I Can Haz Wind Power!

[pegkerr]

This is what I did yesterday to make the world a better place: After reading this article, I contacted my congressional representatives using the Amplify website here, informing them that I want them to stop funding abstinence-only sexual "education" programs. Hasn't Congress figured out by now that it doesn't work? I also contacted Barack Obama, using the same site, to remind him of his campaign promise.

Today's Decrease Worldsuck action, I think, is particularly cool. I never would have found out about this or checked it out if I hadn't started this Decrease World suck project.

This is what I did today to make the world a better place: After reading this article, and starting to do some thinking about my electricity useage, I did a little research. I remembered something from yesterday's action (getting a free song for agreeing to reduce my carbon footprint): the singer, Mary Higgins, had a list of ten things you could do to reduce carbon. When I read about Minnesota electric useage, it jogged my memory about one item on the list: "Call your electric company and switch over to green power. Most utility companies offer renewable energy options for just a few dollars more a month."

So I went to my electric company website and checked it out. Sure enough, I can sign up to get blocks of kilowatt hours, 100 kilowatts at a time, by signing up for their windsource program. I called the power company, and it will increase my electric bill by approximately $7 a month to switch my useage to 100% wind-powered. Purchasing one (100 kWh block) of Windsource for one year has the following environmental benefits:

Carbon dioxide avoided: 2,449 lbs. CO2
Miles not driven: 2,400 miles
Trees Planted: 1/3 acre

We average about 750 kWh a month. So by switching over, we'll be saving a lot of CO2. Yay! Go me.

If you call your own electric company and make the switch, let me know!

Comments

[whiskeychick.livejournal.com]

i will; but can't do it until tomorrow. But sounds like a total plan!

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Amplify website looks like a good one -- thanks for the pointer. I used it to email about the abstinence-only issue and will have to remember to check back there often.

I switched our power last summer, after picking up a brochure about it at a local sustainability fair. It's about $8-10 more a month, but totally worth it.

We're planning to build a new house in the next couple of years, with solar panels. The cool thing about that (well, one of the cool things) is that if we produce more power than we can use, it'll go into the grid and the power company will actually pay us for it!

[katakanadian.livejournal.com]

One thing to investigate about going solar is whether you can get more bang for you buck with a solar hot water heater rather than solar PV (or maybe do both). Solar hot water can dramatically reduce electricity consumption and pay for itself much more quickly (usually). The optimal system depends a lot on the latitude and orietation of your home so it's worth paying a few bucks for a professional assessment.

Also keep in mind that building a new house uses a great deal of energy and materials which could cancel out solar energy savings for a very long time. Evaluate carefully whether you really need a new home or can make do with minor renovations. If a new home is determined to be necessary then scrutinize carefully building plans to avoid wasting energy and money. Contact your local green building council.