Green Studio Blog

Green Obama

When was the last time that we saw a tsunami of people get behind a cause in this great country? I saw it in Chicago at the Greenbuild Convention in November of '07. It was breathtaking. Interestingly enough, President Clinton was the keynote speaker, and he was far from breathtaking; he was unfocused and frustrated in his tone. Fast forward only a couple of months, and we have the next tsunami: Barack Obama.

I see this country energized, believing in change, believing in new leadership and new ways. Obama has touched a chord in so many of us, in young people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. I hadn't made the connection about the green movement and Obama until today. All that he represents: hope, leadership, change, is what we need to institute structural changes that will turn around the calamities of global warming.

Obama says that the environment is the moral issue of this next generation. I believe the relevance of such thinking is self-evident. His charisma will lead to people wanting to do the right thing, starting by making small adjustments to their lifestyle and homes, and taking them to the workplace, riding the giant wave of green living and building.

I don't want to be accused of blindly supporting just words, like Mrs. Clinton has implied of Obama's supporters. So I went looking for his ideas and plans on how to attack the carbon emission problem, our dependency on foreign oil, and leadership in energy efficiency and reduction. At www.barackobama.com, may I add, written for all Americans in broad strokes, he does spell out overall goals towards a year 2030 deadline of becoming energy conscious.

His website talks about improving energy efficiency by 50% for new buildings and 25% for existing ones, towards a carbon neutral building standard by the year 2030. If you think about this, it isn't an effortless task. If you can comprehend the huge inventory of existing houses alone, the vastness of the newer suburban landscapes across America, the millions of smaller older homes from the 30's that make up th older neighborhoods in the large cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Houston, making them 25% more energy efficient will take the largest investment that we will collectively have to make.

Obama also talks about setting grant money aside for states, cities, and communities which implement building codes that aim at energy efficiency early in this effort. I know its possible to take this gigantic issue and institute change in smaller subsets of the population. To allow for smaller green leadership roles in communities is to give power to the people, and Obama already leads the way in knowing how to do that.

His idea about investing in a new generation utility grid that allows for renewable and smart methods of energy production and distribution could sound basic, but indeed is nothing short of genial. The late Nobel prize winner in Chemistry from Rice University in Houston, Dr, Rick Smalley, or just plain Rick for those of us who new what a great and grounded man he was, had a concordant vision of how to tackle the energy problem. A recent excerpt and summation of Smalley's thoughts on this problem states that electricity is the new oil, and that storing and transporting it will be our new challenge. I actually am bearish on the technology that will allow us to produce renewable energy/electricity. Imagine the best ands brightest that have brought us portable computing and I-Pod nano, putting all their brain power to solve the issue of harvesting renewable energy. Now imagine solving the storage and distribution through nanotechnology brought to us by the likes of Rick and the nanotechnology research centers around the country.

I'm up for the challenge, because I, like Obama, intend to stay relevant in the issue of the environment, which isn't going away. But I continue to see that those who could do the right thing aren't clamoring to do so. If not now, when? I hope my blog is up in the year 2030. I don't want to come back to read this posting and be saddened by the fact that we didn't move collectively fast enough towards investing wisely in the environment. We can do that, one person , one home, and one light bulb at a time. Si se puede.

First Impact

"Primer Impacto is coming to film your house? Unbelievable!!!" It is pretty impactful when a red hot news magazine national program in Spanish language TV ( Univision), which airs not only in the entire country but also in all of Latin America wants to come film my house. "What makes this house GREEN?" asked Sissi Varela, the Primer Impacto correspondent. Green is a way of life, a philosophy of living respectfully in balance with nature. "It's about its relationship with nature, about harvesting sun light through a new generation of light wells, its about reducing our consumption of energy, therefore our carbon footprint."

Sergio, the cameraman from Univision, who had come to film at my house when under construction for another television program, was astonished at what he saw. I tried to look at the house with their fresh eyes, but couldn't. I can't simply because I embody the story of this house. Not only did I conceive it, designed it for my family and all families to come, and use it so intimately that I can't see it with fresh eyes anymore.

Why can't I see it with fresh eyes, when I can see the quality of each day's sunlight and appreciate it as singular. I can see the blue of the sky each day and find yet another color of acrylic paint that I would have to add to yesterday's blue to make this unique one. But I can't see my green house with fresh eyes, because it is of this land, and is here to stay- I know the longevity for which it was constructed. I also know that it changes, ages, and-like fine wines- it gets better: I know the materials and finishes that where chemical free and hand rubbed to make it a healthy home. I know its efficiency: how cool the stone and wood floors stay in the summer; how the double pane windows let in all the visible light but none of the sun's heat, how the tubular skylights throw off the most beautiful museum type lighting, never having to turn on the light during the day.

I was asked by Sissi - off the record- if I used my kitchen. Not only do I use it, dirty it, and abuse it, but it is the heart of the house. It is also represents what the house is about-sustainability of laughter and life. it sustains family discussions, cooking and cleaning together, sharing meals, hanging out, sharing by the fire.

When broaching the subject about low VOC paints( Volatile organic compounds) compuestos organicos volatiles, I spoke not only in terms of the health of the home owner or user, but also about the health of the construction workers, those who make our VISUAL DOLLARS go a long way by inhaling paint fumes and VOC's all day long everyday. When you think about them first, you are already talking in green terms.

I don't know if in the end the three minute segment that will air about my GREEN house will explain it all. I do know that it will open some eyes to the green movement, it will validate people's basic insitincts about health and self-preservation, and it will be provocative to others, challenging them to think of home and living in a new way, a kinder way. It was a beautiful day to film,the house glowed with natural light and it is an honor for me to be able to share my home, my design and my green philosophy with all of the Spanish speaking world.

EcoMom Alliance is real

The EcoMom Alliance is in the news. Once you make it to the Sunday New York Times, you're real.
I'm joining the group today, given that, unbeknownst to them, they have joined me in my plight to be pertinent in saving the planet.

How they came to be, and why each mom joins, I'm sure is a quilt of defining moments and stories. The fact is that they felt they couldn't go at it alone. I'm joining because they're smart. Of course one can't do this alone! It takes sharing information and experience to help us all make good choices, it takes educating to help spread the word, and it takes numbers to be heard. EcoMoms are being heard. We are in schools and communities, in day care centers for kids and the elderly. We are at soccer and baseball games consuming and watching the waste...be wasted. I say that waste is being wasted because when grilling the exhibitors at the Greenbuild Convention about why we weren't further ahead in the post consumer waste products arena, the answer was always "because we need people to recycle more of their waste". It wasn't more than six years ago that the head of the recycling program in West University Place told me that they were having to pay to store our recycled waste, given that there wasn't enough market for it. Things are changing pretty drastically, and a new ecoeconomy is emerging. I want to be an active part of it.

I did my part about encouraging recycling waste at my son's school. I haven't heard back one way or the other. In case you have better luck at your school or church or place of work, please visit sustainable recycling so that you can instantly, hassle-free, do your part in keeping the perfectly recyclable waste out of landfills. This is called waste management, and it is about minimizing the resources that we bury into our environment, recycling them, and making post-consumer waste products that have value added and that we want and need to consume.

I'm going to do more than join the EcoMoms: I'm going to join the Obama campaign. I've been wanting to do this since I saw him speak at the last Democratic National Convention. I think senator Obama is ready to hear us moms, women, environmentalists, professionals, back seat politicians about how to do things better, more sustainably, how to be kinder and gentler with our planet and our resources. I'm in an active mode today. I encourage you to do the same.