More than 120 representatives of the timeshare sales and timeshare resales industry met June 2-3, 2008 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to learn how they can play a greater role in protecting and preserving the environment. 

Ray Sirois, IT Director for Wright-Pierce, a civil engineering firm in Topsham, ME, is one of approximately 2000 people worldwide who are trained to give the presentation about climate change that Al Gore gave in his documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Sirois began the conference with an eye-opening program called, 'The Convenient Solution: Learn to Be Green'.

The timeshare representatives learned that:

• Nine of the past ten years have been the hottest on record.

• At the current rate of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, Massachusetts will have the same climate as present-day South Carolina and sea level will rise by 2 feet by the end of the century.

• Nationwide, the production of electricity is the number one contributor to greenhouse gasses; but in New England, it is transportation.

• Researchers at Princeton estimate that carbon emissions can be cut in half by 2050 by using technologies that already exist, but need to be put into place. The solution must include a combination of technologies (solar power, wind power, etc.) because the problem is so great and so pervasive.

Some of the simple, but effective changes discussed at the conference were based on a case study of environmentally conscious policies put in place at the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. These efforts included changes in water and chemical use, and in solid waste disposal; switching to more drought tolerant landscaping; using recycled materials in sheetrock and building studs in redevelopment; installing aerators on water faucets to conserve water; and providing soap bags for guests to take their soap home with them.

Noting that gas prices may make this the summer of the drive-to destination vacation, and that theme parks and other regional attractions are gearing up for what they anticipate will be a booming season, population-dense New England states could see record numbers of people at timeshare resorts and hotels. There are more than 1600 timeshare resorts in the US, with 11 percent of them located in the Northeast. Massachusetts leads with 46 resorts, followed by New Hampshire, which has 28 timeshare resorts.