Borrow a cup of sugar and learn about solar too

Posted on September 21, 2010 by quest

Want to learn about solar power? Knock on your neighbor’s door. With 648 community solar tours registered to date the ASES NationalSolar Tour is the world’s largest grassroots solar event. This event offers you the opportunity to tour innovative green homes and buildings to see how you can use solar energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies to reduce monthly utility bills and help tackle climate change.

Maybe it’s tricky to connect the dots between climate change and human survival on the earth, but it is real and we all have an opportunity to something about it. For an interesting perspective listen to a green renaissance IV or read author Archil Daug’s writing.

NATIONAL SOLAR TOUR – HOUSTON 2009

This year ASES (American Solar Energy Society) expects more than 160,000 participants will visit some 5,500 buildings in 3,200 communities across the U.S.

Now in its 15th year, this event is coordinated nationally by the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society in collaboration with dozens of outstanding partner organizations. It takes place annually during the first Saturday in October in conjunction with National Energy Awareness Month. Among the menu of solar solutions showcased in this year’s National Solar Tour are investments that have helped a couple beat Wall Street with their green ROI, an Iraqi war veteran now fighting in the renewable revolution, solar-powered homes, schools, public agencies, condo complexes — and businesses that run the gamut from solar-powered poultry farms to funeral homes.

Richard Burns ASES National Solar Tour Manager says“Interest in the solar industry is cooking, and consumers across the nation are eager to sample its wares, which bring enticing tax credits, cash rebates, improved property values and cleaner communities to home and business owners across America.” To learn more about the Solar Tour, find a tour in your area, or register your own solar tour.

Climate Wealth a new possibility

Posted on September 20, 2010 by quest

By Jigar Shah: This week, business and non-profit leaders will meet in New York, for ClimateWeekNYºC, calling for bold climate action to secure a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future.  As they gather, this much is evident: Government and the general public do not believe that climate change solutions can scale to meet the problem, nor do they accept that reducing our carbon emissions by the 17 gigatons necessary to stabilize global temperatures won’t harm economic growth. So, to build the political will and garner public consensus, we need to convince them that it isn’t a choice between the economy and the environment.   As CEO of the Carbon War Room, I see ClimateWeekNYºC as a tremendous opportunity for us to convene as a community, identifying the best path for a transition towards a low-carbon economy.

By expanding our efforts to focus on new financial and economic tools we can capitalize on the largest wealth creation opportunity of our lifetime.  Today, there are cost-effective climate change solutions capable of reducing 17 gigatons of carbon from our atmosphere which at the same time save people money and stimulate the economy. In fact, as reported by McKinsey & Company, 50 percent of all carbon reductions can be achieved without adding any undue burdens to consumers. Unfortunately, market failures are preventing capital from flowing to more sustainable low carbon solutions. Read on

GRID Alternatives and Sunvalley Solar work greater LA

Posted on September 20, 2010 by quest

GRID Alternatives the Oakland based non-profit that has been providing solar solutions for low-income families living in the Bay Area has partnered with Sunvalley Solar to offer solar in Southern California. Sunvalley Solar is a leader in providing solar system solutions with extensive solar energy technologies.

Under the California Solar Initiative program, GRID Alternatives has become the Program Manager meant for the SASH (Single-family Affordable Solar Homes) program. The solar initiative program has been funded by the ratepayers of California while being conducted as per the auspices of CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission). SASH happens to be the nation’s first solar incentive conducted especially for the low-income families while Sunvalley Solar provides variants towards the solar system solutions in supporting GRID Alternatives under the SASH program.

Recently, GRID Alternatives had successfully conducted the company’s first Greater Los Angeles Solarthon, by installing solar systems meant for low-income homeowners living in Piru, Ventura County. For over ten years GRID Alternatives has been focusing towards bringing energy efficiency as well as well as solar electricity to low-income homeowners while providing community members with hands-on experience and training for the usage of renewable energy technologies.

