Written by Eliza Laubach
Eliza Laubach
Eliza Laubach hails from the Midwest though her heart was captured by the Blue Ridge Mountains. She worked with AV from 2014-2016, first as an AmeriCorps Outreach and Communications associate and then as an Energy Savings coordinator, communicating the benefits of energy efficiency to residents of WNC.
Threats to the Tree of Life
Magnificent, strong and once thriving in Appalachian forests, oaks now struggle to regenerate. As deadly diseases spread in other regions, a new alliance is emerging to protect this key species.
Permaculture Ponds
The Todds use permaculture principles to create sustainable systems that can improve water quality, treat wastewater and provide other benefits.
Lichen: The Story of a Soil-Maker
Lichen, a symbiotic combination of fungi and algae, has helped create soil for billions of years and serves as an indicator of air quality.
Snail Tales
Did you know Appalachia has the most snail species out of any region in North America? Discover the important role our slimy little friends play in the ecosystem in this issue’s Naturalist’s Notebook.
The Energy Savings for Appalachia program is expanding: Part 1
After achieving success in the North Carolina High Country, we are expanding the Energy Savings for Appalachia campaign to the service territory of the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation.
Eliminating poverty housing with efficient and alternative energy use
When North Carolina’s Ashe County Habitat for Humanity formed five years ago, seven people came together to study how to best build a home. They made a commitment not only to affordability, but also to energy savings, and the board voted to build all Ashe County Habitat houses to maximize efficiency and place an emphasis on alternative forms of energy.
Video illustrates need for energy efficiency in the High Country
In the mountainous northwestern corner of North Carolina, many residents struggle to afford to heat their homes, especially during the region’s long, harsh winters. As part of our High Country Energy Savings campaign, we produced a video featuring the three winners of our High Country Home Energy Makeover contest that provides a glimpse of their experiences with high energy bills and the benefits of greater energy efficiency.
Two historic homes get some TLC energy
Meet two families in the High Country of North Carolina who paid extraordinarily high electric bills and still suffered from drafty homes—until they won energy efficiency home improvemetns in Appalachian Voices’ contest.
Meet Zack Dixon, grand prize winner of the home energy makeover contest
Zach Dixon, a resident of Boone, N.C., and the grand prize winner of Appalachian Voices’ High Country Home Energy Makeover Contest heats his house with space heaters, and chronically struggles to pay his electricity bills. With help from many partners around the High Country, we’re working to change that.
