Becketwood seniors promote environmental awareness

With three grandchildren of their own, confronting climate change is more than a worldwide imperative for Jan and Richard Sutton, it is also a very personal family matter.

“We are thinking ahead to the world that our grandchildren and future generations will inherit. That’s what motivates many of us,” says Jan Sutton, who chairs Becketwood Cooperative’s Environmental Committee.

Sutton and her Becketwood neighbors are also part of a national movement known as Elders Climate Action. “ECA’s goal is to mobilize elders throughout the U.S. to combat climate change while there is still time to protect future generations,“ she said. “We have a very local focus. That is where we can have an impact.”

At Becketwood, Sutton’s ECA group organized a five-week training course to help educate co-op members about the broader climate issues. 

“The course  included a climate simulation,” she explains. “It looked ahead to 2030 and examined the climate impact in concrete terms  if current trends continued. Then we discuss the different steps we could take to mitigate these impacts.  At the last class, everyone made their own commitment to take climate action, using their own skills and interests.”

While Elders Climate Action is a recent initiative, Becketwood’s climate efforts extend back to 2000, when the co-op’s Environment Committee was established. “Environmental sustainability is more than a concern of a single group at Becketwood,“ said Susan Sisola, the committee’s former chair. “Sustainability is incorporated in our co-op’s core values which commit Becketwood to environmental stewardship and the use of environmental science and practices in the cooperative's operational decisions.”

Sisola explained that an environmental impact statement is now included in any project proposal that comes before the co-op’s  board for approval. As a result of a 2024 board directive, projects seeking  board endorsement must explain how the proposal will mitigate the effects of climate change at Becketwood.

“This policy’s intent is to make environmental concerns central to all decision-making at Becketwood going forward,” Sisola noted.

Becketwood’s Environment Committee is currently working with Hennepin County’s 2025 Plastics Challenge aimed at reducing the use of household plastics.  The committee is also involved in an effort to boost the number of Becketwood residents accessing renewable energy(solar and wind) through their local electrical utility, Xcel Energy.

“This may be a difficult time for many of us, given the approach of the new administration in Washington,” said Jan Sutton. “But we can’t get caught up in all this depression and anger, when we listen or watch the national news.  

“We need to keep working  at a local level and state level. That is where we can make a difference. Mother Earth’s conditions don’t change just because there is a new administration in Washington.

“My biggest concern is for my grandchildren. When I am gone, I don’t want them to say to each other, what did grandma do to deal with the issues we are facing today. I want them to know that I did something. I didn’t just stand there waiting for the catastrophe to happen.”