Spotlight is a new series featuring a different Sustainable Putnam supporter each month. It’s easy to share your story! Just click this link to answer a few questions and tell us what sustainability means to you. Share a photo of a favorite natural place in your town, or a photo of yourself. Or both! Every month we’ll pick one story to share on this News page. Now, on to our first Spotlight, featuring Pete Elder.
Where in Putnam County do you live?
In the Town of Kent.
How long have you lived there?
25 years.
What is your favorite thing about living in Putnam County?
Hiking into the woods and getting lost only five minutes away from our house!
Why is sustainability a priority where you live?
We are so lucky to live where we do — in a place full of beauty and extraordinary biodiversity. Kent has some uncommon habitats and many rare plant and animal species. A few vast, unbroken forests provide critical habitats. When we remember to do so, we pause and hear the tree frogs and Barred Owls in the evening, the Wood Thrush, and the Carolina Wren in the mornings. I sincerely appreciate driving back from meetings in the city, arriving home, and getting out of my car to hear the coyotes howling at dusk. We need to be stewards of this land and protectors of wildlife. I often think of the Lorax, "I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues," who shared, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
Pete, thanks for sharing, and for being our first Spotlight contributor!