As you may remember from my previous post, Grid Alternatives is a Bay Area non-profit that teaches volunteers how to install solar panels while helping low income residents cut costs on installing a new solar system for their home.

This weekend I took the plunge and found myself standing on top of a roof, where I discovered there are many steps involved in a solar installation, only the last of which involves the panels.

When we arrived, the team leaders quickly divivded us up into a ground team and a roof team and then launched right into the project. While the ground team stayed below to size up the inverter and electrical circuits, the rest of us went up to the roof to learn how to set the feet and tracking system that support the rooftop panels.

I quickly learned that setting the feet can be a messy process. Applying tar to secure the feet and to stop up any potential roof leaks, I soon had tar all over my pants, hands, feet, and even in my hair… Luckily, the Grid Alternatives team came prepared with some biodeisel to clean all it off and I was soon reabsorbed in the next steps of aligning the tracking and testing the efficiency percentage of each panel.

The teams were an interesting mix of Grid Alternatives veterans and newcomers, and it quickly became apparent why people get hooked on volunteering for installs with Grid Alternatives: not only were the team leaders easy-going and interested in sharing their seasoned knowledge, the other volunteers were also quick to exchange practical and scientific experience with the those who didn’t have as much familiarity with the solar realm.

All in all, it’s safe to say I’m officially hooked. Learning how to install solar panels (for free!) was one of the easiest and most fun ways to spend my Saturday, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you’re interested in signing up for a training and an install day, check out www.gridalternatives.org, and I will probably see you there.

This weekend at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Washington, you can hear the likes of Bjork, The Arcade Fire, Manu Chao and the Beastie Boys. And if you listen closely, you might also hear the sigh of atmospheric relief as Carbon Harmony neutralizes the effects of all carbon dioxide emmissions resulting from this year’s Sasquatch!

You may remember from my previous post that the United States produced at least 6,008.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2005 alone. With a number this outstanding, how can music fest lovers feel rest assured they won’t add to it when they make the trek out to see their favorite bands?

With Carbon Harmony, a festival can actually neutralize its carbon footprint and then some by calculating its carbon emmissions and then purchasing “a larger amount of carbon reduction credits” to actually lower the total amount of CO2 in the ozone layer. This allows for a festival to not just prevent further global warming, but to actually contribute to the growing movement in global cooling.

“Carbon neutral is a start,” says founder John Humphrey. “That gets you to zero. But why not go a step beyond and reduce the overall amount of CO2 in the atmosphere?”

Founded by Sustainable Energy Partners, Carbon Harmony begins by purchasing 10% more carbon reduction credits than you need to neutralize your carbon footprint. With the Carbon Harmony mindset of “Why stop at neutral?” you can choose to go above and beyond with as many carbon credits as you want.

To see how you can be a part of a more carbon neutral music experience, visit http://carbonharmony.com

If not us, WHO? If not here, WHERE? If not now, WHEN?

These are the questions that gave birth to the Bay Area Urban Alliance of Sustainability three years ago. With a mission to "Inspire and integrate the sustainability movement,” and a vision to "Support the transformation of the world into a harmonious social, economic and natural environment for the benefit of all," UAS is working to connect local green organizations and individuals through programs centered around networking and community education — essentially giving people a platform where they can access and collaborate with others in the local green scene.

Being a volunteer-run organization, the easiest way to get directly involved in UAS is through volunteering or becoming a member.

As a member you get a number of benefits, including an individual, hour-long sustainability consultation about easy ways to reduce your eco-footprint. You can find out more about anything from feasible food options to green jobs in your local area. You can also ask about other help topics or discuss various green solutions you’ve seen or been involved in.

When people in your zip code sign up, UAS will organize an area-specific potluck to connect you with other green people in your neighborhood.

Members also have access to sustainabilty consultants via phone and website. Check out www.uas.coop for the e-newsletter, or to find out more on collaborative green solutions in the Bay Area.

