eNews March 2025

Thank you community: these projects are the result of

your ideas, passion, and ACTION

for a more caring and sustainable Whidbey.

Want to get involved? Have ideas? CONTACT US

SUN POWER

Here are a few ways you can honor the Spring Equinox:

• Kicking Gas is hosting Solarize Island County, now through July 4th. The program offers free home assessments, discounted prices, and vetted local installers to ease the process of going solar. Residents can reserve their free solar assessment on the program webpage. Last year Solarize Island County helped over 140 homeowners with free solar assessments, many of them choosing to move forward with an installation. Check out the free solar workshop on Thursday, April 17th.

• Visit the newest public solar installation on South Whidbey: the renovated Langley Library has 9 kilowatts. Can you spot them? They are stealth!

• Help us plan for a local celebration of Sun Day around the Fall Equinox in September. Bill McKibben is imagining a worldwide outpouring of love for clean energy. He says "we’re on the edge of this extraordinary possibility for solar. I’m excited about figuring out how we do huge parades of e-bikes and inaugurate dozens of community solar farms, and have thousands of Americans opening their homes so their neighbors can see their heat pumps." Do you want to help organize the Whidbey Sun Day celebrations? CONTACT Us!

PREPARE with and for Neighbors

WCA is a sponsor for an exciting event for South Whidbey: a Neighborhood Resilience and Emergency Preparedness Conference. Hosted by our South Whidbey Fire Department, this has been a long-time dream of Fire Commissioner Mike Noblet. He initiated neighborhood cooperation and preparedness in his own Useless Bay community many years ago and will share that personal story. He is one of several inspiring speakers who will help us initiate our own neighborhood conversations for mutual aid. In the event of a major disaster (earthquake, wildfires, flooding, big bluff slide, long term power outage) our Emergency workers are too few to help us all. It’s up to all of us to be prepared to care for each other and then to thrive. This isn't about fear, it's about loving and caring for each other. We can have fun preparing together, learning stories about how we all came to love this island and sharing our dreams for its resilience.

Be part of this milestone day!

Register now and bring a friend!

Saturday, April 19, 9 AM to 3 PM

South Whidbey High School

Nor is Participation Optional

We are not alone, and we are not powerless. As an individual it’s impossible to imagine making a difference. BUT as a group, shoulder to shoulder, we are mighty. Our community is rich with opportunities to engage, take part, direct energy and action toward common goals. This month’s Island Conversations will highlight some of the impacts of Federal actions on the people and environment in Washington and on Whidbey. Brief presentations from local organizations will showcase opportunities to plug in. Our goal is that each individual feel empowered and connected to a community, a larger, more powerful movement to preserve and restore our climate and our democracy. 

At our March conversation, South Whidbey Fire Chief Nick Walsh delivered a tough message: In a big emergency our mostly volunteer emergency responders will be overwhelmed and unavailable. Real preparedness requires us to build mutual support networks with our immediate neighbors. Read the report and attend the Preparedness Conference on April 19.

Share ideas and strategies for

effective and uplifting climate ACTION!

Carpool to the Conversation!

Meet up at the Bayview Park & Ride at 5:40.

Thursday, April 3, 6 PM

Snacks & Social 5:45 PM

St. Hubert's Church, 804 3rd St, Langley

Our Fund for climate resilience continues to grow with another four donations this month! We are one-third of our way to our annual goal of $45,000 for local climate resilience projects. Have YOU made your donation yet? Even if you drive an electric vehicle and your house is solar powered, you still have a carbon footprint from riding the ferry, buying food, and creating waste. Every dollar you contribute will go toward local projects that increase the resilience of our island to the environmental challenges of climate change. Meet the 2024 awardees.

Thank you for contributing,

and tell your family and friends!

Calendar