Carbon Free Girl - A Race Car Driver's Journey to Be Carbon Neutral

earth hour, energy star homes and more...

April 3, 2008

I was in Homestead Miami Speedway for the IndyCar opener this weekend. I went there to talk to sponsors and race teams to try to get myself back in a race car. More specifically, a fast race car with [begin shameless sponsor ad] an eco friendly company on it so I can be a voice for the environment among drivers, race teams, and the millions of race fans around the world. [end shameless sponsor ad]

Kiwi called from Germany today (he's on a work trip) and said that there are solar panels all over Germany. We need to catch up around here. I haven't seen a single home in the North Carolina area with solar panels yet. I can't wait till we can move out of this apartment so we can install them and set a good example!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend today. He was telling me about one of his buddies who is "into all that green renewable stuff like you" and apparently my kindred spirit installed a rainwater collection system at his home. Recently he was washing his car with his rainwater and was ticketed by the city. It's illegal to use rainwater to wash your car??? Hmmm.... note to self: must look deeper into this law.

Kiwi and I are shopping for an energy star home. We are planning on installing solar panels, rainwater collection (if it's not illegal in our county that is), solar tunnel skylights and all kinds of cool eco building products-- as soon as we find the home. I will be documenting the greening of our house here. I found this cool site about detoxing your house and a list of the ten best green home remodeling products of 2007. I see many home projects in my future. And just because I feel like it I'm posting this new GE commercial:

Did you celebrate Earth Hour on March 29? I did along with more than 380 towns and cities and 3,500 businesses in 35 countries. Here are a few examples of how successful it was:

In Bangkok alone, Earth Hour saved 73.3 megawatts of electricity, Deputy Bangkok Governor Banasopit Mekvichai told Reuters.

By turning out the lights for one hour on Saturday, participants in Ontario alone prevented 200 tonnes of greenhouse gases from polluting our atmosphere.

Fiji’s Electricity Authority (FEA) has revealed that Earth Hour on Saturday resulted in energy savings of approximately 11.2 MWh (megawatt/hours). He added the FEA also recorded emission reduction of 7.34 tonnes.

More than 160 of Denmark’s biggest companies participated in the shutdown, dousing office buildings, factories and warehouses.

In Christchurch, New Zealand the combined efforts of residents, businesses and communities to make a stand and reduce energy use had cut consumption for the hour by 12.8 per cent - more than double what had been estimated and the equivalent of the average weekly power consumption of 420 homes.

Columbia Water and Light estimated that Earth Hour resulted in a 1.72 megawatt drop in the city’s electrical load, according to a news release. That’s equivalent to the amount of power used by 70 homes in Columbia for one day, according to the release.

Iconic Australian buildings including Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge to Melbourne's Flinders Street station switched their lights off at 8pm local time.

In Canada, the 553-metre CN Tower in Toronto and the surrounding skyline were plunged into temporary darkness.

In the US, landmarks such as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Chicago's Sears Tower went dark in the closing hours of the event.

The lights were switched off on six main roads in Bankok and three of the city's landmarks were also left in darkness, including the Temple of Dawn, the Rama VIII bridge and Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

In Britain, The Prince of Wales' residence in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, and Winchester Cathedral were among those plunged into darkness as part of Earth Hour.

I think Earth Hour is going to get bigger and bigger every year. I wish we could do it more often - once a month, once a week even. But then it would lose it's symbolism and many would not participate.

Also, there are a ton more new links on the eco newsfeed.

Leilani