Last week I was invited to attend the first stakeholder’s meeting for the newly formed Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado (STAC).

Founded by the executive directors of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA), STAC aims to promote awareness of the potential of solar thermal to contribute to the sustainability of the renewable energy industry.

If you’re like most people, you may not realize there’s more than one type of solar energy technology. You may just be familiar with photovoltaic or PV technology, the science of converting the sun’s rays into electricity. Solar thermal technology, on the other hand, is different in that it converts the sun’s rays into heat, functioning in a water and space heating capacity.

In Colorado, in particular, the potential for the clean technology of solar thermal is extraordinary. Thanks to warm days—over 300 of them bright and sunny—cold nights, and cold groundwater temperatures, Colorado is the most fitting state in the nation to take advantage of solar thermal. What’s more, solar thermal is 70 percent efficient at capturing and utilizing energy as compared to 17 percent in PV technology and the 30 percent efficiency coal produces. Solar thermal is affordable, the majority of the materials used to manufacture it are made in the U.S., it can adapt to partial shade, can store solar energy, reduce demand off the grid, could displace natural gas, and save homeowners and businesses a tremendous amount of money.

“Colorado is the bullseye for solar thermal technology,” said Laurent Mellion, president of Capitol Solar Energy, a Colorado-based solar thermal installation company. “I have been in business for over twenty years, and I have never seen an opportunity like the potential for solar thermal in Colorado. Solar thermal could address over half of energy needs for homes in addition to providing local labor and manufacturing opportunities. The opportunities far outweigh the challenges.”

Why then, has it been largely ignored by the public in favor of the less-efficient PV? A lack of public awareness and education is one reason and a lack of solar thermal incentives and consistent permitting policies is another. But all of these factors aside, the low cost of natural gas is the main challenge of solar thermal.

Natural gas is priced well below what many think it should be and others argue we shouldn’t be using it at all.  “Natural gas shouldn’t be burned anyway. It’s more valuable as a feedstock for petroleum than it is as a fuel,” said Susan Perkins of Perkins Energy Law. “We should leave it in the ground for future generations. We should be using the sun. We need to monetize the value of not using natural gas.”

As Colorado continues to export natural gas to California and other states at what Mellion calls “an alarming rate,” it’s time to start considering other alternatives. What happens when we run out of natural gas or when demand overtakes supply and the price rises? If we’re not prepared for that scenario – which most energy analysts will tell you isn’t far off – we could be in big trouble.

A solution like solar thermal technology, that’s affordable, ecofriendly, reliable, efficient, and sustainable, just may be the socially and environmentally responsible answer.

When it comes to the health of the planet, perhaps nothing is more detrimental than society’s habitual use of plastic. Plastic pollution is one of the Earth’s most pressing problems. And only we can resolve it.

When plastic was first created, it was heralded as a cheap and convenient solution to almost every product and packaging need in the world. We could sell, store, and transport food and goods in it, fill it with water, utilize it in the healthcare industry, give it to our kids to play with, and use it to create technology. Little did we know then plastic would become the bane of the planet—and especially our oceans.

Nowhere is plastic pollution more evident than in the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge island of plastic debris, floats between California and Hawaii. Equaling the size of Texas, the Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of plastic water bottles, plastic bags, plastic food packages, discarded plastic toys, and other plastic junk that has come together to form a massive heap. Because it doesn’t fully break down or bio-degrade, and it’s next to impossible to remove, this plastic patch will continue swirling in the ocean for hundreds, if not thousands, of years to come. The problem isn’t just in the Pacific, either. A plastic garbage patch in the Atlantic Ocean was recently discovered that stretches over a thousand square miles.

Some scientists suggest plastic pollution may be worse for the environment than our carbon footprint. Plastic is made to last… and last and last. This is a beneficial feature in products we use over and over for years. But too many plastic goods are used only once. They then live on to choke our waterways, litter our land, and persist through the food chain.
Endangered sea turtles, marine animals, and birds often die after mistaking plastic debris for food. This plastic debris, which breaks apart into smaller molecules but doesn’t disappear, eventually makes it to our dinner tables, where we feed it to our families.

So what can we do? It’s time to utilize the most powerful tools we currently have for change—our wallets and our social networks. Don’t buy plastic water bottles and other disposable, one-time-use plastic items. Purchase reusable canvas bags and refuse plastic bags. Recycle everything possible. Encourage your friends in to similar recycling programs and instill these values in your children and grandchildren.

Supporting environmentally minded companies and green small businesses that take sustainability seriously goes a long way, too. Take Electrolux AB for example. The company’s Pacific Ocean vacuum cleaner, (pictured) is made from plastic trash that washes up on one of Hawaii’s dirties beaches, Kahuku. The company also produces vacuum cleaners made from plastic found in the Indian Ocean, the Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean to highlight the problem of plastic pollution. Patagonia comes to mind as well due to their efforts toward sustainability. Patagonia creates fleeces and other outdoor gear made from post-consumer recycled plastic and aluminum cans, in addition to other socially responsible investments.

