Sustainable
Connections
With Molly Bressers and Connor Hoemann
Caught and Woven by: Genna Tobin, Emma Cline, Alex Hines, and Sky McCasland
Sustainable Connections is a nonprofit that has been active in the Bellingham area for nearly a quarter of a century and strives to do exactly what their name suggests: connect the community through sustainability. Our team sat down with Molly Bressers, the program manager of Think Local First, and Connor Hoemann, the coordinator of Towards Zero Waste, to discuss their experiences and how they work within Sustainable Connections to promote local Bellingham businesses.
Think Local First
participating, the coffee crawl is only one of the annual events that Sustainable Connections hosts to promote collaboration between the community and local businesses.
A major element of the program are the purchasable gift cards that apply to over 200 local businesses and ensure that money is going back into Bellingham’s own economy. These make a great and versatile gift and can be purchased at: https://bellingham-whatcom.yiftee.com/
Think Local not only boosts Bellingham’s own economy, but it also allows community members an opportunity to meet like-minded people, an opportunity that is becoming increasingly rare in an increasingly digital world.
Sustainable Connection’s Think Local First program works to provide Bellingham with a sustainable community focused on innovation and commerce. Promoting Bellingham businesses to the public through a redeemable ‘Think Local’ gift card, seasonal promotions and their recent coffee crawl. With 23 local cafes and coffee stands
One of the prizes for completing April’s Coffee Crawl; a coffee blend from Hammerhead Coffee, a proud supporter of Sustainable Connections.
Community Focus
Hosting community events such as their Sustainability Social Hour, Eat Local First Spring Mixer, and regular Energy Club meetings brings together community members who are interested in sustainability and making a difference.
Sustainable Connections’ Toward Zero Waste program, coordinated by Connor Hoemann, works towards both Life on Land and Responsible Consumption and Production Sustainable Development Goals. Through food recovery programs, residential waste education and a support of the ban on single-use plastics, this program focuses on helping individuals and organizations to reduce their waste production.
One of their most creative projects within the program are their Freedges (community fridges). These fridges, two in Whatcom County and one in Skagit County, are packed with free nutritious food and open to all! They run on community donations, both commercial and home, and volunteers.
Sustainable Connections also provides downloadable waste signage that businesses can use to direct their customers how to properly dispose of their waste. You’ve likely seen and utilized these signs around Western’s campus or downtown Bellingham.
Recently, Sustainable Connections partnered with SeaFeast to host a maritime festival that embraced a zero-waste model. Rather than serve food on plastic dishware, many of the vendors used reusable dishware. Sustainable Connections boasts that “This reusable dishware system eliminated an estimated 30,635 single-use items, which removed approximately 798 pounds from waste streams. In total, 32 vendors requested dishware for the event.”
SDGs
SGD 15: Life on Land
Protect and restore land ecosystems to preserve bio-diversity, reduce land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss to ensure that natural resources are available for future generations.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Urban areas are growing rapidly. Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable is crucial to preventing negative environmental impacts and providing quality life for all residents