Robert and Ian Meredith in “Paper or Plastic, No Thanks!”

I finally put my plan into action when I came across Sierra Club’s “Spring 2012 Eco-Comedy Film Competition” in February that seemed to be a perfect match for my idea. The goal of the contest was to make a humorous film of three minutes or less with a green message.  The films were judged on three criteria:

• Humor
• Addressing the issue of green jobs and/or clean energy
• Reaching a broad audience beyond just environmentalists

My son Ian and I were in Los Angeles at the time, which posed some logistical challenges, but we were fortunate to be staying at a hotel called Oakwood that caters to child actors. It was here where we met the remaining cast and crew of our short: three boys from Plano, TX, North Carolina, and Michigan, and a wonderful Film graduate student named Jarrett New. Austin’s homegrown Whole Foods Market was the obvious choice of company to work with. The employees at the Whole Foods Glendale location in California were wonderful–many thanks to all of you for your support!

In a matter of three days, we filmed, edited and sent our video off. We’re quite proud of our entry “Paper or Plastic, No Thanks”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-NS8VWf5Jo

Alas, despite being a worthy entry, we were not the big winners. The victor was a short called “Clean Coal by the Bituminous Marketing Agency“ created by Mythtakenproductions. It is a brilliant, ironic take on the marketing schemes used to position coal plants as a good source of energy. Congratulations to Mythtakenproductions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-NS8VWf5Jo

As far as my writing, directing, and producing capabilities go—I know, I won’t quit my day job, thank you very much.  Still, it was a fun experience and I’m thrilled with the end product and its worthwhile message.  Pass it on to Austin and beyond!

Ian Meredith in “Paper or Plastic, No Thanks!”

Susan Meredith

Google Earth has put together an animated collection of images revealing how the Arctic ice has shrunk since 1979.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, this year, the frozen cover is the second smallest it has been since record keeping began. The worst year was 2007. In addition, the ice sheet is thinning, 80% of the icy body now consisting of “the youngest, thinnest ice, which has survived only one or two melt season” (NSIDC statement).

Despite claims that global warming is not real, we can see the impact quite clearly through these images.

If an average individual showers 10 minutes a day, a conventional high-flow showerhead, which emits about 3.5 gallons per minute (gpm), uses 12,775 gallons per year.

That’s enough to fill more than 182 bathtubs.

Care for a bath or one-hundred-and-eighty-two?

A low-flow 2 gpm showerhead, on the other hand, uses about 7,300 gallons per year for individuals showering 10 minutes a day. That’s a 43 percent difference in water waste and energy bills.

Many modern showers are already low-flow, but the ones that aren’t, along with the high-flow showerheads in older homes, can be very easily and inexpensively replaced by low-flow heads.

You can test if your showerheads are low-flow or not by performing the following simple test:

It really was nice speaking with so many people interested in energy efficiency, as well as meeting those working in similar fields to ours.

So, without further ado, our booth:

I suppose now that you’ve seen the faces, I should introduce you to the rambunctious bunch. Starting from the left:

Robert Meredith is quite attached to his new Nikon camera, causing all employees to flee at his arrival.  Nevertheless, his striking Welsh/Australian accent lures them back to attention. Robert is co-founder of Go Green Squads, making good use of his 30+ years as owner of construction companies in Australia and America.

Raye Ellen is the accountant/office manager/candy lady. Not only does she prevent the office from obliterating itself into a whirlwind of papers and confusion, but she also ensures that members of the squads are never too healthy by placing tootsie roll pops, Cheez Its, and caramels throughout the office.

Susan Meredith holds the world in her pocket. A writer and thinker, you can find Susan contemplating all aspects of the business from how we can impact society’s understanding of energy efficiency to how we ended up with so many different colored “Go Green Squads” shirts. Always looking to educate and improve lives, she wrote Beyond Light Bulbs: Lighting the Way to Smarter Energy Management to illustrate the energy solution to the general public, and included a chapter on how she and Robert began Go Green Squads.

Jason, the field manager/sales guy, enjoys making a sale as much as he does a delicious taco. He hopes to one day become a creative timesheet writer, inventing a new form of expression for those who feel timesheets should be so much more than just a list of mundane tasks.

Lisa, essentially the greatest human in existence, writes some of the blog entries as a part of her admin/marketing position at Go Green Squads. She enjoys Raye’s Cheez Its and is the newest member of the office squad.

Tieu Thanh Trinh, the HVAC manager, is also known as “triple T.”  He takes his tenacious tendency to be a terrific leader to work and spent much of the trade show talking tactfully and tasting tea.

Anyhow, we had a great time at the conference and met many interesting people (the guy dressed as a lion and “Wonder Woman” come to mind). It’s definitely something we’d like to do again next year.

It was the evening of May 4, 2007 when the tornado struck Greensburg. After the disaster, 150 residents met to decide what would become of the small, rural town. They concluded that if they rebuild, they should do something great: something that would make people want to stay.  That’s when the city decided to go green, not for environmental reasons, but because the residents needed to save money after the storm. Greensburg became the first city to pass a resolution requiring all structures to be built to LEED platinum standards.

