I have known for quite some time that I am not much of a gardener. You might ask what gave it away? Was it how my few attempts in the past resulted in my dedication to planting, pruning, watering and weeding lasting for only a short period of time? Perhaps it was the number of dying or wilting plants in my garden and around my house? It might also have been the dreading of the heat and mosquitos that always eventually accompanied any amount of quality gardening work ethic. Quite probably it was a combination of all of the above.
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North Carolina is a big, long, beautiful state. It offers diverse landscapes for residents to enjoy in almost every corner, including ocean views, lake views, mountain views, and city views. And, then of course, there is the serenity of the many farm views that our state’s fertile lands provide.
Take cotton for example. On a recent trip to the eastern part of North Carolina, I passed acres upon acres of this unique looking plant of white fluffiness surrounded by rough, brown exterior and stem. As I zoomed along the two-lane highway, these crops virtually blanketed me with their comfort and pride in all that we are able to produce here amongst our many notable views. Which brings me to the reason for my trip and the rather new and much less known NC view. A new type of farm, which produces a new kind of crop, has sprung up not far from Belvidere, NC. The Desert Wind Farm (a.k.a., The Amazon Wind Farm US East) produces electricity that is used by AMAZON’s data centers in Virginia. Like the crops that the wind turbines are planted amongst, this farm adds value to the community it is a part of beyond the electricity it produces. Details on the economic, infrastructure and employment benefits of the farm are outlined here. Climate change and all the problems humans are and will be dealing with often feel like a future concern. Is that future getting closer? Yes. But these topics are typically framed as an issue our children will have to contend with, and, as this commercial illustrates, older generations don’t really care much about them. But for members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at NC State, who are adults aged 50+, solar energy and its impact on both their own quality of life and those that will be here after they are gone are most certainly of interest.
“It’s morally the right thing to do,” explained Ann Storm about her choice to install rooftop solar panels on her home in 2018. This feeling is echoed by most rooftop solar owners. According to Pew Research Center, “Homeowners point to a variety of reasons for considering solar panels. A large majority of homeowners who have already installed or have given serious thought to installing solar panels say they want to help the environment (87%).” And despite the fact that older Americans are aware that they will no longer inhabit this big blue planet when the worst of climate change begins to impact humans, rooftop solar owners like Ann still feel it’s the right thing to do. Of course, people’s homes are typically their largest wealth asset, and they do whatever they can to protect that investment and grow its value. So where does the economic side of solar panels come into play? For older solar panel owners, the calculations can be slightly different. For example, Steve Sakofsky, who built his house in 2016, has a son who encouraged him to add them to his home. Together they did the calculations and determined that Steve “could afford it.” They went shopping for a company through which to purchase and install panels. In that process, they learned that, at that time, there was a federal tax credit available as well as a credit from Duke Energy, making the panels more affordable. While Steve says he’s only made about a third of his initial investment back, he is quick to point out that his electricity costs were fairly low before he had the solar panels installed. Overall, he estimates he saves about $500-600 a year. Expanding on that, Ann contends that some older Americans who install solar on their houses have the very real possibility of not recouping their initial investment. However, as a consolation, rooftop solar can help increase the overall value of a house when it is sold. Importantly, neither Steve nor Ann noted any costs associated with maintaining their solar panels. “When it rains, the panels get washed,” said Steve. Ann mentioned that she should “probably have someone go up and inspect them every couple years,” although she has yet to do that. But neither has run into any issues with keeping their panels in good working condition, and Steve has an app on his phone that allows him to monitor solar energy production every minute of the day. “To me, the process is straightforward. [But] the advice I would give would be to talk to a lot of different [solar installation] contractors. Be careful about who you use. Whoever you select, talk to the customers of that company,” Steve said. The company he chose to work with contacts him occasionally to check in on him, which is reassuring in case there ever is an issue. Of course, your home may not be standing alone without neighbors. If you live in an area with a homeowners association (HOA), though, it recently became easier to install panels on your roof. Ann did not face any concerns in the 55+ community where she lives, and Steve said that his neighborhood, which has 67 homes, has seen an increase in the number of solar panels being installed. While he was the first in his neighborhood to go solar, there are now 13 houses on board. In the end, like rooftop solar owners of other generations, older Americans typically emphasize the climate benefits of generating electricity using the power of the sun. As Ann puts it, “If you believe that climate change is real, you have to do as much as you can afford to help solve the problem.” The original version of this post can be seen at NC GreenPower: https://www.ncgreenpower.org/blog/the-gray-in-rooftop-solar ![]() On any given day as you drive down the road, it is more commonplace than ever to see an electric vehicle (EV) pass you by or drive up next to you. However, those who have actually experienced driving in one are still a vast minority of our country’s licensed drivers. Because, in a lot of unexpected ways, driving an EV can be different from driving a conventional combustion engine vehicle, I believe that easing into it can be beneficial. I perhaps started earlier than most in my interest in driving an electric car. I worked for a company that was in the energy industry, and they had started to explore the market for EVs and the infrastructure that it would take to support such a market. In addition, quite by chance, I saw the movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Those two factors started it all for me. As I went shopping for a new car in 2009, I was determined to get a plug-in car. Unfortunately, my desire and automobile needs did not match the market. There were very few models to choose from and none with the range and/or price tag that met my requirements. Disappointed, I consoled myself by purchasing a small combustion engine car that got very good gas mileage. Fast forward to 2014, and I was back in the market for a car. While the choices were much wider, most fully electric vehicles still had major range restrictions. As a working mother of two, I was often driving hundreds of miles a week to and from school, practices, friends’ houses, Girl Scouts meetings and camps, and company offices around the state. After quite a bit of research and a few test drives, it became apparent that I still could not go fully electric, but I happily purchased a 2013 Ford C-Max Energi, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). I diligently tracked my trips to the gas station and went to bed with a smile on my face on the days that I never got off of the EV battery for my car’s power. I celebrated with friends on social media when my car’s dashboard reported that I was averaging 90 miles to every gallon of gas that I consumed. And I went weeks and weeks without visiting a gas station. As the evolution of the EV market has continued, so has my purchasing power. And finally, in 2021, I was able to buy my first fully electric car – the Chevy Bolt. Nine months into being an EV driver, it is everything I had hoped. I truly have no idea what gas prices are. I never look at stations when I pass by. If something happens to a gas pipe or a storm takes down the supply in another part of the country, it means nothing to me. There are no oil changes or maintenance. (Although as I write this, I wonder when I should get my tires rotated.) If anything, getting my first fully electric vehicle was a bit anticlimactic. After driving a PHEV, I found very little difference between that and a fully electric vehicle. Perhaps the only adjustment I had to make came when I took my first drive to the beach, 2 ½ hours away. There was ensuring the battery was full before I left, and then the “range anxiety” kicked in when I was still a half hour away, and I wasn’t sure my battery was going to have enough juice to get me to my destination. (It did, by the way, with 27 miles to spare.) So, my 12-year odyssey to become an EV driver has left me with some knowledge and advice for those who may be on the same journey to become a fully electric vehicle owner and operator. STEP 1: Commitment Unlike me who was looking to drive an EV before ever seeing one on the road, today’s EV hopefuls have the perks of many resources. There are an increasing number of people to ask, articles written about EVs, and numerous car models of varying shapes, sizes, and battery ranges. But, even with all that, you need to know that driving an EV will be different. And you need to be open-minded and ready to embrace the differences. Think about how long ago it was when you first learned to drive. It took getting used to. A lot of practice and some mistakes along the way. Now, it won’t take as long to get used to an EV. It is still a car, after all, and you know how to drive one of those. But there are differences, and like anything, they will take time to learn. Most are small, and you may not even notice them right away. So, to make your experience positive, I suggest dropping the compare/contrast thing our minds always want to do with something new and just accept each EV lesson with open curiosity. STEP 2: Training Wheels I am a huge fan of PHEVs. I think they are the perfect training wheels for the rookie EV driver. As my C-Max Energi was for me, PHEVs can be for others. They accomplish so many positives for the novice EV driver without all the range anxiety and pre-trip battery charging that fully electric vehicles require. Specifically:
STEP 3: Nothing but Plug Of course, anyone can jump right to Step 3 and go fully electric right off the bat. Plenty of people have done it. Just remember Step 1 as you encounter subtle surprises behind the EV wheel. I couldn’t possibly name all the adjustments you have to make, but here are a couple:
Change always brings a combination of excitement and fear. But take comfort in the fact that I have spoken to many EV drivers over the last five to six years and have yet to encounter one who wants to ever drive a combustion engine vehicle again. The word used most when describing their cars has been “love.” They love their EV, and that goes double for me! The original version of this post can be seen at NC GreenPower:
