Our Solar Array is Paying Us Back

According to our most recent PG&E Bill, our Solar PV array generated $31.73 worth of energy this month---that is over what we used.

What does this mean?

The electricity that we used in the winter, which totaled $75.00 is now down to $43.27, which is our TOTAL electricity use for this year, which started in September.

No, what does this really mean?

We used more electricity than we generated over the winter. And in the spring and summer we will generate more electricity than we need to balance out our energy use.

Our electric meter zeroes out in September. If we have made more electricity than we use, PG&E keeps the difference. If we use more electricity than we have made (from Solar PV array) we pay PG&E the difference.

Ah. Good deal.

Gifts keep coming in from Eco Footprint Winnings

As each day goes by I have more memories about my history of being "Green" or just plain having consciousness about the planet.

As someone else in the awards ceremony told their story, I realized mine was not dissimilar: My parents also grew up in the Great Depression; they taught me to reuse, darn my socks and sweaters, mend all things that could be mended, read labels, compare prices: for example, between Campbell's Soup and The Co-op Soup (from The Berkeley Co-op). My early years set me up for being green.

When I was around 11, there had been a huge fire in Tilden Park (Berkeley hills) and many trees were destroyed. I thought that if everyone got a "live" Christmas tree, once the holidays were over we could all plant our trees in Tilden. I wrote an article about it which I will share later. Apparently traditional (locally bought) Christmas-type trees were not the best fit for planting in Tilden. Personally I thought anything would be better than Eucalyptus, which I've never liked the scent of. Nevertheless, we planted our "live" Christmas tree from that year a few years later in our backyard. This tree is GIGANTIC now and rises high up over the backyard of my Dad's house in North Berkeley. I might add, it is home to many critters and provides lovely shade and I love it and what it stands for.

As far back as I can remember (while living in Berkeley--age 6+) we separated out our recyclables: We washed the cans, peeled the labels off, removed the bottoms, and flattened them. We would drive our recyclables to the Berkeley Recycling Center on Grove Street, now MLK Blvd and throw the bottles into the green, brown, or clear bins, and put cans and newspapers into the appropriate containers. It felt good then and it feels good now.

I remember the billboards and freeway signs that said, "It's Illegal to Litter." I wonder now, when I see trash on the sidewalk and in peoples' gardens near the local high school, if students know about this. Last time I checked it was still illegal.

What are we currently doing to cut down on landfill?

This is an interesting situation: We discovered a few months ago that our garbage container (the smallest option available through our city) was nearly empty each week. More recently, we noticed it was empty. We compost and recycle. What else is there, especially when you are not buying new things:-/ ? We asked our neighbors if they wanted to share a garbage and recycling container and got some positive results--Yay for like-minded people! But guess what? When we telephoned to cancel our garbage service we were unable to do it! Apparently we need to be "on vacation" for it to be okay to "suspend" the bill. Personally, I think that we all need to reduce our waste. If the city/county/state wants to follow the trend and "be more green" they might want to start thinking about what this means.

Comments? Ideas?

I almost forgot the main reason for writing this: Yes, as a winner of the Eco Footprint Challenge at SJSU I won a laptop. I thought that was all until I received an email saying that the Supervisor from Santa Clara County wants to give each of the winners a gift certificate. How cool is that?

But the real gift is to the planet. To wildlife. To our children, nieces and nephews. And to life!

Have a wonderful weekend!

References

Keep California Beautiful. (2010). License Plate Image. Retrieved May 30, 2010 from http://www.keepcaliforniabeautiful.com/ourprograms.html

Wikipedia. (2010) The Great Depression. Retrieved May 30, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

Ecological Footprint & how we live green

As a winner of the 2010 eco footprint contest with the lowest overall carbon footprint of SJSU students who participated in the contest I want to share some of the things we do to keep our footprint low. Although I was the "winner" it is really a team effort between Robert and me.

• grow veggies in our yard. there is nothing like going outside to pick dinner.
  
• shop at the Berkeley Organic farmer's market--bring our own bags
• time of use: we have our PG&E set up for time of use. So we pay a lot less because we only use the washing machine & vacuum cleaner before noon or after 6 pm
• solar panels on the roof
• solar hot water heater
• double paned windows
• insulation in the walls
• offset travel with Native Energy
  
• plant trees via The Green Belt Movement
• recycle everything. we just canceled our garbage service because we didn't have any!!!! we are currently sharing with a neighbor who also produces very little waste.
• we both drive a Prius. yes, we also walk places and take BART, but truly, a hybrid vehicle is a pretty decent way to go. our next car will be electric

There is much more. Let us know if you have any questions.