By BILL BERRY
of The Gazette
What's the word in the wake of the 12th annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair in Amherst?
Well, you can do a lot to reduce and refine energy use and modify your lifestyle to be more conscious of conservation. But does America have a single gadget to lift us from reliance on fossil fuels, and lots of them? Not yet. And those devices that are available aren't always affordable for those on tight budgets.
Yes, there have been great advances in wind power, active and passive solar and other areas. But a tour of the Amherst fairgrounds in search of some hot new tips for alternative energy seemed to show that the best advice is some we've heard before: Conserve more, consume less. Not bad advice, really, unless you run Wal-Mart.
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association saw excellent turnouts on both days of the fair, and it's always a treat to be among those who don't mind wearing the "alternative" moniker. Some at the fair wear it on their shoulders, others are a bit more circumspect about it.
Fact is, looking for alternative and sustainable ways to live shouldn't be alternative at all, but our consume-at-all-expense-and-grow-or-die economic house of cards has fooled us into thinking that's all there is.
Anyway, enough ramblings. Here are bits of information gleaned from this year's fair and a few wisecracks tossed in:
1. Perhaps the best piece of advice for conserving energy and changing one's lifestyle a bit was offered by the Sierra Club. Its list of energy-saving tips included "Give Your Car a Day Off." It's great advice, especially for city dwellers who live close to work. Imagine how the average car-driving American could extend the life of a vehicle by keeping it in the garage even one day a week.
Of course, most of us at the energy fair had driven there in our metal beasts, many emblazoned with the bumper sticker, "Stop the Crandon Mine," a reminder of the irony in any cause. Some people say the "S" in "Sierra" actually stands for "sue," but the booth at the energy fair was full of good advice short of calling a lawyer. The old standbys, "recycle, reduce, reuse" still make sense. The Sierra Club also reminds us to ask our utility to do its part. Not bad advice considering last winter's bills. It also says to get involved at work (turn off the boss's lights, no need for them there anyway), plant trees and educate.
2. "Shower with a lover." Well, no one actually repeated that old line, but a booth hosted by LoTec Windmill Service of Arkansaw, Wis., reminded us of the need to conserve water. LoTec Windmill restores and installs water-pumping windmills and has been doing so since 1981. Not a bad idea, considering that there are thousands of old windmills around the Midwest. The company specializes in the Aermotor brand of windmills, but can retrofit and engineer parts for others, too. So, why shower with a lover? The company handout notes that showers use from 25 to 60 gallons of water. Might as well have some fun as the water goes down the drain. The same handout shows that water hoses can use up to 300 gallons of water an hour. George Rogers often suggests that municipalities raise their water rates in summer to capture more revenue and maybe cut back on lawn watering. Cities used to actually lower their rates in the summer, George notes, presumably to encourage lawn watering.
3. Passive solar brings great returns, as anyone who has sat in a sunny window on a winter's day can attest. Arctic Glass and Window Outlet of Hammond, Wis., encourages consumers to build their own sunrooms. Good advice for the handy. The company provided solid practical advice about size, shape, slope, direction and other good stuff, and added this: "It is late February at your house. You are sitting in your new sunroom, which is 80 degrees, the sun pouring in all day. You are sipping a gold glass of beer and remembering how much you used to hate winter. Isn't life grand?" Well, maybe they exaggerate a little.
4. The Wisconsin Interfaith Climate Change Campaign 2001 for Religious Communities had a booth. This is a collection of faith communities that seek to educate their members about the dangers of global climate change. The group is connected to those in 19 other states. It's a worthy campaign, if for no other reason than to educate people about our immense impact on the environment. The vast majority of scientists agree that global climate change is real. Likely, most Americans just don't have time to care. Apparently, President Bush is in that group at the moment. The president likes faith-based initiatives, so maybe the Interfaith Climate Change people can get to him.
5. Just look around a little bit, and you'll see that some of the easiest ways to make a change are staring us in the eyes. The fair's excellent food stands were heavy on organic vegetarian fare. A simple shift in diet by Americans would literally alter the landscape and save countless millions annually in energy used. Might even better support local farming, too. We don't have to get whacked out about it, but we could get off the Big Macs.
6. Earth-sheltered homes work, even in this climate.
7. Wood-burning units, indoors and out, are part of the solution here, too. While they actually contribute to global warming by releasing carbon into the air, wood burning units are a lot more efficient these days, and they use a renewable resource readily available locally.
8. Photovoltaics show great promise and may soon be regular components of home-heating systems.
9. There was talk at the fair of the promise of closed biomass systems that use manure from animal confinements to produce methane gas used to fuel the farming operation and return excess to the utility. It's come a long way, and Wisconsin is a likely candidate for more, given our propensity to grow cows.
10. The Wisconsin Energy Division was also on hand. Its recent newsletter notes that a new study examined 23 counties in northeast Wisconsin and found that it is technically possible to supply all of this area's future electric needs from renewable energy. Renewable energy use in Wisconsin is at 4.5 percent of total use today, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison study. It could be much higher than that, the study found. Until the engineers and policymakers figure out how to do that, and after, for that matter, it bears reminding that conserving energy and living sustainably are really a state of mind.