Inquire about the environmental efforts and sustainability reporting of your favorite shops and manufacturers.

It’s up to consumers to support and sustain a societal shift toward a more ecologically sound way of doing business. We need to send a message that we care about the planet, the oceans, our wildlife, and our own health—and it needs to be loud and clear. No more throwaway plastic.

Everyone loves to eat out at a restaurant—food just tastes better when a chef prepares it and you don’t have to wash the dishes. But when it comes to sustainability reporting, most restaurants are in the black, not the green.

Restaurants use large amounts of energy and water and produce vast amounts of waste. “There’s huge potential for increasing sustainability in the hospitality industry as we are a huge user, and abuser, of energy,” says Allen Someck of the New York State Restaurant Association.
 
Someck is the director of a new Green Restaurant Initiative grant awarded to the NYS Restaurant Association by the Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of the grant is to educate restaurant owners on energy conservation and sustainability.  

“Our focus will be on how to reduce energy, water, and hazardous waste at the restaurant level while supporting each individual restaurant’s bottom line,” said Someck. “It’s a way for us to facilitate the green movement in the hospitality sector.”

The grant includes providing a series of eight conservation trainings for restaurant owners over a period of 18 months. Trainings include presentations from energy industry leaders and departments as well as sustainability experts. In addition, audits will be performed at each restaurant in order to customize conservation recommendations and energy efficiency tips.

“We have found the best way to implement change is to work with restaurants on a one-on-one basis. We’ll be making recommendations for short and long term investments,” says Someck. “Some of the recommendations will be immediate and easy to implement. Others will require more planning.”

Among the innovative clean technologies discussed at the training series will be an affordable energy management system that allows a restaurant owner to control the restaurant’s energy system, including temperature and compression levels, remotely from a laptop.

A big step in the right direction, I’d say. Kudos to the NYS Restaurant Association for leading New York restaurants into a greener, more ecofriendly future.

As sustainably minded consumers, we choose products that reflect our respect for the environment and quest for sustainability. Ecofriendly goods that contain the greatest majority of recycled materials are favored. Plastic water bottles are replaced by reusable aluminum bottles--plastic bags by canvas bags. We demand our newspapers and magazines be printed on recycled paper. But an article in the New York Times shows there’s at least one environmentally harmful product we are overlooking: toilet paper. As a society, our desire to use only the softest, fluffiest toilet paper is causing the destruction of once plentiful old-growth forests.

25-50% of tree pulp used to make toilet paper is taken from tree farms in South America and the U.S. But, according to the New York Times article, the rest is taken from second-growth forests and the last virgin North American forests. These forests aren’t just needed to trap carbon emissions and control climate change, but also serve as “irreplaceable habitats for a variety of endangered species.”

Make no mistake: toilet paper from old-growth forests is soft and plush and fluffy—just like that little teddy bear in the Charmin Ultra ads. Ecofriendly toilet paper made from recycled fibers can’t compete with the softness offered up by virgin tree pulp. It’s rougher, there’s no getting around it. But does soft toilet paper, that’s used once and flushed away, justify the clearing of precious forests and habitats crucial to our ecosystem?

As I see it, the problem isn’t that toilet paper made from recycled fibers isn’t soft enough, but that the difference in softness outweighs the devastation of treasured natural resources such as old-growth forests. Our overall mentality seems to be that if it’s easy, convenient, and doesn’t cause a significant difference in our lives or comfort level, then recycled goods are great. But when it comes to products that directly affect our personal comfort, such as toilet paper, we think differently. A study by Greenpeace showed that even consumers who are environmentally conscious are reluctant to purchase recycled toilet paper.

The progress we have made as consumers and businesses to be sustainable and eco-friendly is impressive, no doubt. We’re making gains every day and should be proud of that. But maybe it’s time to understand change may mean we can’t retain all of the indulgent luxuries we’ve become accustomed to. Perhaps it’s time to also start making changes in areas that require sacrifice. Replacing a luxury like soft toilet paper made from tree pulp with toilet paper made from recycled fibers would be of substantial benefit to the environment. It won’t feel quite as good on our behinds, but the fact that we’re saving old-growth trees and forest species will no doubt give us substantially more warm fuzzies than the Charmin teddy bear ever could.

Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and waste expert with the Natural Resource Defense Council, said it best: “No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper.”

Find out more about recycled tissue and toilet paper and how to choose a brand with the Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide by Greenpeace. Then share it with friends in your green social networks – chances are, they have no idea their toilet paper may be coming from a centuries old tree stand in Washington State.