a couple things: progress at home and a giant WTF
First thing: LOOK!
It’s really a thing of beauty. Siding. Who knew I’d ever be so attached to siding! I guess I just had a hard time believing it would ever actually happen. It’s been a long road (as you know), and here we are in the home stretch. The roof and siding installation will be complete next week, and I think I might be a little bit sad. There won’t be anyone here banging on the walls and tramping through the basement every morning. They’ve really become like part of the family and the morning routine at this point. I think it’ll be as big a transition getting used to the absence of the Beyond Green team, as it was getting used to their daily presence in the beginning. And maybe even more difficult.
When we commenced this Deep Energy Retrofit in an effort to reach a 70% energy reduction, I really had no idea how emotionally involved we’d all become. But we ended up on quite a journey. For us, it’s our home of course. The investment is obvious. And for them it’s their work, their livelihood, and ultimately, their pride. These are some pretty heavy duty connections that we all have to this project. In my mind, that’s what really makes it all so beautiful. In the beginning I figured the environmental benefits were the most beautiful, but now that seems like kind of a giant bonus on top of a true feeling of community. We really feel driven to help others gain access to this consumption overhaul.
I know I just made it seem like the project is complete, but that situation is only temporary. You might be thinking, what about the windows and the solar hot water? So here’s the deal. The windows are next, but we have to raise some money to avoid that too-much-debt problem. Our plan is to get the windows in before winter, of course. Our new deadline for the utility incentive program is December 31st, so that’s a motivator. And we won’t get the other half of the incentive money until we complete all the steps of our project.
So fundraising is the current task at hand. We’ll be setting up a paypal account to accept donations online. They won’t be tax deductible, because we’re not a non-profit; but we’ll send shwag like bumper stickers and tote bags. And folks who contribute a more substantial amount will have their names on a sculptural plaque that will hang on our house as a big giant thank you to all who helped, and a reminder to us that we didn’t do this alone. We also have some event planning in the works for dinner/silent auction. Truly, our long term goal is to get our feet wet in local fundraising and then be able to pay it all forward. We’d like to have annual events and form a trust that contributes to future local retrofit projects and green improvements. It’s funny how the path to progress can just snowball into more, better, bigger ideas. And a little progress on the home front can be a wordly motivator.
The solar hot water will probably be postponed for now and rolled in to our longer term goal of using renewables 100% to heat and power the small amount needed for our efficient home. Honestly, besides the expense, it was the idea of cutting down trees that convinced us to take our time and strategize this portion of the project. We love trees!
For more details and photos of the recent work please visit hers30orbust.com.
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So that was the sappy, politically correct part of today’s programming.
Now onto the second thing…
The biggest WTF that I’ve seen in a looooooooong time. Can you guess? Right, the F’ing oil spill. I mean, seriously? Who thought this wouldn’t happen? Why wasn’t there a plan? And most of all, what are they going to do? And I do believe THEY, meaning BP, have to do something. It’s one thing for the feds and humanitarians to step in after a natural disaster (this doesn’t qualify as natural) or an act of war or violence. BUT THIS? This is 100% completely BP’s fault. Well, it’s the fault of whoever regulates this ridiculously reckless and short-sighted off-shore drilling process too. But BP just happened to get the ever so shameful opportunity to be pioneers in the underwater oil spill fiasco.
So what are they going to do? I’ve heard that deploying some nuclear device(s) or a hydrogen bomb are some ideas out on the table. Hmmm, not good ideas. Nobody knows what the outcome of those extremes could be. It’s likely to be so much more catastrophic than anyone could imagine. The whole situation really sickens me, because, like most human-caused destruction, the incentives were money, greed, selfishness. Now the world is changed forever. And those effected span the entire food chain, only to await a lifetime of ugly surprises. I can’t even think about what the long term repercussions are from an event like this. People, animals, fish, amoebas, plants, water, air, dirt, sand, currents… changed forever. I don’t like to judge or anything, but I wonder if anyone high up at BP is religious at all. Maybe causing major environmental havoc should be added to the list of commandments. Thou shalt not destroy the earth. Thou shalt not destroy the air we breathe. Thou shalt not contaminate the water. Might be fun to have some new ones, since that whole adultery thing seems to have fallen by the wayside.
Hear! Hear!