In 2009, DCTOP issued gas vouchers to 51 different individuals, completed 23 vehicle purchase or repair loans, and operated an employment van pool for eight active riders. Funding begins in 2010 with a waiting list of 28 clients for vehicle repair or purchase loans.

Left to Right: Fred Young from Young Automotive, Lee Chapman, Sandi Fish, Kathy Copisky, Kim McClure, Program Coordinator, Front Kendra Dragseth

DCTOP is expanding its services to serve eligible Kewaunee County residents in addition to those in Door County. Eligibility requirements for the program include:

• being a US citizen and a Door or Kewaunee County resident,
• must be at least 18 years of age,
• must have a valid Wisconsin driver’s license with no DWI/OWI’s in the last 24 months,
• must be employed working a minimum of 20 hours per week or referred from a partnering agency, and
• household income must be at or below the 200% Federal Poverty Level.

Once eligible, participants in Door and Kewaunee County can purchase half price gas vouchers to get to and from employment. They are also eligible for a 0% interest vehicle purchase or repair loan. The funds also support a van pool that travels daily from Sturgeon Bay, leaving at 5 am, to Sister Bay and returning back to Sturgeon Bay at 2:30 pm. Kim McClure, Program Manager, hopes to increase the van pool and operate additional routes to and from northern Door and Sturgeon Bay area.

“Our goal is to help Door and Kewaunee County residents get to work with affordable and reliable transportation,” says Kim McClure.

If you or someone you know, needs assistance with transportation to go to and from work, please contact Kim McClure at 920.743.7273 or 800.924.4191 ext. 110 or email: kmcclure@doorcountyjobcenter.org.

You can also get more information at www.wepinc.org. The Door County Transportation Options Program office is located at the Door County Job Center in the Cherry Point Mall, Sturgeon Bay, and is open Monday through Friday, 8 am – 4:30 pm.

Outside of the purchase of the book, the course is free and open to any interested individuals.

The Natural Step is a flexible and adaptable framework based on indisputable scientific principles such as the laws of thermodynamics, which provides a basis for large and small businesses and other organizations to advance toward sustainability. By following The Natural Step in business practices, these organizations contribute to the efforts to preserve the conditions for life for future generations, while prospering financially.

“There’s a lot of interest in sustainability in the state,” says Renny Lea, small business co-owner and member of Sustain Door, Inc.  “What keeps most business people from looking into it is the time factor and defining what sustainability is.  The Natural Step has provided a framework guiding businesses toward sustainability, and we’ll be taking a closer look at how it’s done.”

In addition to group discussion about applying concepts found in the readings to local businesses and organizations, arrangements have been made for video and in-person presentations by experts in the field of sustainable development.  Highlights in the study circle schedule include presentations by Roger Kuhns, PhD who will speak from his varied experience and current position in sustainable development at Black & Veatch, Inc. about the economic factors that both drive and impact businesses’ efforts to incorporate sustainable practices.  Bryant Moroder of Sustain Dane, an organization which has moved Dane County, Wisconsin along a path toward sustainability, will speak about the City of Madison’s MPower program, a networking organization for early adopters of sustainable practices among organizations in that city.

Following is a schedule for The Natural Step for Business course.  To facilitate discussion, the course is limited to twelve participants.  For more information or to register for the class, contact Ann Hippensteel at Ann@WindandSun.com or 920-743-3337 by September 4.

The Natural Step for Business Course Schedule:

Thursday, Sept 10 – Introduction to The Natural Step.  Film: A Passion for Sustainability (How fourteen businesses, including large companies like NIKE and smaller mom and pop’s like HotLips Pizza, operate according to The Natural Step framework.)

Thursday, Sept 17 – Part One: Designing the Future – Discussion about Chapters 1 – 3.  Film: The Business Case for Sustainability by Bob Willard, author of The Sustainability Advantage.

Thursday, Sept 24 – Two Case Studies: IKEA and Scandic Hotels – Discussion about Chapters 4, 5. Guest presentation: Sustainability: Its Drivers and Financial/Economic Impacts on Businesses by Roger Kuhns, PhD, Black & Veatch, Sustainable Development.