Since the tornado, the town has undergone awe-inspiring changes. New houses are constructed in a sturdier, more sustainable shape, special insulation has been added to buildings, wind turbines and rainwater ponds scatter the town. Smaller changes are also present such as low-flow showerheads and improved recycling habits by residents. Although the movement began as a financial solution, citizens became accustomed to living a highly sustainable lifestyle, and came to realize that it is not difficult to be green.

How environmentally friendly we are is largely determined by community. We measure our lives side-by-side to those surrounding us, considering their habits the norm. In normal cases, individual choices may fault vaguely in one direction or the other, but we tend to limit our stray from the life patterns of family and friends.

In Greensburg, necessity caused the entire city to become more energy efficient. As a community, the residents supported each other in implementing changes, leading the residents to live more comfortable, rewarding lives. However, there is no need to wait around for a disaster. The key is to first inspect our own personal conventions. Once the individual figure outs what he can do to improve his life and the environment, by sharing these ideas with others, a community can do something phenomenal.

We have trouble understanding what isn’t measured out in front of us. This is equally true in regards to energy usage. Homeowners may want to be energy efficient, but can’t generally gauge their habits until they receive their bills. Even then, it is difficult to tell which specific habits caused what price increase. For instance, was the astronomical AC bill a result of keeping the temperature low during the day or that one weekend when Grover the Great Dane pushed the back window open without anyone noticing until Monday?

But, I am conserving energy

One way to gain a clearer measurement is through digital tools. According to The New York Times, a year-long government study was conducted in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where 112 houses were supplied with digital thermostats and computer controllers connected to water heaters and clothes dryers.  Through this technology, homeowners could set goals regarding energy usage and costs, and watch up-to-the-minute results on how their consumption matched these goals.

On average, the households saved 10% on their monthly bills. If these were placed in households across the nation, NYT claims, “Over a 20-year period, this could save $70 billion on spending for power plants and infrastructure, and avoid the need to build the equivalent of 30 large coal-fired plants.” (Read full story here)

Once you understand how your habits are effecting your energy consumption and by how much, you can make better decisions about what to do differently. One cost effective tool to help you do so is a kilowatt meter at about $25, which tells you how much energy your devices are using when.  You can check out this money-saver blog for a list of user results.

According to Meredith, the main considerations with windows and doors include “heat radiating from the sun, heat conducting through the windowpane and frame, light, and airflow” (Meredith 56). The choices you make depend on what kind of house you want.

Things to pay attention to:

1. The SHGC Rating

How much heat can enter through the windows is measured by a solar-heat-gain coefficient (SHGC). The higher the rating, the more heat can get into your house.

2. The U-factor

The U-factor measures how much non-solar-heat flow is conducted through glass, frame and spacer materials for windows and glass doors.  A low U-factor prevents heat from escaping in cold weather and absorbs less heat during hot weather—Treating windows with certain types of coating such as low-E (emissivity) and using curtains and blinds can help reduce the U-value. Low-E is always better in hot climates, but is trickier in cooler climates because low solar-gain glazings perform better in summer but higher solar-gain glazings perform better in winter.

3. Frame material

Some materials are stronger conductors than others, causing heat to pass through more easily (this is bad). Aluminum, for instance, has high conductivity unless it is layered with nonconductive material.

4. Triple-Pane it

More layers provide better insulation. “Double-paned or even triple-paned windows reduce the amount of heat that transfers through while still allowing light through” (Meredith 56).

5. Location

The placement and shading of windows has a significant effect on the temperature of your home. For more heat, place more windows or remove the shade from windows on the west and south sides of the building. To keep things cool, cover those on the west and south and expose those on the east and north sides. You can also open windows on opposite sides of the room or ventilate through a high window in order to increase airflow. Putting windows in stairwells can further cool the building.

So, here is a quick summary of what you should go for, depending on whether you are a polar bear hoping for a fresh, icy abode, or a camel partial towards a toastier environment.

Please, make yourself comfortable. You won’t be for long.

So, you want to be energy efficient, but don’t want leave your house guests fearfully scanning the premises for root canal drills?

There is a way around the “scary dentist’s office effect.” Many don’t realize that fluorescent bulbs, as well as LED lights, are available in warmer shades than Count Dracula white. You can sometimes come across warm bulbs at Wal-Mart or Lowe’s, but they are more easily found online from sites such as Amazon, www.wayfair.com, www.smallparts.com, or www.1800lighting.com.

There are those who like the soft white light of regular CFL’s, but for a homier look, warmer energy-efficient lights are a great option.

You would think we would be taking advantage of this VIP access to our local massive ball of gas. Ironically, although Texas has the most potential for solar power, it also makes the least use of it. The Lone Star State is the number one carbon emitter in the US, despite the fact that, according to Environment Texas, “30 square miles provides enough solar energy to power the entire state” (www.environmenttexas.org).

We can focus on our oil troubles or we can focus on moving towards the enormously hopeful source of energy surrounding us. Let’s direct our energies toward increasing the use of solar power in Texas.

P.S.

If you’re concerned about the costs of adding a solar system to your home, check out the stats from the State Energy Conservation Office. Turns out that from the very beginning, you can save more money via solar panels than you lose with loans to purchase them.