Lifelong Learning in the South Carolina Lake Country

Keowee Key adds a new program targeting homeowners’ academic pursuits.

2021 may have been an unconventional year, but Keowee Key is thriving. Over the past few years, the homeowners association has rolled out $14 million of improvements to existing amenities, as well as a few new projects to keep their residents healthy, happy, and engaged. The renovations include additions to the pool, bistro, fitness facilities, club, and golf courses. Recent additions to the community consist of new walking trails, bocce and shuffleboard courts, and four new pickleball courts. Plus, Keowee Key has decided on a new program to accommodate homeowners’ academic pursuits: a speaker series.

The speaker series just started this year, but it already has an engaged following of audience members both online and in person (due to the high percentage of vaccinated individuals in the community).

Dr. Weston Dripps of Furman College (as well as the Shi Institute of Sustainable Communities) gave the inaugural talk focused on Earth’s climate. And, the Earth is heating up. This is due to greenhouse gases like CO2 and methane which trap solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, and over the past couple centuries, the presence of these gases have increased. This means higher temperatures, which lead to more hurricanes

by Madison Swart

and increased flooding in coastal areas, wildfires, and droughts in dry climates. These issues also have secondary effects such as health impacts and damage to homes.

Not wishing to end his presentation on a negative note, Dr. Dripps opted to give the audience suggestions to reduce their own environmental footprints. Surprisingly, some of the most impactful choices don’t include taking five-minute showers or remembering to turn off lights (although those are helpful). The most effective changes happen in your kitchen. One of the best things you can do is cut down on food waste. According to Dr. Dripps, “Thirty to 40% of food is wasted.” So, composting and doing some scrappy cooking could make a big impact. Plus, eating more meatless meals can help reduce your environmental impact as meat requires more resources to produce than veggies.

There have only been two installments so far, but a number of community members have taken to the program. Plus, community members in attendance have the chance to pose questions to the visiting lecturers. With a variety of new topics and experienced presenters on the horizon, Keowee Key’s new speaker series shows no sign of stopping.