Green

Talk about over simplification. Where do you begin in attempting to define that word? There are so many implications and variations and deviations and simplifications. See we’ve already gone in a circle. The key is to make it personal. Define not what Green is, but what it means for you to be Green. I may have stolen that line from JFK a little bit, but he had something going for him so I don’t mind admitting theft. I have considered myself an advocate of the environment for many years, and very seriously for a good portion of those years. I am continually redefining and molding my view of the issue. Considering my experience in the communications field of a nonprofit that has fought this Green fight for over 30 years, I have been able to review the many ways CNT has advocated Green causes. For me, being Green, is figuring out how to convince more people to take on the cause on their own. In their own neighborhood, in their own household, in their own way. The connection I have made between what people need and what the environment needs is that there is so much money in being Green.

Here’s the tiny slice of the Green pie that I have fit into my own life at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Our Power Smart Pricing program is just an introduction into a world where saving green is Green. We offer the opportunity for homeowners to pay an hourly updated market rate for electricity. Members can use power when prices are lower than the flat rate a typical customer would pay. PSP presents a chance for homeowners to take control of not only their electricity bills, but it also provides a safety net for their utility companies by increasing reliability and limiting the need for an expansion of power plants. The market patterns reflect the system wide need for use. With a monetary based incentive to spread a household’s usage throughout an entire day, the electric companies will not run into situations where it needs to provide all that power at once, dramatically reducing stress placed on the grid, increasing reliability, and preventing the combustion of all that polluting coal.

This is just one program that we run under our Green roof. That’s literal. We are one of 13 nation wide Platinum Certified Green buildings. Our overall goal is to fund and administer projects that solve environmental problems in urban areas. Transportation efficiency, environmental sustainability, a car-sharing company are a few examples of the work being done here. We spend our entire work day figuring out how to get people to be Green. You shouldn’t have to worry how to make life Greener. The more changes you can make without noticing the better. Let Earth-saving people like me figure out the ways you can do that. Just live your life. We’ll make it Green.

In review, Green means... well it means whatever you want it to mean. I hope that you will be able to find a chance that you can contribute in your own little way. It’s not a matter of a life overhaul. It’s a matter of finding an opportunity that fits into your life. Some people can’t put up all the money up front to make dramatic changes. Some buy 2 dollar compact fluorescent light bulbs. Others (read: better people) buy two thousand dollar photovoltaic systems. Both Green. It’s too hard and unreliable to create a new Green you. What if you look good in blue?