5-Step Energy Action Plan
for Cape & Islands Visitors
You come to the Cape & Islands to enjoy local environments. If you want them to stay the way they are, you need to take action while on the Cape, Vineyard, and Nantucket as well as at home. Take the steps outlined below, and use the Comments function to share your green experiences with others.
- Travel wisely. Arrive and depart at off-peak times, avoid idling, and take car-free trips by using public transit, beach shuttles, bikes, walking, and other low-impact means of getting around.
- Practice efficiency in local accommodations. Employ water conservation measures while on site and shut off lights and turn down the heat (or air conditioning) when out and about.
- Go lightly here. Use refillable water bottles and coffee mugs, carry reusable shopping bags, and recycle everything you can.
- Live local. Visit farmers’ markets and roadside stands, ask restaurants where they get their fish and food, and patronize locally owned businesses.
- Reduce your carbon footprint back home. Do all the things listed above in your neck of the woods, plus sign up for a free energy audit, buy efficiency, keep your tires full and vehicle tuned, support green energy, and get active in your community.
*This initial, qualitative plan is only a start. Eventually, a quantitative “Energy Action Plan for Cape & Islands Visitors” is to be created consistent with the following long-term goals relating to energy independence, economic development, and climate change:
- Generate sufficient renewable energy in the Cape & Islands region to meet 100% of net electricity needs by 2020
- Reduce direct use of fossil fuels for heating and transport applications in the Cape & Islands region by 50%, relative to 2006 consumption, by 2020
These regional goals were established by representatives from businesses, environmental advocacy groups, regional and state agencies, business associations, educational and research institutions, and nonprofits participating in a “Beyond Cape Wind” visioning session organized through the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative. Click here for more information on the “Beyond Cape Wind” stakeholder process.
