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 What You Can Do....In Your Community Energy Efficiency Success Stories Businesses | Cities | Schools | Places of Worship | Communities
Boise, Idaho: Green Businesses Recognized by City as Leaders in Clean Energy Economy Austin, Texas: Local Entrepreneur Starts Ethos Challenge to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions What does it do?
After using Ethos in my car and gaining an extra 30% on my MPG, lowering my engine's temperature and having the car drive happier, I sent a sample of Ethos to my dad in Israel, where gas prices are $6/gallon and the pollution is incredibly high. My dad drives a diesel Toyota for work and he saw 10% increase in his miles per gallon. Impressed with the results he opened his own distribution business in Israel and last week the main Israeli bus company Kavim, has started testing in their own cars. Here in Austin, I created the Ethos Challenge to see if I can get 100,000 vehicles in the Greater Austin are to use Ethos and reduce their vehicle emissions by at least 30%, resulting in a removal of 200 tons of daily pollution from the air in our city (that's 73,000 tons a year!). Here is a video of a few of Austin's drivers who have taken the challenge: The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has joined my challenge and you can see the president, Andy Martinez in a video to his members here. In the city of North Miami, mayor Kevin Burns and city manager Clarance Patterson are using Ethos as part of their green plan in all the city vehicles. Since our mayor, Wynn Will, is one of the 700 mayors who have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (like Mr. Burns), I'm trying to connect him to Ethos as well. Salt Lake City, Utah -- Local CEO Calls for Increased Renewable Energy CEO Peter Metcalf explains it this way on the Black Diamond website: "After taking a stand against former Governor Leavitt's policy to open previously protected Wilderness Inventory Areas in Utah to oil/gas drilling and coal mining in last summer and becoming active with the OIA Wilderness Recreation Task Force, we looked for ways to burn cleaner here at Black Diamond. When the Utah Clean Energy Alliance presented their new Utah Blue Sky Wind Power program, we saw an opportunity to practice what we preach." For more on Black Diamond, click here. Montana Hotel Does It With Pipes The system uses the fire sprinkler piping to convey chilled water, and employs the hot water system to both provide space heating and deliver hot water to the guestrooms. The efficiency of the system is enhanced by variable speed drives on the water pumps, and air exchangers to deliver fresh air to each guest room. Not only is this system efficient, but it also lowered construction costs by reducing the amount of piping that had to be installed to serve the facility. The Inn is saving nearly 124,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and more than 26,000 therms of natural gas on their utility bills per year. They are also preventing nearly 460,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. For their efforts, the Inn also earned the ENERGY STAR label in 2002. Read more. Oklahoma Subways Cut Energy Costs 40 Percent Sonoma Wine Company
Ferndale, Michigan: City Leaders Say 'We Can Do It' As a Cool City Owensboro, Kentucky: City Sets Example: Being 'Cool' Can Be Done Anywhere The Sierra Club and a citizens' energy interest group, which grew out of an energy film festival sponsored by the Sierra Club and the local Unitarian Congregation last year, developed a campaign to get the city to sign on as a Cool City. The campaign was strengthened in December with more volunteers from a new group, the Environmental Impact Council, which formed after an America Speaks Town Meeting in which environmental concerns made a strong showing among the 600-plus citizens who attended that event. The success of this effort in little more than a year shows what an organized group of citizens can accomplish and the power they can exert. One of the goals for the local government is to set an example for local businesses and citizens, to lead the way and encourage others to take steps to become greener and more environmentally conscious. Omaha, Nebraska: Mayor and Sierra Club Raise Awareness During CFL Giveaway
San Antonio, Texas: Green District Shows Schools Can Get There, Too In 1995, NISD's energy management program set out to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs and create an enhanced learning environment. The results have been astounding: They've already saved the district more than $20 million, for an average of more than $1 million per year. To create such amazing energy conservation, NISD partnered with the city's publicly owned utilities, CPS Energy and the San Antonio Water System SAWS. They combined both traditional and modern technological ways to save money: On one hand, they have taken advantage of rebates for fixing leaks in old pipe systems, replaced older toilets with low-flow toilets and retrofitted schools with energy-efficient lighting. At the same time, they used technology to control outdoor lighting, heating and air conditioning and created a paper-free scheduling system for events by using an online intranet system. NISD hasn't gone unnoticed -- and the innovations have won numerous awards!
Redmond, Washington: Teacher Challenge Aims to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Local Schools Conceptually modeled after the Cool Cities program, the Cool School Challenge aims to motivate students, teachers, and school districts to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions school wide. At the heart of the Cool School Challenge is the philosophy that big changes start with small steps, and that taken together, simple individual actions create a world of difference. Mike Town has created curriculum for high schools and had the opportunity to present this innovative model to the US Mayors Conference. The Cool Schools Challenge has trained many teachers in this new global warming curriculum and fostered fun competition between classrooms to reduce their carbon emissions. Day after day, Town works with twenty or more students as the advisor of Redmond High?s Sierra Student Coalition. This year, the students will begin a new outreach effort to businesses in Redmond. Launching a Cool Company effort in their city is a great example of students taking responsibility to be a part of global warming solution and reaching out to others to do the same. Town has led this charge in his city and beyond, building a strong sense of community each step of the way.
Monroe, Michigan: Sisters Use Sustainable Technologies to ?Green? Historic Motherhouse They incorporated sustainable technologies into their renovation process by using green plumbing, heating and cooling, and electrical systems. They even included geothermal heating and a graywater recycling system. IHM decided to recycle the 376,000 square-foot home instead of building a new one. The Motherhouse is home to more than 200 IHM Sisters and serves as a headquarters for the IHM congregation.
Charlotte, North Carolina: Clean and Green Festival Shows Local Residents How To Do It In addition to green education there will be lots of renewable energy demonstrations, live bluegrass music powered by solar arrays, hybrid and other fuel-efficient autos, and an outstanding barbecue lunch sourced from a local sustainable farm and prepared by Community Culinary School of Charlotte, known for training underemployed and unemployed workers for the food service industry. Sierra Club organizer Chatham Olive appeared before both the city council and county board of commissioners where he invited all members to attend Charlotte Clean and Green and presented them with a free barbecue ticket. "My goal for Charlotte Clean and Green has been to go completely out of the traditional box and partner with anybody and everybody in this community in order to green up this town," said Olive. We cannot do this alone." Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
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