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CHAMBER CORNER
We Wish You a Sustainable Season
By Maureen Meltzer-McGrath
I used to notice something like this happening back when I worked in magazines: As if out of nowhere, everyone you spoke to and everywhere you looked the same idea would be talked about or suddenly appear. Back then, it was usually something like Vamp nail polish or "undone" hairstyles, and my fellow beauty editors and I would call it a trend. Recently, here in our corner of the Hudson Valley, I've noticed something similar coming through via email, event posters, newspaper articles and talk amongst neighbors, friends and business associates and it's an idea a lot more relevant to all our lives than nail color. This idea is "sustainability" and it affects all of us.
Webster's Dictionary defines "sustain" as "to give support or relief to" and "keep up, prolong" or "nourish." Much of the time, when people talk of "sustainability" they are speaking of preserving our environment, like at the recent Sustainability Expo hosted by the Hudson Highlands Land Trust where dozens of exhibitors showed us ways we can cut our use of energy by doing simple things like replacing light bulbs with the compact florescent variety or investing in a composter to put kitchen scraps and yard waste to good use. More involved measures included Geo Thermal heating alternatives and bio-diesel fuel. (As an aside, The new Appalachian Market and gas station at 9D and 403 plans to offer bio-diesel fuel and serve the coffee in recycled cups when it opens). I think if we all try to do one or two "sustainable" acts this holiday season, we'd be giving ourselves and our children a gift that "keeps on giving."
But here is another way to look at sustainability: Supporting local businesses. We all love our town the way it is but for them to remain the friendly, quaint villages they are today, each of us needs to "nourish" these shops and businesses by using them. Before I moved to Cold Spring, I drove over an hour one holiday season to shop in a few of the stores on Main Street because I knew I would find more unique and interesting (not to mention affordable) gifts than I would in the malls of Long Island or the high-end shops in Manhattan where I worked. And, in my years here, I have continued to find great gifts in our shops for all sorts of occasions.
Before you finish all your holiday gift buying, I challenge you to spend an afternoon shopping locally- try a shop you've never been in before- you just might find a treasure. You'll definitely save on gas and aggravation. Think outside the box- a gift certificate for one of the many attractions our area has to offer like the Shakespeare Festival and Boscobel or a class at the Garrison Art Center or Philipstown Recreation Department could be a fresh idea for almost anyone on your list. As Peter Applebome wrote recently in his New York Times "Our Towns" column about a small, independent coffee shop taking on Starbucks, "Like other small-business owners, they just want people to remember that if their idea of bio-diversity extends to commerce…it's worth asking Big or Small; Local or Corporate; Main Street or Mall?"
Think about ways you can have a sustainable holiday season this year. May all of our members have a prosperous 2008!
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