Drought and Water Conservation
The last few weeks have brought much needed rain to New Hampshire, however, at the beginning of November a significant portion of New Hampshire is in either severe or extreme drought. According to the US Drought Monitor Map, drought conditions are expected to worsen over the winter and spring. Drought conditions cause crop loss, dry wells, water restrictions and increase chance of wildfires. All of these have negative impacts on our health and livelihoods.
Sustainable Hanover Walking Tour
In collaboration with Antioch College and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Dartmouth College hosted in mid-September the sixth biannual conference on “promoting a rural Northeast region that is climate resilient, equitable, economically revitalized, and decarbonized.” Organizers invited Sustainable Hanover to showcase some of the Town’s sustainability initiatives, including a walking tour of downtown Hanover and brief presentations at Town Hall.
Local Solutions Conferences
Local action on climate change has always been important, and perhaps never more so than in the current period while we have drastically reduced support from our federal and state governments. This September, two conferences sought to help attendees by providing a forum for them to share and network with others also promoting local action.
Apparel Impact Report
Apparel Impact (http://apparelimpact.com) is a New Hampshire-based organization run by veterans that focuses on textile diversion from landfills. Eighty-five percent of discarded clothing ends up in landfills but 60% of that can be reused in some way, and that is a goal of Apparel Impact.
Plug-In Solar: A New Path to Solar Energy
Get ready to hear more about plug-in or balcony solar! This term refers to small portable photovoltaic (PV) devices which are designed to be plugged into a standard 110/120v wall outlet to supply power for household use.
Window Dressers Update
For the fifth year in a row, the Norwich Energy Committee and Sustainable Hanover completed a Window Dressers Build. This year, the Lyme Energy Committee joined the effort. When completed, 235 inserts were constructed for 33 households.
4th of July Celebration -- Productive, Fun, Harmonious!
Thanks to the generosity of key community partners, Sustainable Hanover (SH) had a productive and fun experience participating in Hanover’s 29th Annual 4th of July celebration. Our challenge was to highlight our values and priorities while embracing the theme of this year’s celebration – “Hanover in Harmony.”
What Do We Know About Local Waste Reduction?
At Hanover’s 4th of July celebration, Sustainable Hanover (SH) invited people to take a quick fun quiz about local waste reduction. Quiz results showed participants had excellent knowledge in some areas, and gaps in a few others.
Autumn—Time to Evaluate your Sustainable landscape & Plan for 2026
September 2025. How did your garden grow after early summer and now drought since mid-summer? As the Upper Valley climate is slowly changing, our landscaping decisions need to consider the landscape and garden’s ability to adapt to new conditions.
Help Celebrate National Sun Day: Sunday, September 21, 2025
Saturday, September 21, 2025, will be a national day of action to celebrate the power of clean energy. The day will be full of events highlighting the capacity of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries to reduce greenhouse gases, lower costs, create new jobs, and strengthen our communities.
Support Collective Climate Action
On July 21st, Clean Energy New Hampshire (CENH) hosted a lively “Summer Social” at Dartmouth’s Irving Institute for Energy and Society. The event brought together sustainability leaders and supporters from across the Upper Valley for conversation, networking, and inspiration.
Summer Yard Sale Great Success!
The Yard Sale was really terrific this year. There were 82 different sellers either all kinds of stuff from clothing to fishing gear, household goods including lamps rugs and china to games and lots of different sports equipment.
Free Upper Valley EV Expo Sept. 6
Come see an expected 20 different kinds of electric vehicles and talk to individual owners or local dealers at the free Upper Valley EV Expo on Saturday, September 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hartford Town Hall and Lyman Point Park, 171 Bridge Street, White River Junction.
Taking Local Climate Action – SAU 70’s Climate Action Plan 2025
On Thursday, May 22, the Montshire Museum of Science and Hanover High School (HHS) Environmental Club co-hosted a “Taking Local Climate Action” event where student leaders of the Environmental Club presented their district-wide Climate Action Plan (CAP) recently adopted by SAU 70. In addition, students from Marion Cross Elementary School described steps they have been taking to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG). They also treated attendees to a dinner of locally sourced soup and salad that they had prepared and served!
Inching Forward with LEAP!
Dartmouth Students associated with the Cook Engineering Design Center’s LEAP Program (Learn Engineering Through Applied Projects) recently completed a two-term project looking at the feasibility of decarbonizing residential energy use through geo-exchange microgrids. Under the supervision of Professor Emily Monroe, freshmen Eden Gray, Caleb Frank, and Declan Schilling and senior Nathan McAllister concluded that this form of low emissions heating could be a viable alternative to furnaces fueled by oil or propane.
Hanover Kicks Off Shared Streets Vision Planning
On May 12th, Hanover kicked off Shared Streets Vision Planning to design a multimodal network for all ages and abilities. How we design our streets, intersections and paths determines who can get where they need to go and how. And our choices have a massive impact on our community’s carbon footprint...
But how do our choices in street design impact the community’s emissions and health? What does it mean to envision Hanover streets that are inviting and accessible to people of all ages and abilities? How can we do it?
SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING
Sustainable landscaping is an innovative and environmentally responsible way to think about yards, gardens, outdoor areas. Adopting this approach, you’ll create beautiful, functional yards and gardens while reducing water usage, supporting local pollinators and wildlife minimizing maintenance.
Earth Day Fair
“Aye, ’twas a cold and rainy day” or at least the threat of one for the Earth Day Fair and celebration sponsored by Sustainable Hanover and Dartmouth College’s Sustainability Department on Saturday, April 26. Nevertheless, seventeen exhibitor and vendor tables were crowded together, receiving between 60 and 70 attendees in Richmond Middle School gymnasium.
A Promising New Initiative for Hanover’s Large Energy Users
Sustainable Hanover is excited to have launched a new initiative to bring together the largest energy users in Hanover to share ideas and solutions for a more sustainable future. This group includes representation from Dartmouth College, Kendal at Hanover, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), Hypertherm, Sheridan Printing, the Coop Food Stores, and the Town.
Extreme Weather
It is almost impossible to read or listen to the news without hearing about lives being disrupted and homes and businesses being destroyed by extreme weather events. Whatever one’s thoughts are about Climate Change there is no doubt that there is an increasing amount of extreme weather. Recently I heard an amazing statistic: In the last 20 years there have been 8 or 9 FEMA incidents in the Hanover area (FEMA is the Federal agency charged with responding to natural disasters), while in the prior 50 years there had been only 3.