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 27^th, 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 – 6^th 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.

###

Seattle, WA –Real estate agency and not-profit organization collaborate in quest to raise youth awareness of green building and ecopreneurship.

GreenWorks Realty and the Moontown Foundation team up to give high school students a hands-on lesson in green architecture, design, and energy conservation.  On Saturday, February 2nd, GreenWorks Realty will hold a “Behind The Walls” open house for the public to showcase green features in an upcoming 4-Star Built-Green presale in Fall City.  GreenWorks has invited a group of young eco –entrepreneurs (Ecopreneurs) to join the tour and learn about the various opportunities in green building first hand.

The teens will be given a tour by the architect of Silo Design and receive a crash course in environmentally sustainable construction using natural and renewable materials, low toxic, energy efficient solar and recycled products.

Stace Noland, Founder and Director of Moontown says, “Reversing climate change and ending social and economic inequality in our nation are major challenges for our generation.  One thing we can all do to reduce our environmental footprint on the planet is to build new and retrofit older homes with solutions that use less energy.  Second to that, it’s important to show teens there are potentially millions of so-called Green Collar jobs on the not to distant horizon.  At Moontown, we teach youth to pursue career opportunities that protect the planet, as well as help them earn family income wage.  We call it the triple bottom-line, and we thank GreenWorks for providing such an opportunity for the Ecopreneurs in our program.”

Location: 31803 SE 48th Street, Fall City, 98024

Date & Time: 1-4pm February 2, 2008

For More Information: Contact
eva@greenworksrealty.com
Phone: 206.235.6925

About GreenWorks Realty

GreenWorks Realty is a full-service real estate agency for both green and traditional properties.  We serve communities throughout Washington with agents in Seattle, Olympia, Bainbridge, and North Kitsap County.  GreenWorks is most proud to be the first regional company to specialize in green and community-focused housing.  Our vision is to create a more sustainable world through promoting green building practices that support human and environmental health and vitality.

About Moontown Foundation

Moontown Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to reversing climate change and promoting environmental stewardship and sustained social and economic development.  Moontown provides teens with a comprehensive understanding of the effect humans have on the environment, introduces them to emerging clean technology solutions, and teaches the fundamentals of business administration and management.  Moontown seeks to challenge and inspire youth to take action as informed stewards of the Earth, business leaders, and agents of social and economic change.

Teens Energized by Urban Solar Camp

SEATTLE, August 6, 2008 – While most teenagers may spend their summer lying in the sun, a Seattle program is showing dozens of youth how to harness the sun’s power as a solution for global climate change.

The Moontown Foundation, a local non-profit, has brought together world-class scientists from the University of Washington, a unique energy program at Shoreline Community College and 100 urban youth from Seattle Parks & Recreation to give an intensive hands-on experience in the environment and careers in solar energy as part of the Foundation’s Summer of Sustainability Initiative.

On Aug. 8, up to 40 teens will attend a session of Urban Solar Camp from 12:30pm to 3pm at SCC’s Zero Energy House, a functioning home completely off the electrical grid. Media representatives are invited to attend all or part of the session to interview participants.

Learning to install solar panels

The Urban Solar Camp starts with a sobering overview of global climate change from UW experts. The teens, age 14-18, then learn about the potential solutions in solar energy and the growing technology field. They then trek to Shoreline to see solar technology at work, assemble mock solar panels and learn how to conduct an energy efficiency audit.

“I am on a quest to identify, train, certify and then employ 500 solar system installers and designers in the next 36 months,” said Stacy Noland, Founder & CEO of Moontown Foundation, which coordinates the camp as part of the its Summer Sustainability initiative. “Of all the forms of renewable energy we hear about, direct solar radiation creates over 350 million terawatts of energy a year.  Obviously, solar is clearly the way to go. And at the end of the day, the kids understand that you can earn a healthy income installing solar systems and help improve the planet. They find that cool.”