https://www.ncgreenpower.org/blog/learning-how-to-drive-an-ev-in-three-easy-steps ![]() Years ago, I was lucky enough to live in a rural area with some land, and I had a good friend, a retired landscaper, who gifted me my own compost bin. Having small children at the time, I was determined to raise a generation that knew how to reduce their footprint on this beautiful planet. So, the lessons began. If we raked leaves, in the bin they went. When Halloween pumpkins rotted and began growing mold, they were put in their new home. We had a small pail outside the kitchen door to collect our dinner leftovers or our egg shells from baking someone’s birthday cake. The bin filled quickly. But I soon learned that I was not qualified to teach any lessons on turning food into soil. My friend attempted to give me some instruction on how to get our biodegradables to turn into dirt for spring planting, but I never seemed to grasp all that needed to be done. Or perhaps I just didn’t have the time or dedication to oversee the “cooking.” Either way, turning all that garbage into dark, rich dirt was intimidating. Then we moved. Our new house didn’t have room for the compost bin, and I didn’t have the confidence to bring it along with us. Living in the city limits, I gave up my hope of turning our waste into nutritious dirt. And, then quite by accident, I read about a local composting company. “What is all this about?” I wondered. Very little research revealed that there was an industry emerging, an industry I like to call “Composting for Dummies.” For a small charge, the company that most intrigued me promised to:
How much you contribute each week determines how much of that yummy compost dirt you have access to. At any time, you can order a bag (or several bags) of dirt if you have accumulated it in your "bank," and the company will deliver it to your doorstep with your weekly bin exchange. If you are not a big gardener or don’t have enough land to use all the dirt you have helped create, you can donate it to a local public garden and the company will supply it. They had me at, “We will deliver the dirt to your doorstep.” I signed up immediately. The bin arrived a week later. Excited, I beckoned my two (now) teenagers and a teenage exchange student from Italy who was living with us to gather and gaze lovingly at the bin. The company had accompanied the first bin with a handy fridge magnet that illustrated all that could be deposited in it. So, the lessons began again. However, three sentences in, the Italian teenager rolled his eyes and walked away saying, “I’m European, I know this already!” And there it is, folks. When it’s something you grew up with, it is not intimidating. It’s just a natural part of how you eat a meal, do yard work, and throw away things you are done with. So, like me, if you want to send a little less to the landfill every week, consider composting. You will be surprised at how quickly it becomes an unconscious part of your kitchen. And hey, maybe you’ll get to feel a little European in the process. The original version of this post can be seen at NC GreenPower: www.ncgreenpower.org/composting-if-i-can-you-can/ ![]() Years ago, I was lucky enough to live in a rural area with some land, and I had a good friend, a retired landscaper, who gifted me my own compost bin. Having small children at the time, I was determined to raise a generation that knew how to reduce their footprint on this beautiful planet. So, the lessons began. If we raked leaves, in the bin they went. When Halloween pumpkins rotted and began growing mold, they were put in their new home. We had a small pail outside the kitchen door to collect our dinner leftovers or our egg shells from baking someone’s birthday cake. The bin filled quickly. But I soon learned that I was not qualified to teach any lessons on turning food into soil. My friend attempted to give me some instruction on how to get our biodegradables to turn into dirt for spring planting, but I never seemed to grasp all that needed to be done. Or perhaps I just didn’t have the time or dedication to oversee the “cooking.” Either way, turning all that garbage into dark, rich dirt was intimidating. Then we moved. Our new house didn’t have room for the compost bin, and I didn’t have the confidence to bring it along with us. Living in the city limits, I gave up my hope of turning our waste into nutritious dirt. And, then quite by accident, I read about a local composting company. “What is all this about?” I wondered. Very little research revealed that there was an industry emerging, an industry I like to call “Composting for Dummies.” For a small charge, the company that most intrigued me promised to:
How much you contribute each week determines how much of that yummy compost dirt you have access to. At any time, you can order a bag (or several bags) of dirt if you have accumulated it in your "bank," and the company will deliver it to your doorstep with your weekly bin exchange. If you are not a big gardener or don’t have enough land to use all the dirt you have helped create, you can donate it to a local public garden and the company will supply it. They had me at, “We will deliver the dirt to your doorstep.” I signed up immediately. The bin arrived a week later. Excited, I beckoned my two (now) teenagers and a teenage exchange student from Italy who was living with us to gather and gaze lovingly at the bin. The company had accompanied the first bin with a handy fridge magnet that illustrated all that could be deposited in it. So, the lessons began again. However, three sentences in, the Italian teenager rolled his eyes and walked away saying, “I’m European, I know this already!” And there it is, folks. When it’s something you grew up with, it is not intimidating. It’s just a natural part of how you eat a meal, do yard work, and throw away things you are done with. So, like me, if you want to send a little less to the landfill every week, consider composting. You will be surprised at how quickly it becomes an unconscious part of your kitchen. And hey, maybe you’ll get to feel a little European in the process. The original version of this post can be seen at NC GreenPower: www.ncgreenpower.org/composting-if-i-can-you-can/ |
AuthorA former corporate online marketing and communications professional, in 2021 Long Covid redirected me. I am revisiting my passion for writing. You are the unfortunate witness to that journey. Categories
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