CityView Magazine

50 | October • 2014 S ustainable Sandhills is quickly becom- ing a household name around Fayette- ville thanks to the popularity of their "pop up dinners" held in local food es- tablishments. However, Sustainable Sandhills is more than just these local dinners and has been in existence since the early 2000s. It was then known as Sustainable Fort Bragg. SFB was created to ac- knowledge their own environmental "footprint" and then to establish goals on having clean water, air and energy in order to diminish that footprint. In 2003, a steering committee met to establish the follow- ing four conditions that a sustainable society must meet: • Do not rely on nonrenewable resources. • Do not systematically increase synthetic products that don't biodegrade. • Do not degrade nature's services (trees that create oxy- gen, wetlands that provide habitat and filter water). • Make sure everyone's basic needs are met. Sustainable Sandhills hopes to bring cleaner air, water and better food to Fayetteville BY MIRIAM LANDRU Sustainable Sandhills is now a full-fledged independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization led by a volunteer board of directors and staff. In 2005 it expanded to two counties, Lee and Montgomery, plus the original six, Cumberland, Hoke, Harnett, Moore, Richmond and Scotland. e vivacious and knowledgeable Hanah Ehrenreich now leads the organization. She is a transplant to Fayette- ville from Syracuse, New York via her husband's military career. Her role is to make sure that Sustainable Sandhills continues to provide environmental goods to the commu- nity, engage with green business and also to make sure our green schools continue to run and have a strong presence in the community. ough Sustainable Sandhills certainly gives a lot to the community in terms of "green knowledge," Ehrenreich maintained that it's also about what the consumers and res- idents of Cumberland County get. "It really is more about what we get with a clean and healthy environment that's beautiful and pristine. It sustains us," she said. giving H A P P I N E S S Sustained Photography by Tiffany Parsons Fun and food at Sustainable Sandhills popular pop-up dinner

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