Photo Credit: Ecocity Builders

What if your commute to work included an experience in the following:

• Plant and pedestrian-friendly plazas
• Pedestrian streets
• A bike ride
• Rooftop gardens
• Bridges between buildings
• Car-free streets
• And neighborhood waterways

How different would we feel if our cities were designed “for the long term health of human and natural systems?”

At Ecocity Builders, this question is asked every day with an urban re-design approach that treats each city as a giant living organism, with each building an organ, and each human being a cell in it.

Blending social and environmental ecology to reshape our cities by “returning healthy biodiversity to the heart of our cities, agriculture to gardens and the streets, and convenience and pleasure to walking, bicycling and transit,” Ecocity Builders uses various educational materials, world wide conferences, and local hand-on projects to provide a medium for integrating urbanism with dynamic living systems.

Coming up in 2008, the next Ecocity World Summit will be held in San Francisco. “We want to encourage people who have great ideas and projects to write it up and present it at the academic and talent scouting sessions,” says executive director Kristin Miller. Click on the website’s call for papers to learn more, or check out www.ecocitybuilders.org and read the newly released EcoCities: Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature, second edition, by Ecocity Builders founder Richard Register.

“Turn on, Tune-in, drop out.” The words that defined a generation were uttered by Timothy Leary at the first Human Be-in 40 years ago in Golden Gate Park.

Initially planned to address the eminent issues of the decade, the original Be-In has evolved into an art/music/digital cyberculture exploration that now focuses on the latest in the GREEN movement. The 2007 theme of Biomimicry is designed to be “a launching pad for sustainability initiatives that matter.”

Happening “on Earth Day Weekend in San Francisco,” the program will include a Biomimicry Symposium, a Green Techné Exhibition, Live Performances, and DJs with Interactive Installations. All of this will be centered around the theme of Biomimicry, defined by the Biomimicry Institute as:

From bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate, a new science that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.

An example of this happens when an eco paint-designer wanting to make water-repellent paint studies a lotus flower to copy its water-repelling qualities.

Sponsored by Cyberset Music and Media with Green Century Institute and Urban Alliance for Sustainability, this year’s Digital Be-In will be held at the Mezzanine in San Francisco on April 21st. Events start at 7 and music starts at 9. For more information, see http://www.be-in.com/

Photo Credit: Ecology Center

Looking for your local Environmental Resource Center, EcoLibrary or environmental education programs? How about an epicenter for your local recycling programs, farmers markets, and a store that features the full spectrum of green books and household products?

Berkeley’s Ecology Center encompasses all of this and more by implementing programs that educate, demonstrate and engage with the public in the latest green community services.

Started as a volunteer-run meeting place for the founders of first wave 60’s environmentalism, the Ecology Center has become an epicenter for many of Berkeley’s programs that have become so fundamental to the Bay Area’s cultural and environmental impact.

Among the diverse programs implemented by the Ecology Center, the Curbside Recycling Program has perhaps had the most influence nationwide. Beginning as a demonstration project to collect newspapers, it grew to become the first curbside recycling program in California, and is one of the only nonprofits of this sort still alive today. Additionally, based on the EC’s research, this program has “served as a model for thousands of municipal recycling programs.”

For those of you interested in Bay Area green projects, check out Terrain, the Ecology Center’s free quarterly magazine focusing on “a broad spectrum of issues ranging from wilderness protection to urban toxics and environmental justice.”

Also, feel free to look into any of their sponsored projects, including: the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library, Berkeley Biodiesel Collective, Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative, and the Indigenous Permaculture Project. And the list of programs just keeps growing…
See all of these and more at http://www.ecologycenter.org/

Have you ever sat stuck in traffic for hours and noticed how many empty seats there are for every driver on the road?

This observation is exactly what prompted Oakland-resident Stephen Cataldo to found SpaceShare, the green carpool, rideshare, and travel hub for conferences and festivals around the country. Operating from the simple goal to have “less cars. more community,” SpaceShare provides access for various festival and conference-goers to connect with fellow greenies or music lovers while saving on gas and reducing pollution.