Shoreline Community College has been actively developing a leadership role as an educator in renewable energy. The school is a national training center for alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technology and offers certification in solar – energy system design.

“For Shoreline Community College, hosting the Urban Solar Camp is an extension of our commitment to lead in programs aimed at sustainability,” said Berta Lloyd, SCC’s Dean of Workforce Development. “Sustainability has gone beyond being a buzzword. Students and industry are demanding education and training in this area and SCC is ready to provide it.”

SCC already has a groundbreaking solar-voltaic design class that this past spring produced 72 graduates with state certification in this growing field. The program is helping meet Gov. Chris Gregoire’s call for 25,000 new green-industry workers in the coming years. Additional classes in solar energy and sustainable building practices are available fall quarter at SCC, Lloyd said.

SCC’s Zero Energy Technology program is under the guidance of Mike Nelson, director of Washington State University’s Northwest Solar Center. “Solar power is viable right now,” Nelson said. “Washington state, through production incentives, has already moved a (U.S. and European) goal of price parity for solar with other energy sources from 2015 to 2008.”

Industry partners include Larry Owens, vice president of NW Mechanical and Solar Washington. “Shoreline Community College continues to show leadership by bringing together key partners in the development of the renewable energy program at the college,” Owens said. “Opportunities abound, and by preparing students for entry into this field, SCC will provide an excellent way to move forward.”

###

For additional details contact: Stacy Noland, 206.201.2324, director “at” moontownfoundation.org.

External resource

Diverse Teens Explore Renewable Energy Solutions at Wild Horse Wind Farm

Contact:  office: 206.201.2314
Stacy Noland

SEATTLE – Most kids know how to plug in a video game, but can they tell you where the electricity comes from that turns on that Nintendo?  On Wednesday, August 20, 2008, at 1pm, the Moontown Foundation and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will team up to give 30 youth a jolt of reality at the Wild Horse Wind Farm in Ellensburg, Washington.

The hands-on experience shows how an active wind farm provides some 230 megawatts of affordable, pollution-free electricity for nearly 70,000 homes in the Pacific Northwest. The participants come away knowing how electricity is created from wind turbines and how it gets from the wind farm to homes.

“Just like it’s important to know where your food comes from, it’s also important for people to know where their electricity comes from.  We live in an era when people are, quite frankly, energy illiterate, and through our partnership with PSE we hope to raise awareness of this issue with teens and impress upon them the need to adopt an energy neutral lifestyle,” said Stacy Noland, Founder & CEO of Moontown.

The participants come from several youth development and leadership programs offered by the City of Seattle and non-profit agencies and environmental advocacy programs.

“These kids go home truly understanding why they should turn off the light when they leave a room,” said Lynne Dial, energy efficiency coordinator at PSE. “The more people who understand this message, the better choices they will make as they use energy in their daily lives.”

“We are happy to partner with Moontown Foundation. It’s one of the leading advocates for creating green jobs and career opportunities that can serve as pathways out of poverty for disadvantaged, low-income youth,” says Michael Woo of the Got Green Program.

Noland looks forward to expanding the experience to even more youth.

“This program is part of a larger initiative. By the year 2020, we will have taught more than 10,000 people how to serve as environmental, social and economic agents of change,” Noland said.

About Moontown
The Moontown Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending environmental, social and economic injustice by providing Ecopreneur and Eco-apprenticeship opportunities for youth of promise.  Please visit www.moontownfoundation.org to learn more about the foundation.

About Wild Horse
The Wild Horse Wind Farm is located in central Washington’s Kittitas Valley, which has long been known for its vigorous winds. The wind farm is placed on the high open ridge tops of Whiskey Dick Mountain between the towns of Kittitas and Vantage.  The project site was selected for its energetic wind resource and its access to several sets of power transmission lines, which have adequate capacity to allow the wind-generated power to be integrated into the power grid system.
###

External Resource