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!

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.