Hi friends,
We just finished and uploaded our latest eco-video, but first I have a big announcement and a request for a little help!
I have set up our eco-video series, Our Renewable Nation, as a video podcast on ITunes. ITunes is the premier online music store and directory for podcasts, so being listed as a podcast there is a BIG DEAL and exposes our videos to a much wider audience, potentially. On ITunes, people can subscribe to our videos to play on their IPods, IPhones, or on their computers, updated as soon as each video is online. There are very few environmental video podcasts listed on ITunes, so we don’t have much competition.
ITunes can give a podcast a lot of publicity by listing it as a featured podcast, but in order for them to notice it the podcast needs to have a lot of good ratings and reviews. If you use ITunes, could you help give us a boost? Do a search in the ITunes store for Our Renewable Nation, and our podcast will come up. A quick rating and/or some comments about the videos would be a big help! If you don’t already use ITunes, you can download it free from www.Apple.com – I very highly recommend browsing through the available podcasts, all free and an endless source of brain food. Really, my IPod was one of the best purchases I ever made; I listen to podcasts for hours every day and learn so much.
OK, now our newest video, ORN#4 Solar Decathlon 2009. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVyrGeSMLM) We visited the Solar Decathlon in October down in Washington DC; it’s a competition of homes from universities all over the world that are completely powered by the sun. The homes are assembled on the National Mall for 2 weeks and are open to the public to show just what’s possible. When built specifically with renewable energy and energy efficiency in the design, there are amazing possibilities for zero energy homes. For example:
-Team Germany’s house is almost completely covered in solar panels, both traditional PV and new thin-film panels on the siding of the house, which generates several times more electricity than the house uses (selling the rest back to the electric company!).
-The University of Illinois house is so energy efficient that it could be heated with a single hair dryer.
-Team Spain’s house features the first-of-it’s-kind tracking solar roof that follows the sun throughout the day.
-Team California’s house has computerized lighting, heating, and cooling controls that can all be changed on-the-go using an IPhone.
As you’ll see in the video, these are very high-tech houses featuring solar technology for electricity and heating, super-insulation, passive solar heating with south-facing windows, etc. The Solar Decathlon houses stand in strong contrast to the very low-tech zero-energy homes we visited in Taos, New Mexico, called Earthships. Very different approaches to building! Stay tuned for our upcoming video about Earthships!
There were 20 houses at the Solar Decathlon and we filmed each one, but in this video we covered 5 of the most interesting and high-scoring houses. I want to put together a few more videos that cover the other houses but that would take weeks, and I want to move on to the other exciting videos that are next in line. Maybe once the video series is finished I’ll return to these remaining Solar Decathlon houses and make some ORN web extras. In the meantime, you can visit the Decathlon website, www.SolarDecathlon.org, which has plenty of information about all 20 houses, plus lots of pictures and videos of the competition.
In the 2009 Solar Decathlon, there was a focus on how much it would cost to build these houses. For example, Team Germany’s house cost roughly $750,000 to build (it features some very cutting-edge technologies). Some things to consider about the costs though:
1. 1. You’d never have an electric bill or heating bill again.
2. 2. You could get paid for the excess electricity you produce.
3. 3. State and federal credits can make solar technology much more affordable.
4. 4. These are prototype homes; if they were mass-produced the cost would be much lower.
We hope you enjoy our latest video! As always, feel free to leave comments on YouTube and rate the videos.
Thank you everyone for your support!
Be well,
Colin & Carrick--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
ORN# 3 Reusable Shopping Bags
Hi friends,
Our latest video, ORN#3 Reusable Shopping Bags, is ready for viewing! Click on the blue title or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8U6vxJu1tI
We visited the ChicoBag Company in Chico, California to learn more about reusable shopping bags and the reasons they are a more sustainable choice than paper or plastic. Carrick interviewed Andy Keller, the president and founder of ChicoBag, and it was a great interview with a lot of great points. In fact, I decided to make this video a 2-for-1 special; ORN#3 Reusable Shopping Bags is the “official” video of our visit, and I also put together a second video, ORN ChicoBag Extended Interview, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP7nDSrVlQk) which is a longer version of our interview that includes a lot of Q&A not in the ORN#3 video. Andy gave such a great interview with a lot of great points that couldn’t make it into the shorter format for our video series, so if you like the “official” video then go ahead and watch the extended interview.
I think of this video as the sister video to our last, ORN#2 Stainless Steel Water Bottles. Both videos talk about sustainable alternatives to disposable items we use every day. Stainless steel water bottles and reusable shopping bags are two easy ways to reduce our environmental footprint – Andy told us that the average American uses on average about 500 disposable shopping bags every year! He gave lots of amazing statistics that will be sure to surprise you.
ChicoBags are unique among reusable bags because they are designed to be smooshed down into the small attached pouch with a drawstring, which make them easy to carry and keep where you need them, like in the car, purse, etc. Our family has been using canvas bags for years but they are bulky to carry around and they get stained after a while. ChicoBags are more convenient and are easy to clean. Also, they are popular for fundraising because they can be printed with whatever logos and ads necessary and sold to help raise money.
After the interview there is a scene we shot that is probably the most bizarre thing we filmed in the entire two months: a fight scene between the Paper Bag Monster versus the Plastic Bag Monster. Andy & company came up with the Plastic Bag Monster costume a few years ago as a great visual example of the disposable bags used every year – they took 500 plastic bags and tied them all together into this big, rustling, bizarre costume. They rent the costumes out for events and festivals to draw attention to the issue of plastic bags. Some great videos are on YouTube that feature the Plastic Bag Monster, just do a search. We wanted to incorporate the Plastic Bag Monster in our video but do something different from what’s already online. Fortunately for us, Andy had just finished the week before a new Paper Bag Monster costume, and we filmed the WORLD DEBUT. Hats off to Andy for going above and beyond what we asked him to make our video fun! So in the supermarket battle between paper vs. plastic, we settle the score once and for all. Both paper and plastic bags have significant environmental impacts and neither is a sustainable choice.
