The Neighborhood Carbon Challenge

Organizers hope that small steps to reduce energy waste and other carbon-producing activities will, at the neighborhood scale, have a big impact on the area's carbon footprint.

"For the challenge, people pledge to complete three energy-conservation actions - which range from taking shorter showers to carpooling - in four weeks. Participants will be eligible to enter a drawing to win prizes donated by local businesses.

But the conclusion of the challenge is far from the end of the overall effort.

'Our end goal is to have (residents) make neighborhood groups on sustainability when the campaign is done,' said Chelsea Thaw, a 2008 Crescent Valley graduate and one of the four Summer of Sustainability interns."