Homer Alaska - News

Photo by Lindsay Johnson, Homer News Kyra and Neil Wagner: Their "home is practically a demonstration project for reducing one's carbon footprint," writes one friend.

Kyra Wagner, a Homer resident since 2000, believes this town could save the world. After talking with her, you might feel like you could help with the rescue mission.

In her understated way, Wagner works constantly to make her community a better place to live, for now and for the future.

To simplify and avoid making the story sound like an ode to herself, she will tell you that she doesn't have a job, that she just does things she enjoys — like home improvement projects, gardening and volunteering.

Among the things she enjoys, Wagner coaches high school debate and serves on the library advisory board, the Cooperative Extension Service state advisory board, the Southern Kenai Peninsula Communities Project, the Pratt Museum building committee, Homer Youth for Environmental Action, the Homer Farmers' Market board, the garden club and Sustainable Homer — in addition to working on her home improvement projects, taking classes, gardening and maintaining an open house.

"She's just a volunteer extrordinaire," said Lolita Brache, Kyra's first boss in Homer at Kenai Peninsula College.

"I couldn't do what I do anywhere else," Wagner said.

Raised on a Colorado beef ranch, Wagner earned a double major in Spanish and international trade and relations and a minor in archaeology from the University of Northern Colorado. She arrived in Homer 10 years ago with $80 in her pocket after nearly four years of work in the Peace Corps and traveling in South America.

Though she didn't see Alaska as an obvious place to settle down, she came to visit Marla McPherson, her hometown friend from Colorado,

McPherson connected her with a couple of short-term, wildlife-related jobs, which gave Wagner enough of a taste of Alaska to know she liked it.

"I started desperately looking for another opportunity to stay since my other alternative was to return to the states and live in a huge, impersonal, cinderblock apartment building next to a strip mall in a suburb of Denver with my brother," said Wagner.

Despite great affection for her brother, her decision to stay in Homer was clear when she landed a VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) job at KPC.

Soon after that, she met Neil at a mutual friend's dinner party.

"There was a tense week and we've been connected at the hip ever since," Kyra said.

McPherson calls them "two peas in a pod; both very driven, full of energy and good will. Both think a lot and process a lot."

The Wagners are thoughtful about what they have and what they use.

"They are a great example of people 'walking their talk' when it comes to sustainability," Anne Marie Holden, city of Homer's special projects coordinator, wrote in an e-mail

What's the talk? That small, community-based and supported societies are more resilient to the impacts of peak oil and climate change, and that building these self-sufficient local economies is necessary for the continued well-being of people on Earth.

"Neil and Kyra's home is practically a demonstration project for reducing one's carbon footprint," Holden wrote.

The couple lives in a big, "recycled," as Kyra calls it, house about a mile out East End Road. They've made big improvements to their two and a half acres in the five years they've lived there, adding a solar panel, high tunnel, greenhouse, orchard and ducks. A root cellar and well-outfitted shop are located in the house, which is heated with an efficient wood stove and a passive solar water system. The house is much larger than they need, she said, but it's hard to imagine them hosting their many short- and long-term visitors in a smaller place.

"Instead of investing in Wall Street we invest in our house and our community, " explained Neil.

Kyra insists that they're not "sustainable," but they definitely think about how to do better.

She said incorporating sustainable practices into daily life is exceedingly simple once you start thinking about the greater ramifications of your actions. For example, the Wagners still have running water and a fax machine, but they choose to have a small refrigerator and often walk to appointments outside of their home.

Yes, they ride bikes and recycle, but perhaps most importantly, they share.

"She's generous with her time, generous with her home, her food, her garden," Brache said.

While her beliefs are strong, Wagner maintains an open mind.

She loves the contrary nature of Homer and finding ways to reach out to all walks of life.

"She thrives on talking to people with different ideas and seeing what she can learn from them," Brache said. "She's always excited to be learning something new and to be sharing it with someone else."

Sharon Whytal, coordinator of the Southern Kenai Peninsula Communities Project, said Wagner "knows how to connect the dots with different approaches and different aspects of community that need to be brought together. She helps people collaborate ... be problem solvers as a group and a community."

While she is unfailingly committed to the community, Wagner says she has no desire to lead an organization. "She is a leader and she is an organizer but her style is more of a facilitator," Brache said. "She could help a roomful of people get something accomplished in a short amount of time without manipulating or having a predestined goal."

Wagner said while people may disagree about the causes and solutions for the world's current state of affairs, some similarities outweigh differences.

"What people want is just to get together, pay attention to what we eat and feel good about it," she said

Living with an enabled attitude is far more effective than being depressed about it. She said there are a lot of activists who exhibit the steps of grieving, like anger and denial, but she likes to think of activism as a party instead of a protest, so works to keep her messages to others positive and apolitical.

"She focuses on the positive and helps move things forward that way instead of harping on the negative. She's very effective and very refreshing," Holden said. "I just think she's an inspiration."

Wagner's quick smile and easy nature don't disappear when she's had a long day.

"I work so much because there is so much to be done. I don't work when I can't see any future challenges and I can't see any upcoming opportunities," Wagner said.

"She's just an all-around community person. She's great at seeing how things connect in the big picture and sees a positive approach to living in the world we want to live in," Whytal said. "She's a breath of fresh air."