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Want to see what happens when a small community in Minnesota rolls up its sleeves and gets to work on clean energy, local foods, and local entrepreneurship? Then head to Silver Bay, Minnesota, population 1,900, nestled along the shores of Lake Superior.

Susan and Mike Edgington, owners of the Adventure Inn in Ely, now provide guests with energy efficient living, including solar-heated water and floors, and provide benefits to the surrounding environment in the form of increased green space to absorb runoff. The Edgingtons also “freecycled” old equipment including toilets, sinks, windows, doors, and furniture.

The BioHaus at Concordia Language Villages (CLV) is one of the first buildings in the US to receive the German Passivhaus certification. It features air-tight insulation, natural lighting, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and solar thermal panels. The goal of the BioHaus is to educate visitors and enhance their personal awareness of how to more positively affect the environment.

The Do It Green! Directory has been promoting Minnesota’s green businesses and organizations online for a decade. With more than 13,000 visitors each month, it’s a great place to let sustainability-minded community members find out who you are and what you can offer them. The Directory is published by Do It Green! Minnesota, a local non-profit organization.

A Metro CERT affiliate since 2008, the City of White Bear Lake is committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability, which permeates all facets of its operations.

On July 26th, nearly 60 people gathered at the Saint Paul Central Library for Metro CERT’s Local Government Resource and Networking Event. The goal for the morning was for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant recipients to come together to share stories, best practices and lessons learned from their projects.

On July 26th, 2012, the City of Saint Paul showed how solar energy works in Minnesota with a tour of multiple new solar installations in the downtown area. Joined by members of various local governments in the Metro area and other interested members of the public, Metro CERT learned about three new solar installations at the RiverCentre and Science Museum.

Residents in Saint Paul had the opportunity to learn about the basics of solar energy and the incentives and rebates available for installing solar energy systems at the Metro CERT Solar Works! workshops for Saint Paul East (on June 7th at Battle Creek Recreation Center) and Saint Paul West (on June 13th at the Western Police Station).

Low-income families are often forced to sacrifice energy efficiency and the environmental health of their homes for the sake of a bargain. Not so for five families in Northfield, MN. Thanks to a partnership between several local organizations, five foreclosed homes are being re-envisioned as models of energy efficient, affordable housing.

Aiming to decrease local reliance on non-renewable energy, the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) and Iron Range Resources investigated local communities’ Comprehensive Plans to determine how many of them addressed energy conservation and efficiency initiatives and to what extent action was taken.

Seeking to reduce its carbon footprint by 11% in three years, Rosemount High School was resourceful in utilizing support from local organizations. Rosemount High received guidance and information from Minnesota Schools Cutting Carbon (MnSCC) and the Minnesota Energy Challenge, and funding from MnSCC, Metro CERT, and Dakota County Safe Streets for various aspects of the project.

Here’s an equation for energy efficiency: ($300 × 3 high schools) + 92 youth = solar success.

Churches across Minnesota and the country are looking at ways to reduce their energy costs while at the same time enhancing the comfort and safety of their buildings.