Kilowatt Ours Blog

This is Jennifer here, Kilowatt Ours Youth Initiative Director (and Jeff’s sister).

The school year is getting underway already and I will report periodically about students and schools taking exciting, energy-saving actions as we progress through the fall semester. For the moment, I want to share that I recently had the opportunity to present to a group of folks at the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity office, who will be moving in to their Habitat homes sometime this fall or next spring. This particular group is lucky enough to own Energy Star qualified homes!

I so enjoyed sharing the film with them, talking about Energy Star and home ownership, and giving them many ideas about how they can save even more energy in their already- efficient homes. I was able to give them all some CFLs, and they were so appreciative for both the bulbs and the practical information. One inquisitive woman commented that everyone should know about Kilowatt Ours! I couldn’t agree more!

Yes, Kilowatt Ours will be available for broadcast on public television stations this fall.  To find out if it will be aired in your community, please contact your local public TV station viewer services department.
This is an exciting time for us as we have a wonderful chance to share this message with a much larger audience.  We have many activities planned and opportunities for your community to be involved, so stay tuned!

My good friend and web marketing mastermind Chris Loch (www.whatisyoursecret.com) reminds me weekly that a new blog is created every second, somewhere in the cyber-world.  HOWEVER, one blogs dies every minute.  Those a fairly decent odds in our favor, and the last thing I want is for the Kilowatt Ours blog to become a statistic.  Yet, as you can see, it has been more than a month since my last post, bringing us painfully close to achieving the “blog demise factor.”

Today, my intent is to turn this around and make a commitment to a minimum of one new post per week, starting today.  That’s 52 new posts each year on average, so if I miss a week, I am covered as long as I post two the following week, or something like that.  You will see posts from me and the Kilowatt Ours staff –  news about our project, energy saving tips, and success stories that we learn about in our work to forge energy solutions for America (the best solution being conservation!).

This is an exciting time for Kilowatt Ours, as we prepare for national public TV distribution beginning this fall, and a fresh, new, interactive website and online community of energy successes and solutions coming soon.  I don’t want you to miss it, so, as I make this commitment to weekly blog posts, please do you part and tune in!

I welcome your comments on my first video blog.  This short, 2-minute video tells the story of my recent date with my wife Heather.  We had a blast and didn’t spend a dime on gasoline.

Check out the video, and please comment.

This morning I would like to say congratulations to Jennifer Barrie (my sister) for her steadfast and inspiring work taking Kilowatt Ours into schools and teaching students in Nashville and across Tennessee how to become energy conservation leaders.  The Kilowatt Ours Youth Initiative, designed and implemented by Jen over the past two years, just won the 2008 Governor’s Stewardship Award for Environmental Education.  This is a wonderful affirmation of hard work, dedication, AND the enthusiasm of young people helping our environment by saving energy in their homes, schools and communities.

Congratulations to Jen, and to all the teachers and thousands of students who are helping to change the world!

To download our award-winning schools curriculum, visit www.KilowattOurs.org/curriculum

To learn about the other Stewardship Award winners, visit www.tn.gov/environment/awards

I just learned that Kilowatt Ours won “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2007 South Dakota Film Festival in Aberdeen (September 21-23)!

This is a great honor, particularly since my dad Jim grew up on a homestead not far from Aberdeen, in Turton, South Dakota (population 65). We spent many summer vacations on the vast, flat, green pastures of this beautiful state, and I consider it one of my favorite special places.

Thank you South Dakota!

Today, I am saddened to learn about the untimely passing of my friend Jim Hager.  My memories of Jim revolve around our time working together to save America’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from politically-motivated oil drilling, and to advance more sensible solutions.  Jim and Jon joined me for a day in 2001 during a drive across Tennessee, comparing the fuel economy of an SUV and a more fuel efficient passenger car, while exploring our state in search of clean energy solutions.  Jim always made himself (and Jon) available for this cause, and others.  He displayed courage to use his talents to make a difference in the world.

Jim was an impassioned environmentalist, and a man of integrity.  I am honored to have had a chance to know him, and experience his wit, gentlemanly charm and boundless heart.

Thank you Jim!

I am inspired.

As I write my first blog post @ KilowattOurs.org, I am resting in the gorgeous Catskill Mountains of New York/Pennsylvania/New Jersey. I was invited to speak here by the Homestead School, an amazing Montessori program for grades pre-K through 6. A student group calling themselves the Green Power Alliance organized this event, “Your Coal Connection,” to raise money and awareness for the the effort to stop mountain top removal coal mining. Larry Gibson from Kayford Mountain, West Virginia is also here to speak. I am so inspired by these enthusiastic, motivated and caring kids and their passion for making a difference. They are a delight and I feel blessed to meet them and their parents. These students recently took a field trip to Larry’s mountain and one of the students wrote the short essay about it. These kids also handed some mountain top removal literature to former President Clinton during a recent campaign visit to their community. The kids urged Bill and Hillary to help the cause.

I believe the optimistic enthusiasm I feel here is the most powerful source of domestic, renewable energy our nation has to offer, and it is encouraging to see that we are now harnessing this power for good. Thank you Green Power Alliance!

For the locals that want to get started on saving energy, please contact Peter Vargo with Nu-Tech Energy Solutions, a regional energy consulting company that can help you cut your energy usage 30% or more in homes and commercial buildings. Peter can be reached at (570) 490 3928 or pete@tals-fishing.com. Peter serves a wide region including Eastern PA, southern NY state and most of New Jersey. Peter had a booth set up at the event here, and he carries a wealth of knowledge about energy solutions.

Another local group that attended the day-long event was the Catskill Mountain Keepers, an org doing great work to preserve the beautiful mountains in this region from energy development pressures. Check out their website at www.CatskillMountainKeeper.org.

Documentary photographer Mark Schmerling was also there with amazing photos of people and land affected by mountain top removal. Check out some of his photos at www.schmerlingdocumentary.com.

Thank you to Homestead School and Green Power Alliance for taking action, and most of all, for caring.

Do you think you have to spend money on expensive technologies to make a difference, help the environment, and cut your power bills?  If so, guess again.

One of the best energy saving tips that Heather and I use daily in our home is adjusting our thermostat to the most energy-saving temperatures.

Simply put, for winter heating, keep your thermostat at 68 degrees.  In summer, make it 78 degrees.  We use ceiling fans to improve comfort.  At night or while we are away from home for more than a couple hours, we adjust the temperature a few degrees further.

Our NES power bill runs us between $25 and $50 most months, and I attribute most of the savings to the 68/78 technique.

It works!  Try it and let me know how it works for you.

According to EPA, in the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Across the US, this equals the annual output of 12 power plants and costs consumers over $1 billion each year.

There are two ways to eliminate this slow leak, otherwise known as phantom power:

1) plug all electronics into power strips and switch the power strip off when not in use

2) buy energy star rated electronics

Learn more at: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductCategory_code=HEF