Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover Brings Hope, Jobs and Warmth to D.C.

If you want to take a break from all the PowerShift, climate bill, and Copenhagen craziness, you should check out Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover, a plan initiated by Carbonfree DC in partnership with Green DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia) to retrofit and weatherize 20 deserving homes in Washington D.C. This great program will help D.C. residents reduce their climate emissions, utility bills and improve their quality of life while providing much needed jobs for the community.

“Another great part of this project” said Rhon Hayes, one of the co-founders of Green DMV, “is that some of the certified and trained technicians doing the work are right from the Southeast DC community. They were part of a green job training program funded by stimulus dollars and now they are using their newly acquired skills to help DC residents.”

Education is a key component of this project and they are using innovative new media to show the nuts and bolts of an energy audit. Check out Kenny, one of their auditors at work:

The residents of the 20 houses will also receive free trainings on energy efficiency, composting, recycling, and other sustainable life-choices. Programs like these are essential to make the clean energy revolution more tangible for people throughout the nation that haven’t had access to environmental education. Young people play an essential role in helping to push for these programs, convening the community, and recruiting volunteers.

Carbonfree DC and Green DMV were lucky enough to receive a money prize that will allow them to organize this program. Have any of you had any luck securing that type of money from your schools, local governments, or other sources for similar projects? Leave a comment and share your experience!

About Tommaso

Until recently, Tommaso Boggia was the Climate Advocacy Associate at Campus Progress, the Center for American Progress youth outreach program. Prior to joining the Center, Tommaso was the Sustainability Event Coordinator for his alma mater, UC Santa Cruz, where he received a degree in Sociology with an emphasis in environmental justice. He led numerous climate change campaigns on his campus, including one to offset 100% of UC Santa Cruz’s energy use and others implementing energy efficiency programs saving UC Santa Cruz over $30,000 in utility costs. Tommaso has worked extensively with student groups, including the California Public Interest Research Group, the Alliance to Save Energy's Green Campus Program, and the California Student Sustainability Coalition. When he's not working to make the world a greener place, Tommaso can be found riding around town on his Gary Fischer bicycle that gets infinity miles per gallon.

1 Response to “Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover Brings Hope, Jobs and Warmth to D.C.”

Feed for this Entry

1 Karen Oct 8th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

No doubt about it that we need to look for alternative and domestic sources of clean energy. Many of these green jobs are starting to hire in significant numbers. For those unemployed at the moment, other career paths can be found at SalaryFor.com http://www.salaryfor.com/ which offers free access to salaries being paid by companies for all professions now, as well as career advice and job openings.

Comments are currently closed.

It’s Getting Hot In Here