Archive for the ‘Social Responsibility’ Category

A friend of our CEO, Jeff Wolfe, sent this cartoon to him and boy does it speak volumes. Click on the picture below to see the full image size or Follow The Link.

“Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted;

only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money.” -Cree Indian Proverb

Some of you may have already seen the image below – it shows the surface area required to power the world with solar power. The image was originally created by the Land Art Generator Initiative and has found its way across many solar blogs, news sites and green websites.

Take a look at the image. There will be around 8 billion people in the world by 2030 and it will still only take a relatively small  land area to provide power for our needs. Just think if everyone did their part by putting solar on their roof to provide for some of their own power…

As you well know, we’re in the business of the sun but let me wax poetic for a moment about water. Specifically where your water comes from. I recently spent a few gorgeous days in the Florida Keys. They are paradise with great food, lots of activities, incredible sunsets, white sandy beaches and ocean side pools. They also have thousands of tourists visit each month whom in addition to relaxing with a good book by the pool also shower, drink water and use the toilet. I found out when I was there that the potable water for Key West is pumped in from over 100 miles away on the Florida mainland. (In defense of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, they have a couple of seawater desalination plants which produce freshwater from ocean saltwater- impressive technology.) So needless to say water conservation is a big issue and bottled water is a big industry. But is it sustainable? We talk about peak oil but what about peak water?

So, where is this long-winded post going? It’s a message to be conscious of where your water comes from and what you do with it. The city of Concord, MA recently banned the sale of bottled water in their town. The bottled water industry ($10 billion dollars) is obviously not very happy about this but why do they have to tell me that my tap water isn’t good enough? We at groSolar recently took the No Disposable Water Bottle Pledge to not purchase disposable water bottles. A number of employees also harvest rainwater to use for plants and gardens. Can you commit to not purchasing disposable water bottles? Help the environment and save yourself some money!

And check out The Story of Bottled Water, from the people who brought you The Story of Stuff.

One of our very own Outside Sales Reps has been training for a 100 mile bike ride to take place in June. Bill Dudjoc, who covers sales in CT, started training for the ride at the beginning of this year. He is riding as part of the Team in Training which raises money and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Bill’s century ride will begin in Stateline, NV and continue north around Lake Tahoe entering CA before coming back around the lake. Bill has been training an average of 6 days a week for this ride and will have biked more than 1500 miles by the time the ride takes place in June. He has also raised over $6,500 and expects to hit $7,000 by June.

Go Billy Go!

The MetLife Cycling Team Powered by groSolar has started their 2010 racing season with the Tour of the Battenkill in New York and the Turtle Pond Circuit Race in New Hampshire. groSolar is sponsoring the team for the season which covers more than 40 events around the country.

As groSolar’s CEO, Jeff Wolfe, said,”We’re proud to sponsor the MetLife team and we believe they are excellent ambassadors for groSolar’s message – that solar power is a lifestyle choice with a global impact. In the race to save the planet, we are determined to install solar on as many rooftops as possible. The MetLife team is exceptional group of athletes committed to practicing and promoting sustainable living, encouraging healthy ideals while racing at an elite level. It’s a great fit for groSolar, and we hope that cycling fans will take note and adopt clean, sustainable energy practices as well.”

You can read more about the MetLife Cycling Team’s environmental responsibility on their website.

It’s Earth Week (Earth Day is officially this Thursday, the 22nd) and we, at groSolar, are doing many things to celebrate the 3rd rock from the sun. Things like biking to work, carpooling, swearing off bottled water and buying locally or not buying at all.

I plan on line drying all of my laundry and am planting some herbs and raspberry plants. What are you going to do? Leave a comment below to tell us what you are doing to celebrate the earth today and every day.

The fifth graders from Bradford Elementary School in Bradford, VT are learning all about renewable energy. From wind and biomass to hydro-power and solar, the students are learning about the benefits  and types of renewable energy sources. Today, they took a field trip around Bradford to see local business and town residents who are using renewable energy. They visited the local hardware store to learn about making your home more energy efficient, the hydro electric dam, a homeowner who is “off-grid, a restaurant that is composting food waste, and an appliance store to learn about the energy star program. The last stop on their field trip took them to Farm-Way to see the 58 kW solar photovoltaic system that Farm-Way installed with groSolar in 2009. I was on hand to talk about solar energy and Skip Metayer, of Farm-Way, showed off their system. These kids knew their stuff about solar energy! They knew all of the answers to the solar quiz and won some cool prizes. It’s great to see kids learning about renewable energy and energy efficiency early!

Mr. Williams' students from Bradford Elementary School

If you haven’t heard, groSolar sponsored NASCAR driver, Leilani Munter for a race in Daytona this past Saturday. Yep, a solar company sponsoring a race car driver. Seems kind of off-brand, right? Actually, it allows us to send an environmental message to over 75 million race fans.

“We all have carbon footprints,” says Leilani Münter, one of racing’s few female drivers. “It’s more obvious for me because you can turn on the TV and actually see me burning my fossil fuels. ‘There’s Leilani being the hypocrite, taking laps around the track!’ But everybody takes a car to work or gets on a plane. It’s impossible to be perfect. It’s totally about doing what you can.” Which is not easy when you’re in NASCAR. After watching An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, Münter decided to make her environmental passion public. “It was not taken well,” she told me. “I had marketing people tell me, ‘You need to just shut up and drive your race car.’”

Find out more about Leilani at CarbonFreeGirl.com.

Our friends over at 350.org have done a great job with the grassroots effort to get people to take action on climate change to bring us back down to the magical number of 350 parts per million of carbon in our atmosphere. They have created some cool videos to recap the year. We really liked one in particular but you can see all of the videos here.

The Solar Bill of Rights, introduced by SEIA’s Rhone Resch at Solar Power International ‘09 in October, is gaining traction. Follow the link to the website to sign the Solar Bill of Rights.

http://www.solarbillofrights.org/