors? Are our school planners and administrators doing anything about the very underutilized and very expensive school bus system we provide?
Does every one of us who goes to the Farmer's Market on Saturday need to drive all the way into town to further congest the parking areas and traffic circulation at the shopping center? Could shuttles and jitneys bring shoppers in from the Pines rest area or the Lareau Swim Hole or Warren Village?
Could we take a page from the book of public transit as read by other ski areas and rethink our approach to getting people to the slopes? Rather than making parking readily available at the base of Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, what if public transit drop offs took place liftside and personal cars had to be parked out in the hinterlands?
Aspen has such a system and it keeps skiers' cars in designated lots, bringing skiers, employees and their gear to the mountain quickly and efficiently.
Vermont and The Valley are too rural to have everyone using public transportation for every trip, but there are creative options we can explore. If parking were available at the bottoms of major roads that feed on to Route 100 (or if there were designated 'park and ride' areas), people might be encouraged to take the shuttle to town to pick up groceries and get their mail.
Let's continue the work we're doing on energy usage and conservation, but let's not overlook the biggest contributor to our own personal and collective energy footprints - our cars.
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