First Lady to hosts UN sustainable event in New York

Posted on September 19, 2010 by quest

Visiting spouses will also tour Stone Barns Center, a New York farm and education center.
On Friday, September 24th, First Lady Michelle Obama will host a special event for the spouses of Chiefs of State and Heads of Government participating in the United Nations General Assembly at the Stone Barns Center, a non-profit farm and education center north of New York City. Spouses will take tours of the farm where they will see herbs and other ingredients that will be used in the luncheon that follows at “Blue Hill at Stone Barns,” a world-renowned restaurant at the Center. Spouses will also be introduced to Stone Barns Center’s one of a kind children’s education program, where students from a local school will demonstrate their experiences in hands-on farming such as harvesting vegetables and collecting eggs from pasture-raised hens.
Mrs. Obama will deliver brief remarks at the luncheon and will be followed by Dan Barber, the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Blue Hill. This event begins at 11:00 AM and will be pooled press by domestic and international media.
Stone Barns Center is part of a national movement to create a sustainable food system that benefits the community’s health and environment. The Center teaches children, farmers, chefs and thousands of annual visitors about a better way of growing food. Located in Pocantico Hills, New York, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a working farm with a mission: To celebrate, teach and advance community-based food production and the enjoyment of fresh, nutritious food.

WHITE HOUSE GARDENS

Last fall, Mrs. Obama invited spouses of leaders attending the Pittsburgh Summit to dinner at the home of Teresa Heinz at Rosemont Farm, a working farm that raises livestock and produces fruits and vegetables, some of which were used in the meal. Last spring, Mrs. Obama broke ground on the new White House Kitchen garden with students from a local Washington, DC school. Since then, the garden has yielded 1,600 pounds of vegetables, berries and herbs which have been used in various White House events and donated to local soup kitchens.

Prince Charles hosts eco fashion show in London

Posted on September 19, 2010 by quest

As the recent shows in New York, London, LA, Vancouver, have shown eco fashion has legs. It’s a pretty safe bet the field will expand as it becomes quite apparent that eco fashion is all about innovative design, sustainability and ethics through out the supply chain.

You gotta give props to Prince Charles. He recently hosted a Sustainable Fashion Show at the grounds of Clarence House, which is ground zero of the Prince’s START environmental action plan for the UK. The purpose of START is to promote and celebrate sustainable green living across the United Kingdom. With START, the objective is to present an inspiring picture of a sustainable future. The program will do this by highlighting the very best examples of sustainable practice in the UK, and showing how everyone can make positive changes right now.

London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson,said “This fashion show proved that eco fashion and sustainable chic, which are often associated only with macrobiotic yogurt, hemp shirts and raffia work, can be funny, elegant and commercial.”

During 2010, Start will grow into a vibrant and diverse program, which will engage people right across the UK. Some topics include recycling, saving water, saving energy, using renewable energy and healthy living ideas.

Check out video from the Green ShowsNew York and a local eco fashion shop in Vancouver.

Green building in Cape Fear

Posted on September 19, 2010 by quest

The Cape Fear Green Building Alliance holds its annual green building tour 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 25. The tour features a home at 3404 Talon Court, which received the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum certification and has appeared in this blog before. The rehab also has been the subject of stories in the StarNews, USA Today, EcoHome and Green Source. Six other sites are on the tour, which begins at Snipes Academy of the Arts and Design, 2510 Chestnut St. A recent StarNews story on the building mentions its “motion-sensor lighting controls, a full recycling program, permeable parking lot, rain collection system for irrigation and increased daylighting in the classrooms.” Participants may take their own cars to the other sites on the tour or ride a trolley from Snipes.
The tour also includes the offices of Monteith Construction Co. at 32 N. Front St., which has been on the annual tour in the past; Midori on 29th, townhouses under construction at 23 S. 29th St.; Sapona Green Building Center, a retail store offering green building materials, at 716 S. 17th St.; Buffalo Wild Wings, 206 Old Eastwood Road, the first restaurant in Wilmington to implement solar hot water; and 5707 Wrightsville Ave.
Tickets are $15; $12 for alliance members. You can buy them and get detailed information online at the alliance’s website, by Stacie Greene Hidek

There’s more to Cape Fear than the two versions of the movie Cape Fear that were made in this trendy and diverse North Carolina town of Wilmington. Cape Fear North Carolina is a headland located on the eastern shore of the United States along the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Fear is the southern most part of North Carolina, and the Cape Fear River which drains to the coast near the headland is a habitat for all kinds of interesting Cape Fear wildlife, including squirrels, deer and more. Also located in the town of Wilmington, home to Cape Fear, is the Cape Fear North Carolina Museum. When combined with a trip to the beach at Cape Fear, the museum is a great way to spend an afternoon and learn all about this southern section of North Carolina.

Remember the two CAPE FEAR movies? See here and here.

Check out a “Green Dome” building video here.