As many folks know, October 24th was the International Day of Climate Action organized by environment activist guru Bill McKibben (www.350.org). Across the country and world, communities came together to show their support of the day by engaging in rallies and demonstrations of all sorts and Metro CERT was one of those many communities. With the support of the Minnesota Center for Energy and Environment, the MN Energy Challenge, Do It Green! MN, and volunteers, Metro CERT hosted the Midtown Farmers’ Market. The goals of the day were to sign up as many people as possible (350?) for the MN Energy Challenge where they would pledge to tack action to save money and energy in their homes by incorporating “low cost” and “no cost” methods and to educate the public about energy conservation.
The morning started out slow and chilly and only a few interested attendants stopped by the tents. It was obvious from people’s energy levels that many were still waking up. As the morning progressed however, interest increased as volunteers began to sound more like carnival barkers than environmentalists. Around 10:30 as many as six people were crowded around the tables asking how they too could save money on their utilities and get some free materials. Some folks were eager to take the Challenge for the sake of energy efficiency while others were more attracted by the free compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and tote bags that were given to each person completing the Challenge. Regardless of the motivation, over 200 people completed the MN Energy Challenge and more than 600 (CFLs) were given a good home. In addition, numerous homeowners and renters were given useful advice and information about how to make their homes and their lifestyles more energy efficient.
Some people asked about energy audits, solar panels, and household wind turbines while others just wanted to know how much money they would save by lowering their thermostat. Many people had already made significant changes in their lives and homes and explained what the results had been while others admitted that they had not made many changes and explained that some changes just weren’t feasible for their lifestyles. Volunteers assured these folks that they weren’t the only ones and that not all energy efficient actions would work for everyone. What is important is that they do make the changes that they are able to make. “Do whatever you can and that is an improvement,” was a regular statement of reassurance.
By early afternoon the temperature had risen and the number of shoppers had decreased. Volunteers began packing up boxing and folding tables and fortunately for everyone there were far fewer materials to load up than there were to unload earlier that day. Four huge boxes that once held packages of CFLs had been reduced to flattened cardboard and fifty pounds of canvas bags had gone the way of their respective MN Energy Challenge-takers. Volunteers entertained themselves with a photo shoot involving an oversized paper mache hat resembling a CFL.
The event was a success and put Metro CERT in the lead among Minnesota’s CERTs for the number of MN Energy Challenges taken (www.mnenergychallenge.com). People came to the tents with questions about energy efficiency and left with answers. Bill McKibben would have been proud.
