The Leader has graciously run a column for over 2.5 years to give voice to Local 20/20’s perspectives on local sustainability and community resilience. However, we realize not everyone in town knows what Local 20/20 actually is. So, we are using this column to share some history and current projects, and to invite you to our upcoming Meet and Greet to learn and experience more of what we do on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 1-4 p.m. at the Port Townsend Community Center at 620 Tyler St.

Founded in 2006, Local 20/20 is an all-volunteer, grassroots non-profit organization located in East Jefferson County, with a mission of “Working together toward local sustainability and resilience – integrating ecology, economy and community through action and education.” Our name came from both 20/20 vision and our vision for the year 2020.

One of our first initiatives was partnering with Jefferson County’s Department of Emergency Management to organize neighborhoods for Emergency Preparedness. Today, nearly 150 such neighborhood groups have convened. The annual All County Picnic, with its focus on community preparedness, grows the network.

At the same time, we worked to start neighborhood-based community gardens, and over 20 gardens continue today, some of which serve as Food Bank gardens.  Also formed was the Quimper Community Harvest, a volunteer “gleaners-group” that contributes an annual average of 5 tons of locally grown fruit to schools, senior housing units, and local Food Banks throughout the county.

Local 20/20 also has successfully catalyzed:

• The Local Investment Opportunity Network (LION), now independent, which connects local investors with local businesses seeking to start up or expand, a model that has now been expanded across the nation
• The North Olympic Exchange, now an independent chapter of the larger Fourth Corner Exchange
• The shift from Puget Sound Energy’s private energy corporation to our own PUD
• A Jefferson County Farm Survey, interviewing 57 local farmers
• The Taming Bigfoot carbon-footprint contest
• A walking times map for Port Townsend
• Intergenerational Art Happenings, and Compassionate Communication Workshops
• Advocacy for source separation of our recyclables

To help keep the community informed, Local 20/20 also distributes weekly announcements to >1000 subscribers; it includes not just Local 20/20’s own events, but also those of many organizations whose missions align with ours.

Our future efforts include:

• Helping to complete an updated greenhouse gas inventory for Jefferson County
• Creating a food gap analysis - listing what food products are not produced locally but could be
• Organizing a Repair Café in 2020
• Offering new specialty trainings for Emergency Preparedness and expanding our network of neighborhoods
• Organizing another Farm Film Festival hosted at both our City and County Libraries.
• Continuing to re-stock our Little Free Green Library in Chester Square, uptown
• Offering artistic installations, events, and Intergenerational Art Happenings, to help our community envision how life here could be!
• Continuing to do research and outreach on how Jefferson County can become more sustainable, in terms of transportation, energy, population levels, food, etc. 

Want to learn more?

Come to our Nov. 10 Public Meet and Greet, 1-4 p.m. at the PT Community Center.

Visit various Action Group tables; join a mini-workshop on a topics, including compassionate communication, climate change, waste, etc. Meet the volunteers who bring our mission to life!

BTW, there will be light refreshments; please bring your own cup and food utensils and please carpool, bike or walk. To learn more, check out L2020.org. 

(Cindy Jayne leads the Local 20/20 Climate Preparedness Action Group, is active in a variety of other Local 20/20 Action Groups, and serves as First Speaker on the Steering Council.)