Thursday, Oct 1 – Two More Case Studies: Interface, Inc. and Collins Pine Company – Discussion about Chapters 6, 7.  Guest presentation: Sustainable Business Networking and the Madison Mpower Program by Bryant Moroder, Sustain Dane.

Thursday, Oct 8 – Part Three:  The Evolutionary Journey – Discussion about Chapters 8 -10.  Where do we go from here?

As spring turned to summer this year, the Door County 100-mile Food Challenge came to an end for several Door County residents. A year ago these locavores entered into an agreement with themselves and Sustain Door, Inc. that they would increase the incidence and, or duration of sourcing their meals from growers and providers within a 100 mile radius of the borders of Door County. Some participants chose to increase their local eating by one meal a week for the entire year.  Some chose to eat exclusively local foods during the months that the farmers markets in Door County were open. The parameters of each individual’s Challenge were self-determined.

Door County 100-mile Food Challenge participants were pleased to find many sources of foods in Door County including our several farm markets, many farm stands, fisheries, fruit orchards, honey and maple syrups producers and local meat producers to name a few. Participants reported that their food tasted better and that they were gratified to know under what conditions and by whom their food was raised.

Now that the year has passed, the Door County 100-mile Food Challenge participants are able to use the information gained during their research of local food sources to continue their intentional eating in a less structured manner. They also have identified some areas of difficulty as regards the availability of local foods and wish to report these to the wider community with the hope that some of the gaps in local food distribution might be closed with local economic development and agricultural initiatives. The gaps and recommendations follow.

Food source gap:  Local consumable grains are limited to wheat and corn. Oats, though grown readily in Door County, are not able to be processed here, and thus are unavailable to the consumer. Other grains such as rye, barley, sorghum, and buckwheat are also not readily available.

Recommendations:  Support the establishment of one or more grain mills which would include equipment such as a huller, to process a wider variety of grains for human consumption. Encourage growers to cultivate a wider variety of grains.

Food source gap:  Cooking oils are unavailable in Door County and the surrounding regions. Fats are limited to those derived from animal sources, such as butter and lard.

Recommendations:  Support the establishment of one or more oil pressing plants in Door County. Encourage growers to plant, in addition to soybeans, rapeseed, sunflower, etc. as oil crops.

Food source gap:  Local eaters needed to limit the variety of foods that they enjoyed on a conventional diet. Food stuffs that are not grown in this climate at all or that are seasonal, and thus not available year around, are lacking from the locavore’s diet. These include citrus fruit, fresh greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, and many other items.

Recommendations:  Support greenhouse agriculture such as is done by some farmers locally (e.g. Amy Stich of Cherrydale Farm), and by other farmers in climates similar or more harsh than our own. (See for example, www.ontariogreenhouse.com). Support specialty food production operations (e.g. mushroom growing, dairy goat husbandry).

Food source gap:  Although many local eaters enjoy working in their gardens and kitchens, growing, preserving, and preparing food, they are inconvenienced by the need to spend an atypical amount of time at these activities. In order that the wider population is able to eat locally, attention will need to be paid to convenience of acquisition of foods both whole and processed.

Recommendations:  Establish certified processing kitchens, possibly staffed by experienced food preservers, which are available for use by local growers for canning and drying of their harvests. (Excellent examples are the Algoma Farm Market Kitchen and the Oneida Nation Cannery.) Support the establishment of and diversification of local food processing operations including accommodations for artisan cheese making, sausage making, bread baking, pasta production, etc.

Food source gap:  Locavores in Door County find few opportunities to eat out. Although the awareness of the locavore market is increasing among restaurant owners and major effort is being made by some restaurants (e.g. Harbor Landing in Egg Harbor, The Cookery in Fish Creek and Perry’s Cherry Diner in Sturgeon Bay), the problem of distribution and acquisition of food stuffs for use in local menu creation continues to impede growth in this area.

Recommendations:  Continue and improve the networking efforts already begun between farmers and the owners of restaurants and grocery stores to establish reliable farm-to-table trade. Support development of Community Supported Agriculture operations such as Steep Creek Farm and Door to Door Local Harvest.  Encourage membership in and use of online networking resources such as www.greenleafmarket.com.

For more information about the Door County 100-mile Food Challenge and Sustain Door, Inc. please go to www.sustaindoor.org.