I went riding with my friends earlier this week and I think I just discovered Nike’s new slogan. What else do you think the quotation should say?

The people that our work with make the world of your job. Here are some of the people I work with from a quick video I made this Firday.

Even if we have to shell out the bucks, a large mass of the American population wants instant gratification, which sadly the production of quick, cheep and instantly pleasing products or services are hardly environmentally friendly. From all of the interviews that I’ve conducted for Microsoft Hohm, there’s always a chuckle about the suggestion on replacing your refrigerator, since for many it will have a payback period of 62 years. I have to admit that it’s a little bit out there; however, this reaction is just an example of the American desire for instant gratification. Anything we can do to reduce our footprint is valuable and makes a difference. Even though it is comical for a fridge to have a payback of 62 years, we have to change out thought process to the bigger picture. What would happen if everyone changed out their fridge to a more energy efficient fridge in America? With a third of the energy consumption coming from residential and commercial buildings it might make people rethink how important it is to make changes even at the micro level – the places where you are not going to have instant gratification.

Easy to hide the dirt

This one is up for debate, but personally I believe that one of the reasons why people avoid going green is due to the fact that there is no personal responsibility that is enforced. I’m not talking about rules, regulations, or a cap and trade for residential homes, but I’m talking about the anonymity of consumption information that individuals and organizations can hide behind. Right now the amount of energy that people, companies, and organizations consume is private, hence letting them hide the dirt. Simply stated, it’s easy to deny something when no one can prove you otherwise. This conversation about anonymity isn’t new and is a continuing problem throughout the web. Check out Seth Godin’s blog The problem with anonymous. This post briefly goes through the many problems that anonymity creates online and in life in general.

It’s not my problem!

Individualism, curse or a blessing? Individualism is one of our nation’s strongest components to free thought, pushing the limits, and innovation; however, it’s very easy to use this card to defend one’s actions. Conserving energy at home needs to be done by everyone. It’s not just the government’s or the utilities’ problem to come up with rules, regulations, and solutions on how individuals consume energy. Everything starts at home, and when facing this issues everyone needs to understand that we’re all connected! Our actions as a whole will decide the fate for our future generations.

So there’s a couple reasons why people might not want to go green. What are your thoughts? Share some of the barriers that you face when you’re trying to make a environmentally conscious decision. If we don’t start putting these problems and concerns on the table, how are we going to fix them?

Trying to come up with some blog topics around the holidays for Hohm I headed out to my parents who are always up for a cup of coffee and some strong debate early in the morning. Quickly the conversation tuned into the upcoming holiday and what is the possibility of households conserving energy by preparing food in one location while the community gathers in once place to eat. This idea was almost instantly rebutted by my dad stating that the conservation efforts within one location can easily be outweighed by the amount of energy used for transportation either for the food itself or in this instance the commuting people to come eat a one person’s house.

It might not be directly related to conserving energy in your home; however, the products and food that you buy play a major role into the overall consumption of energy. Your efforts to conserve energy and money at home can easily be mitigated by other actions that you take for instance the food that you purchase.

Did you know?
1. In 1866, 1,186 varieties of fruits and vegetables were produced in California. Today, California’s farms produce only 350 commercial crops.

2. Communities reap more economic benefits from the presence of small farms than they do from large ones. Studies have shown that small farms re-invest more money into local economies by purchasing feed, seed and other materials from local businesses, whereas large farms often order in bulk from distant companies.

2. A typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table.

3.In the U.S., a wheat farmer can expect to receive about six cents of each dollar spent on a loaf of bread—approximately the cost of the wrapping.

4. Farmers’ markets enable farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

5. About 1/3 of all U.S. farms are located within metropolitan areas, comprising 18% of total U.S. farmland.

If this didn’t catch your attention take a look at Are You Hungry For Change, a film discussing some of the core environmental issues in American agriculture.

Even though Microsoft Hohm is a place to learn more on how to conserve energy and money within your home, we’re also going to host conversations on how to conserve energy throughout your daily life.

Sources
Meter, Ken. “Finding Food in California: local gains, systemic losses.” Crossroads Resource Center. January, 2005. p.8 (accessed online 8/17/08).

Flore, Jan L., Carol J. Hodne, Willis Goudy, David Osterberg, James Klienbenstein, Kendall M. Thu, and Shannon P. Marquez, “Social and Community Impacts,” in Iowa Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Air Quality Study: Final Report. Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa, 2003: 148.

Herriges, Joseph A., Silvia Secchi, and Bruce A. Babcock. “Living with Hogs in Iowa: The Impact of Livestock Facilities on Rural Residential Property Values.” Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University. Ames, Iowa, 2003.

Pirog, Rich, and Andrew Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer: Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa Institutions.” Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003.

Pretty, Jules. “Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems.” Briefing Note for TVU/Sustain AgriFood Network, November 2, 2001.

Here’s a little video project that the team at NWevolution worked on. I hope you enjoy and let us know what you think.

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For Tag Talk Week 3 Nadia and I went out on the town to show Microsoft Tag users different ways that they can leverage Tag in their business. I hope you enjoy the new video and if you have some feedback or suggestions let me know. If you have some ideas of your own on how people can use Microsoft Tag leave a comment with your thoughts.

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Wow this week I ran a little behind in editing the footage from the adventures but I’m finally caught up. Day 14 was kind of a pain because I drove all the way out to Snoqualmie Falls to shortly find out that the trail has been closed to hike down to the bottom of the waterfall. So instead I went running which it was too darck out for the head cam to pick up anything worthwhile so I did some little clips of the crew and I hanging out at our new pad for the next couple weeks down on lake Sammamish.

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Completed paved sections include 15 miles from Meeker to the South Prairie Creek in South Prairie and a 1.8 mile section in Buckley. Our future plan is to continue the trail to Sumner where we will connect with the Interurban Trail that now extends through Kent and Auburn. The trail in Buckley will continue east to Enumclaw and King County.

The Foothills Trail has been constructed in sections as finances, environmental permits and county ownership have allowed. When complete, the trail will be more than 28 miles in length.

June 28, 2007 marked the opening of the entire length of the Foothills Trail, extending from Buckley through the Town of South Prairie, City of Orting and into the City of Puyallup.

The trail opening was held at the City of Buckley’s southern border on highway 165 where a happy crowd of local dignitaries and trail supporters gathered in liquid sunshine to hear Pierce County Parks Director Kathy Kravit-Smith pay homage to Doctor Tate and give thanks to the Foothills Trail Coalition for their dedication and public service. Other speakers included the Mayor of Buckley, Pat Johnson.

The trailhead of this hike is located right off Coal Creek Parkway between 405 and Newcastle. It’s a small dirt parking lot which fits about 6-7 cars.

You’ll see lots of knocked over trees and erosion around the trail but the trail itself is well maintained. The hike starts out very close to Coal Creek. After leaving the trail head you can hear the parkway for a while, but soon it fades away as you get deeper into the park.
From this trailhead you can go to just about all the mountains in the Renton/Issaquah area to mine shafts and babbling streams.

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