for immediate Release
Friday, September 26, 2008
Contact: 206.201.2314
Day of Action to Empower Seattle’s poor with Green Power, Knowledge
Seattle, WA — On Saturday, September 27, 2008, the Moontown Foundation, a Seattle-based non-profit organization, will partner with the Got Green Project, Green Jobs Now, EnviroSpeak.tv, the White Center Community Development Association, and Seattle Climate Action Network to educate residents of White Center about how to reduce energy consumption in their homes, save money on their utility bills and learn how to launch a lucrative career in the emerging green collar job sector.
The event is part of the Green Jobs Now National Day of Action that is empowering thousands of people to stage hundreds of grassroots events throughout the country. Special emphasis is being focused on low-income communities and people of color. The goal is to spur the creation of millions of Green Jobs across America, specifically in energy efficiency auditing and weatherization, as well as aggressively moving toward a prosperous Green Economy for communities that have traditionally missed out of economic booms.
The White Center Energy Festival and Prosperity Project is the largest Day of Action event in the state of Washington with more than 250 volunteers being called into action and tasked to reach an estimated 32,000 residents in approximately 7,800 households.
According to Stacy Noland, Moontown CEO, “Most people have no idea how efficient their homes are at using water and energy and that there are ways to shave hundreds of dollars off their yearly energy bill. This is especially important for families and individuals who struggle to pay soaring utility bills, as they spend a disproportionately high amount of their income on their energy needs. Compounded by the fact that 21% of all U.S. carbon emissions can be directly traced to residential homes, it is vitally important that efforts to control global warming include an explicit focus on residential buildings. We hope this campaign will help us reach more King County residents with these important energy-saving messages.”
One sixth of White Center residents live below the poverty line, twice the countywide average, and 16% of its residents live on less than $10,000 a year. It has historically been challenged by economic and social hardships, with high levels of poverty, crime, and poor educational outcomes.
Michael Woo, director of the Got Green Project, agrees with Noland saying, “Our weakened economy over the past eight years has created great uncertainty and fear. Yet this has been the everyday experience for many persons of color, new immigrants, the working poor, and our youth … regardless if it is a bad or good economy. The new wave of green technologies and resulting jobs must benefit this sector of our community if the environmental movement is to succeed in reducing global warming.”
Woo continues, “Got Green is involved in the Energy Festival to demonstrate to the environmental community that people of color do care about the environment. Our objective is to raise awareness in our communities (of color) of how we can help conserve energy and lower monthly utility costs, but also to promote the creation of related green jobs and training accessible to those in our community in the greatest need of employment.”
On the 27th, volunteers will supply residents with simple tools and ideas they can use to conserve energy, save money on their utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint, as well as distribute eco bags containing compact fluorescent light bulbs, low-flow showerheads and timers, as well as reusable shopping bags. Special emphasis will be made to help residents understand how their individual activities at home directly influence the rise in greenhouse gases that affect global climate change.
“It’s important to help educate and inform residents who come from so many diverse places and perspectives to see their impact on the world, to understand how even simple energy reducing activities can save money, improve their neighborhood and impact the next generation of children, says Aileen Balahadia, executive director of the White Center Community Development Association. “White Center can be a model for a new approach to practical environmentalism focused on equitable community development and resident-led initiative.”
“The White Center Project is a pilot event meant to help raise environmental literacy and social consciousness. Individual lifestyles at home and their respective carbon footprints have proven to have a direct connection to global climate change,” says Noland. “We have to immediately reduce the amount of carbon we are emitting into the atmosphere before its too late to do anything about it. We can’t drill or burn our way out of this problem. We need to invent and invest our way out. We need to empower and educate people to stand up and lead the way too,” Noland continues.
Additionally, volunteers will enter residents into a drawing to win free professional home energy efficiency inspections. Efficiency auditors will provide residents with a detailed report outlining areas of inefficiency and explain how to conserve energy and resources every day. Some residents may be eligible for free home weatherization products and services and qualify for low-interest loans to finance their energy efficiency improvements. Volunteers will also ask residents to sign a petition to supporting the creation of more green collar jobs and can register residents to vote.
Volunteers are encouraged to meet at White Center Heights Elementary School, 10015 – 6th Ave., SW, Seattle WA, 98146 and have the option to canvass in the morning (8 a.m. to noon) or afternoon (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Volunteer registration starts at 8 a.m., the event ends at 5 p.m.
White Center residents are welcome to visit the White Center Heights Elementary School Eco Village to learn more about energy efficiency, health and fitness, green living, recycling and waste management. Residents will also learn how to install solar panels and how to get training as solar panel installers or energy efficiency auditors, earning livable entry-level wages in as little as five weeks.
The festival also features live entertainment, speeches from local elected officials and noted personalities.
To learn more visit http://events.greenjobsnow.com/greenforall/events/show/5211
About Moontown Foundation
Launched in January 2007, the Moontown Foundation is a Seattle-based, non-profit organization dedicated to ending environmental, social, and economic injustice by empowering people to protect the planet and pursue social and economic prosperity. By 2020, the Moontown Foundation will have cultivated over 10,000 Eco Ambassadors to become highly respected environmental, social, and economic agents of change. To learn more visit www.moontownfoundation.org.
About White Center Community Development Association
The White Center Community Development Association (CDA) is a community-led, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for our neighborhood and our families. Its members believe that people and place builds community.
About Got Green Project
The Got Green Project is an interactive group of urban youth and young adults dedicated to empowering themselves and communities of color by introducing “GREEN” into their communities. By raising awareness they are pushing and pulling for opportunities that will lift people out of poverty while promoting the certainty of environmental, social and economic justice.
Other partners in the project include Green For All, Seattle Climate Action Network, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle City Light, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Climate Solutions, Sierra Club, Washington Environmental Council, Seattle Vocational Institute, Shoreline Community College, and South Seattle Community College.
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