Stephen Cataldo rightly observes that “People travel to festivals and conferences to connect. Yet their travels are often uncoordinated, lonely and expensive.” And this is exactly what SpaceShare seeks to address by giving people a digital space to meet, connect, and arrange for rideshares to their favorite events.

I first found out about SpaceShare while looking for a ride to last year’s SolFest. Living in the Bay Area, I am lucky enough to rely on my bike and public transit for all of my transportation needs… That is, until I need to get to the latest green event outside of public transport limits!

Finding my ride through SpaceShare couldn’t have been easier and more fun. Through the rideshare link provided on the Solfest website, I entered a quick blurb about myself and the dates/place I needed a ride for, then scoured the list of drivers leaving from the Bay Area who were offering space in their car. The people I eventually found for the 3-hour trip up to SolFest were some of coolest, funniest, greenest people I’ve met out here. In fact, they’ve since become some of my closest friends. If you’re interested in learning more about SpaceShare’s latest activities, or to get involved, please visit www.spaceshare.com.

If you’re like most people interested in the green life, you probably have a growing obsession with solar power but haven’t been able to afford the extra $200-500 it costs to take a how-to solar workshop. Luckily, if you live near the Bay Area, you can learn how to install solar panels for free by volunteering with the amazing San Francisco-based GRID Alternatives.

With a mission to “Empower communities in need by providing renewable energy efficiency services, equipment and training,” GRID Alternatives has set up a program that links willing volunteers with low-income homeowners who want solar panels but don’t have the means to fund an installation.

For interested volunteers, the 2-step process is surprisingly simple:
Step 1: Fill out a volunteer application and attend a mandatory training session.
Step 2: Install solar panels! Volunteer at as many installation days as you’d like– there are often several sessions offered each month.

Last Tuesday I completed step one of this process, sitting down with about 30 other newcomers for an extremely informative, easy-to-understand training session. In less than two hours we covered the basics of electricity and solar power, including a step-by-step process of an average day in the field with a heavy emphasis on safety (we will be working on someone’s roof, after all)!

Now that the first training session is complete, I can’t wait to get out and start installing solar panels. If you’d like to check it out, email info@gridalternatives.org for upcoming volunteer opportunities or visit www.gridalternatives.org/

Have you ever wanted to meet and network with local fellow greenies over a good brew? Then get thee to your next local Green Drinks! A self-described, “Organic, self-organizing network,” Green Drinks International is an informal monthly gathering that takes place all over the world for any and all interested in local happenings connected to the environment.

Since moving to the Bay Area, attending Green Drinks has been on the top of my to-do list. So last Wednesday, I high-tailed it over to the Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley to see what the buzz was all about.

Once inside, I met up with Green Options’ CEO David Anderson, who introduced me to a group of solar installers from Berkeley’s own Borrego Solar. When I worked for a green architect in Berkeley last summer, I would bike past Borrego Solar every day and wistfully imagine meeting up with those inside to discuss how they were changing the world. Now here I was, standing face-to-face with these very people, chatting the green chat over a delicious pint of IPA.

Upstairs on the roofdeck, I ran into some friends from the Oakland Ecovillage, where I caught up on the latest with the solar hot tub installation (which you may remember from my first Green Options post on the February 5th launch). Through them, I met the folks from spaceshare.com (providing carpooling networks to green events and festivals), stopwaste.org (reducing the waste stream for Alameda County), and even a co-sponsor of the event from EcoHome Improvement (www.ecohomeimprovement.com).

Looking at the crowd around me, I suddenly realized I had arrived full swing into Berkeley’s green scene… and it was through Green Drinks! In a mere two-hour span of time, I was able to manifest all sorts of green connections, from old friends to new acquaintances, I even managed to line up some options for future green involvement… all for the price of one drink! If you’d like to check out the green scene your hometown or even during your next trip to Italy, please visit www.greendrinks.org.