The Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes is a non-profit organization that aims to expand the marketplace for sustainable living in the Finger Lakes region. In pursuit of this mission, we provide a variety of programs to support market transformation:

The Sustainable Enterprise & Entrepreneur Network (SEEN) is a growing community of businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurs working together to achieve ecological, social, and financial success.

Green Drinks Ithaca is our "unprogram." It's an open social for the sustainability-minded to gather without programming, sans agenda, pure fun.

Our Watt-Meter Lending program provides tools for businesses and residents to conduct electricity use audits.

Our Consumer Education program offers the public learning opportunities on sustainable products and services in energy efficiency, green building, green purchasing and renewable energy.

← Click on the program names to the left for more info on any of these programs.

Presenting the Green Resource Hub Board of Directors...

Abbie Webb (President) grew up on a small farm near Victor, NY. Her primary interests include: sustainable waste-resource management, small-scale local agriculture, and strategies that capture the entrepreneurial energy of small businesses to achieve broader environmental goals. She graduated in 2004 from Colgate University with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geography. In 2008 she earned her Master’s degree from Cornell University’s City and Regional Planning program. She works as an Environmental Analyst with Casella Waste Systems.

Bob Rossi (Vice President) earned his Masters of Science in Communication at Cornell and later lectured at Cornell on topics including HCI and information design. After falling in love with Ithaca, Bob has consistently found employment with different sustainability-minded businesses first as a web designer (Sunnywood Design Collective), then as a builder (Dovetail Builders), and currently as a skateboard manufacturer (Comet Skateboards). Bob has been happily car-free for 15 years.

Kate Richard (Secretary) moved to Ithaca from coastal Massachusetts to attend Ithaca College in 1999, graduating in 2003 with a B.S. in Applied Psychology and a minor in Outdoor Recreation. After realizing how much she loved the Finger Lakes region and Ithaca in particular, she decided to remain in Ithaca after graduation.
She realized that environmentalism in general, especially practical nature education, would be able to sustain her constantly shifting interests, resulting in a M.S. in Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Education from SUNY Cortland in 2007. Kate now happily combines her interests by working as a Realtor® and certified EcoBroker® at RE/MAX In Motion, specializing in and encouraging green real estate through education, resource services, and consultation. www.EcoPropertiesGroup.com.

Scott Hamilton (Treasurer) began his career in sustainability as an undergrad student learning about a concept called Social Wealth Creation - building social capital and innovations into enterprises that benefit society on a systemic level, thus sustaining the enterprise and the community for the long-term. Earning a Bachelors of Science in Economics with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Management at the Wharton School of Business, he quickly entered world of sustainable enterprise developing a preventative, holistic, alternative health management start-up in Philadelphia. In the Summer of '07 he was summoned up to Ithaca by his twin brother to help research the local food movement. Scott fell in love with the environment, the ecological sensitivity and creative potential of the community and decided to call Ithaca Home. Since 2008 he's been a director of Ithaca Festival and supported other regional festivals, supported the Connect Ithaca project, helped develop New Earth Living and joined The Green Resource Hub. Scott's mission - to transform The Hub into a social wealth generating enterprise.

Gay Nicholson has led Sustainable Tompkins since 2004 in designing and implementing an integrated program to advance the creation of a more sustainable regional community. As Program Coordinator, Gay emphasizes a systems approach to working with partners to build the infrastructure and social capacity for more sustainable ways of living and working. Projects and programs have focused on energy efficiency, green purchasing, sustainable community development, green jobs, sustainable enterprise, greening heath care, and economic/ecological justice. Gay was instrumental in the founding and development of the Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes, a subsidiary of Sustainable Tompkins, which focuses on consumer education and business support services in the areas of green building, renewable energy, green purchasing, and energy efficiency. Gay has previously worked in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, global warming, environmental ethics, land use planning, and land conservation. She has been an active volunteer in numerous community and environmental organizations, providing leadership from the local to the national level. Gay's undergraduate degree (with High Distinction) is in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia (1979), and her Master's (1982) and Doctorate (1991) are in Crop Physiology and Integrated Pest Management from Cornell University.

Perry Slack has lived in Virgil for 6 years. Born and raised in Maui Hawaii, Perry moved to the East Coast with his family at the age of 13.  After graduating high school in Southern Maryland he moved up to Cortland NY and started studying at TC3. From there he transferred into Cornell and in 2009 received a BS in Policy Analysis and Management.  He currently works as a research consultant at Concept Systems Incorporated. Having experienced and lived in diverse places and cultures, Perry realizes that it takes an active and engaged citizenry to change the status quo. He believes that the Finger Lakes region is in the forefront of developing a sustainable future and wants to contribute his energy to this effort. Perry hopes that together the people of the Finger Lakes region can create a healthier, greener, and stronger way of life. Perry is also a Master Composter (2010), a Habitat for Humanity Volunteer, a Greenstar Superworker, and a farmhand on his parents' farm in Virgil NY.

Robert Morache is President of New Earth Strategies, a design and sustainable development consultant with a focus on housing and pedestrian oriented communities. He has taught design at Syracuse University, presented on land use and transportation issues at Cornell, and has 20 years experience in the architectural field.

Of course, there are many volunteers and past board members who have played a crucial role in the fulfillment of the Hub's mission. It's been fantastic working with every one of you. We'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you that have helped out.

The Hub is grateful to the following organizations for their contributions to our efforts:

The Park Foundation
Tompkins County Solid Waste Management Division
Sustainable Tompkins
Ithaca College