At the very end of our video, make sure to watch the credits to see a funny blooper reel of Carrick working on the video intro. He and I have a fun time making the videos – there’s a lot of goofing around that you don’t usually see. I showed him the blooper collection and he thought it was great – it’s just him being a goof. I occasionally get comments that I “force my poor kid” to do these videos. Some of the comments we get on YouTube are…interesting, usually aimed at me the parent who is obviously brainwashing my son and mentally abusing him with nonsense about renewable energy, sustainability, climate change, etc. If you feel like posting responses to the cranks please feel free: www.youtube.com/carrickgareth.
I had a big challenge with this and the water bottle video: getting good visuals. I try to add interesting things to look at during an interview, because even with the most compelling speaker it can be hard to watch someone talk for 5 minutes straight. The video we made about the wind turbine at Holy Name High School, ORN#1 Wind Over Worcester, had plenty of footage of the wind turbine, on top of the interview audio. That was easy. Finding good visuals for water bottles and shopping bags was harder. Sometimes we’ve used images from the internet, which are free to use if given credit. Other times we use (hopefully) funny bits to break the interview up, like the Abe Lincoln animation from the last video. We do what we can to make the videos fun for kids and grownups!
That’s a wrap on reusable shopping bags, now onto the next video! There are a few time-sensitive topics we filmed that I will jump to next, like the Solar Decathlon, the Chevy Volt, and cellulosic ethanol. As usual, you’ll be the first to know!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Our latest video, ORN#3 Reusable Shopping Bags, is ready for viewing! Click on the blue title or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8U6vxJu1tI
We visited the ChicoBag Company in Chico, California to learn more about reusable shopping bags and the reasons they are a more sustainable choice than paper or plastic. Carrick interviewed Andy Keller, the president and founder of ChicoBag, and it was a great interview with a lot of great points. In fact, I decided to make this video a 2-for-1 special; ORN#3 Reusable Shopping Bags is the “official” video of our visit, and I also put together a second video, ORN ChicoBag Extended Interview, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP7nDSrVlQk) which is a longer version of our interview that includes a lot of Q&A not in the ORN#3 video. Andy gave such a great interview with a lot of great points that couldn’t make it into the shorter format for our video series, so if you like the “official” video then go ahead and watch the extended interview.
I think of this video as the sister video to our last, ORN#2 Stainless Steel Water Bottles. Both videos talk about sustainable alternatives to disposable items we use every day. Stainless steel water bottles and reusable shopping bags are two easy ways to reduce our environmental footprint – Andy told us that the average American uses on average about 500 disposable shopping bags every year! He gave lots of amazing statistics that will be sure to surprise you.
ChicoBags are unique among reusable bags because they are designed to be smooshed down into the small attached pouch with a drawstring, which make them easy to carry and keep where you need them, like in the car, purse, etc. Our family has been using canvas bags for years but they are bulky to carry around and they get stained after a while. ChicoBags are more convenient and are easy to clean. Also, they are popular for fundraising because they can be printed with whatever logos and ads necessary and sold to help raise money.
After the interview there is a scene we shot that is probably the most bizarre thing we filmed in the entire two months: a fight scene between the Paper Bag Monster versus the Plastic Bag Monster. Andy & company came up with the Plastic Bag Monster costume a few years ago as a great visual example of the disposable bags used every year – they took 500 plastic bags and tied them all together into this big, rustling, bizarre costume. They rent the costumes out for events and festivals to draw attention to the issue of plastic bags. Some great videos are on YouTube that feature the Plastic Bag Monster, just do a search. We wanted to incorporate the Plastic Bag Monster in our video but do something different from what’s already online. Fortunately for us, Andy had just finished the week before a new Paper Bag Monster costume, and we filmed the WORLD DEBUT. Hats off to Andy for going above and beyond what we asked him to make our video fun! So in the supermarket battle between paper vs. plastic, we settle the score once and for all. Both paper and plastic bags have significant environmental impacts and neither is a sustainable choice.
At the very end of our video, make sure to watch the credits to see a funny blooper reel of Carrick working on the video intro. He and I have a fun time making the videos – there’s a lot of goofing around that you don’t usually see. I showed him the blooper collection and he thought it was great – it’s just him being a goof. I occasionally get comments that I “force my poor kid” to do these videos. Some of the comments we get on YouTube are…interesting, usually aimed at me the parent who is obviously brainwashing my son and mentally abusing him with nonsense about renewable energy, sustainability, climate change, etc. If you feel like posting responses to the cranks please feel free: www.youtube.com/carrickgareth.
I had a big challenge with this and the water bottle video: getting good visuals. I try to add interesting things to look at during an interview, because even with the most compelling speaker it can be hard to watch someone talk for 5 minutes straight. The video we made about the wind turbine at Holy Name High School, ORN#1 Wind Over Worcester, had plenty of footage of the wind turbine, on top of the interview audio. That was easy. Finding good visuals for water bottles and shopping bags was harder. Sometimes we’ve used images from the internet, which are free to use if given credit. Other times we use (hopefully) funny bits to break the interview up, like the Abe Lincoln animation from the last video. We do what we can to make the videos fun for kids and grownups!
That’s a wrap on reusable shopping bags, now onto the next video! There are a few time-sensitive topics we filmed that I will jump to next, like the Solar Decathlon, the Chevy Volt, and cellulosic ethanol. As usual, you’ll be the first to know!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
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