BlueGreen: A second chance at getting it right

Willo Kelly

When state Sen. Marc Basnight declared, “I want Dare County to be green,” Willo Kelly was there. She immediately flashed on an improvement: “We should be BlueGreen.”

For the director and founder of the newly organized BlueGreen Outer Banks, the expansion of the green concept resonates on several levels.

“Earth plus sky plus water is what defines our region” Kelly said. “Green is so thirty-five years ago,” a reference to the overuse of the phrase in product lines, advertising and “pop environmentalism.”

Like many projects, the journey from idea to fruition came in fits and starts. Kelly’s first brush with the environmental movement was in ninth grade, when she placed first in a high school science fair, besting juniors and seniors with her model of a flat solar panel-powered house.

During the 70s energy crisis, her interest was rekindled. But as soon as the gas pumps were flowing again, Kelly noticed conservation retreated from the public consciousness.

The meeting with Basnight sparked the process again. But Kelly found herself busy with her daytime job as the legislative affairs representative for the Outer Banks Homebuilder’s Association and the Outer Banks Association of Realtors. Before that, Kelly was executive director of the Currituck Chamber of Commerce.

Last year, the sudden passing of her brother became one of those life-changing events when one realizes time does and can run out. Kelly decided if she was ever going to get BlueGreen Outer Banks off the ground she needed to “get on with it.”

As one who represents industries often at odds with the environmental movement, Kelly sees no conflict with her latest endeavor. She believes environmental stewardship makes good business sense as well as enhancing the tourist industry.

“The area is already doing so much environmentally,” Kelly says, pointing out the local interest in solar and wind, as well as the popularity of eco-friendly activities such as surfing, kayaking and running. “Do you know Dare County is the only North Carolina county with its own glass crusher?” she asks. A bit of trivia that Kelly views as affirmation of the region’s eco-roots.

Carl Walker of the Dare County Recycling Center made one truck BlueGreen.

BlueGreen Outer Banks can become synonymous with an environmentally friendly coastal community and can become a model for others,” Kelly said.

With a mission statement to “coordinate, support and enhance sustainable community initiatives through educational outreach, marketing and community collaboration,” BlueGreen seeks to facilitate organic economic development.

A mouthful to be sure, but Kelly provides some examples. Near the top of her list is the creation of ”BlueGreen Community Standards” that will certify local businesses, restaurants and rental homes as “BlueGreen.” Energy audits would be used to establish certification sustained by annual reviews.

Seeing a housing market approaching build-out, Kelly also predicts a change in the building trades. The building industry will focus more on remodeling than new construction. That could include up-fitting existing structures to BlueGreen standards. Not only would this create or sustain jobs, Kelly says, BlueGreen designation would also help differentiate rental homes and local businesses from their competition.

She doesn’t stop with building, citing the need to nourish the local arts and crafts industry, especially by producing items made from local, natural materials.

If all of this sounds like a branding effort, you are correct. “Having one county voice for environmental standards, policy and coordination of efforts is important,” Kelly said.
The group can also serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas and a clearinghouse for grant requests.

The organization will be non-profit and non-political, stoked by an influential board of directors that includes Nancy White of the Coastal Studies Institute, Laura Martier, executive director of Dare County Arts Council, Beth Storie of OneBoat Outer Banks, Tom Haddon of Haddon Homes and Robert Perry, director of the Albemarle Ecological Field Site for UNC’s Institute of the Environment.

Kelly is a strong believer in the environment as a determining factor in the public’s choice of vacation destinations. She cites one example from her stint with the Currituck Chamber of Commerce.

“There used to be a recycling bin in Duck . . . ” she said. “Visitors in Currituck knew it was there and every summer, they would hold their recyclable trash for a week and drop it off in Duck on their way out of town. When Dare county removed that bin, these people called all summer to the Currituck Chamber wanting to know where the recycle bin had gone.”

And what if BlueGreen Outer Banks had existed 10 years ago? How would things be different today?

“I bet those huge power lines they are putting up now would not be there if the entire county had taken action. They would have placed them underground,” she said.

As the local economy matures and shifts from building to remodeling, Kelly sums up her goals in one simple statement; “We have a chance to do it right the second time around.”

The BlueGreen Outer Banks Board

Willo Kelly
Government Affairs Director
Outer Banks Home Builders Association
Outer Banks Realtors Association
P.O. Box 1104
Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948
(252) 202-7927
willokelly@gmail.com

Tom Haddon
Haddon Homes Inc.
P.O. Box 1868
Nags Head, NC 27959
252-267-2287
tom.haddonhomes@mindspring.com

Nancy M White MLA Ph.D.
Director, UNC Coastal Studies Institute
P.O. Box 699
217 Budleigh St.
Manteo, NC 27954
252-475-3663 Fax: 252-4753545
Cell: 252-414-7757
nmwhite@csi.northcarolina.edu
www.csi.northcarolina.edu

Robert T. Perry
Director
Albemarle Ecological Field Site
Institute for the Environment
University of North Carolina – CH
Bell House – Headquarters
217 Budleigh Street
P.O. Box 699
Manteo, NC 27954
Cell phone: 252-305-4569
Bell House phone: 252-475-3663
fax: 252-475-3545
rtperry@email.unc.edu

Laura A. Martier
Executive Director
Dare County Arts Council
104 Sir Walter Raleigh Street, 
Manteo, NC 27954-9419
252-473-5558
www.darearts.org
info@darearts.org

Ivy Ingram
Planet Pleasing Goods
(252) 449-4326
www.planetpleasinggoods.com
Ivyray@earthlink.net

Lee Nettles
Managing Director
Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
One Visitors Center Circle
Manteo, NC 27954
Ph. 252-473-2138 fax 252-473-5777
nettles@outerbanks.org
www.outerbanks.org

Beth P. Storie
Executive Editor
OneBoat Outer Banks
Certified Co-Active Life Coach
252-202-6596
bpstorie@yahoo.com
www.outerbanksthisweek.com

Posted in Environment