Reducing Houston's Carbon Footprint (and mine)

Where does one start in a City known around the country as the Energy Capitol? How do you find like-minded citizens who want to begin addressing the business of reducing our city's carbon footprint? I'm fortunate to know Brian Yeoman who told me about a City of Houston effort to promote energy savings (which directly relates to carbon footprint reduction). Over the summer the group, called GREEN TEAMS put together a simple curriculum for citizens to work through and, in the best instance of viral marketing, commit to working with other like-minded citizens to reduce energy consumption once our first curriculum grads were out in their lives again. Three women named Nan Hildreth, Nancy Edwards and Nancy Benthian are the master minds. Starting with workshops focused using David Gershon's "Low Carbon Diet" (http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd/) each woman worked with groups who worked to reduce carbon footprints and pledged to continue the work with other citizen once the workshop was finished. Leveraging this model the City of Houston created a simple four week curriculum that has specific relevance to our tropical climate.

The group I've been helping out with facilitation is in its third week and will be focused on electricity and water conservation. We'll look at our past utility bills and pledge reductions. I've been purchasing wind generated power from Green Mountain for five years. As smug as this makes me feel, I still generate way too much carbon. My most recent move was related to taking a new job assignment which allows me to take the bus instead of an automobile. I find that I must consciously work at my energy consumption -- this does not come automatically just because I think it is a good thing to do. The GREEN TEAMS format is a great way to reinforce my actions. So now I'm a convert. To Nan, Nancy and Nancy, thank you!!

If you are interested in sustainable development you might want to check out my SD Twine: http://www.twine.com/twine/112kkw6l8-13sb/sustainable-development