the national senior conservation corps

GREENING

Active Project: Green Assisted Living Program

Although the NSCC now extends beyond the world of retirement communities this is still a main programming area. NSCC helps assisted living facilities reduce their carbon emissions by stimulating, helping to organize, and educating “Green Teams” in these communities that follow our guidelines. To green your retirement home:

1. 1)Join the NSCC
   

2. 2)Use our welcome packer and "Handbook" to get started.
   

Every member Green Team has a slightly different focus: One might chose to focus on reducing energy consumption, recycling and educating fellow residents. Another might focus on a local food program in their dining facility, a green landscaping program and improving their transportation efficiency. Our Handbook provides the menu from which members can chose the right greening solutions for them.

Active Project: Carbon Footprint Project

While carbon emissions (and the contributions of other gases) are not the only environmental impact of an assisted living facility, they are a major factor in climate change and serve as a proxy measure for many other impacts. We are in the process of designing a carbon emission footprint calculator tailored to assisted living facilities that helps management and residents determine where they are starting and measure progress towards a goal. 

Active Project: Self Evaluation Revision

We are in the process of of revising our "Shades of Green" self assessment tool for assisted living communities to make it more useful for assisted living residents and managers.

Developing Project: Understanding the Impacts of Food

We are designing a project which will assess and then communicate the impacts of food consumption in residential dining facilities and provide recommendations to our members on how to reduce their food related impacts.

Developing Project: Green Victory Gardens

Growing our own food has health benefits, lifestyle benefits and environmental benefits. By reducing the fossil fuels required to produce food (presumably we don’t use much in our own backyard) we increase our national security, environmental security and nutrition. The NSCC is considering how to best encourage retired and semi-retired Americans, many of whom are accomplished gardeners, to restore food crops to their home gardening efforts. Ideas are welcome! To contribute your two cents, please email info@grayisgreen.org.

Developing Project: Volunteerships and Second Careers

You have heard of internships. Have you ever heard of an “oldternship”? OK, so we're not sure that's a good name choice. But what if we could link environmental organizations in search of qualified, mature workers to complete specific projects and retiring people with an interest in helping increase environmental sustainability? For example, the man on the motorcycle (John Kerr, father of NSCC Executive Director Rosi Kerr) at left is a 70 year old retired TV fundraiser, who, after being volunteer in the National Park System, now works as a Park Ranger. That is the foundational idea behind the Gray Is Green Internship. We feel there is a lot of potential for synergy between green grays and green greens. We’d love to have your feedback on this idea! Please contact us at ideas@grayisgreen.org to share your ideas.

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Active Project: Green Lending Library and Speakers Program

The NSCC has set up a DVD Green Lending Library staffed by volunteers, offers bibliographical assistance to study groups, and has begun to offer the services of speakers.

ADVOCACY

Active Project: Green Action with 350.org

Without sound climate policy from our government, our individual actions will have little effect. By 2030, people over 65 will represent 24% of the electorate, though a smaller part of the general population. Our first advocacy activity is a partnership with 350.org to develop over 100 “virtual actions” by groups of people over 65 on their National Day of Action in October. We envision 100 images of groups of seniors holding signs indicating the CO2 level the year they were born, arranged in order by these numbers and beamed to Washington as part of 350.org’s larger demonstration.