Presbyterian Village taking steps to go green, form team

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, according to an ancient philosopher. Presbyterian Village in Fort Scott began its journey to go green with a single step more than 10 years ago when the active-living community began recycling newspapers.

Today, the residents and staff are forming a "green team" approach after executive director Ginger Dierksen presented her idea for going greener at a meeting.

"I've been thinking about trying to take more active efforts to 'go green' due to the rising costs of fuel and energy," Dierksen says. "We've also talked more about giving back to the community this year than we have in the past. The residents and staff have agreed that it's important to do so. For this reason we want to support our environment, as well."

Presbyterian Village's director of environmental services, Fred Hixon, says part of his job is to help residents and staff become more energy conscious.

"In the past year, we've been replacing incandescent light bulbs with the energy-efficient compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs," he says. "Our community has all private apartments, so it helps residents save energy, especially in areas where lights are left on for longer times."

The CFLs operate on 75 percent less energy than their incandescent counterparts, and they produce 75 percent less heat which helps decrease the demand on residents' summer cooling needs.

The design of Presbyterian Village, built in 1994, allowed for plenty of insulation and natural solar lighting in large open spaces that face the southeast, helping to conserve additional energy.

Hixon says he's trying to do his homework and present "green" solutions to the Village's residents who often manage their own apartment homes. "Their residences are fully equipped with appliances including washers and dryers, so they are quite interested in energy conservation," he says.

Presbyterian Village also collects and recycles aluminum cans. The money earned helps fund special, fun activities for the residents and helps families with medical emergencies.

"We're considering plastic recycling, but I'm waiting until the Fort Scott recycling center can be open every day," Hixon says. "We're really fortunate to have two volunteers from the community who pick up our recycled newspapers, sort them and take them to the recycling center on the weekends. They've been a big help to us."

Residents also appreciate the Village's ongoing commitment to adding trees and bushes outside. "Our residents deserve to have beauty all around them," Dierksen says, "and adding the landscape elements is another way to help reduce the effects of pollution and carbon dioxide emissions."

This year, staff again added greenery inside and out, and the residents planted a raised garden bed by the pond and a tree out front.

Dierksen admits that she is a nature lover and helping Presbyterian Village go greener just seems like the right thing to do.

"The Village is absolutely beautiful," she says, "and we have a spectacular pond that is visible from the large dining room area and a nice patio to sit on and enjoy nature. We see all kinds of wildlife on our acreage here, and our residents just love it."

Dierksen hopes that by doing their part to conserve and preserve, Presbyterian Village can continue to enjoy the natural beauty all around them for years to come. "If taking small steps now to 'go green' will help us accomplish that, then our continuing efforts are well worth it," she says.

"As Maya Angelou says," she adds, "'we must not only hope for change, but work for change.'"