by Gene Marrano
A campaign spearheaded by Roanoke County’s RC Clear committee is about to roll out, highlighting the merits of going greener. “Save A Ton,” as in saving a cubic ton of carbon emissions annually, per household, will debut with a media push and a presence at the 12th Annual Green Living and Energy Expo (Nov. 4-5), at the Roanoke Civic Center’s special events hall.
Before that, RC Clear, in conjunction with its partners on Roanoke City’s Clean and Green Committee and others, will hold a news conference about the initiative, which will appeal to people’s pocketbooks as much as it will a sense of civic responsibility to embrace going green.
The Regional Planning Commission will soon take over management of the SaveATon.org website, where valley residents can learn about ways to save energy. Production of that energy – from coal plants used to create electricity to vehicles that transport people – help fill the air with carbon that mars views, and more importantly, is a health hazard to those with breathing problems.
“We’re hoping that other regional [organizations] will be able to join shortly,” said Anne Marie Green, director of general services for Roanoke County, at a meeting with tba, The Becher Agency, hired by the county to work on the website and a rollout campaign. Representatives from Roanoke City, Salem and Blacksburg did attend the meeting, expressing an interest in letting their citizenry learn how to “Do A Little – Save A Ton.”
That’s the other point that RC Clear wants to stress – big steps are not needed in order to be more energy efficient, and to begin reducing the household carbon footprint. Steps as small as turning down the thermostat, using compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent models and keeping the car tuned up can all help.
The Save A Ton website will offer ideas and resources towards saving a cubic ton of carbon emissions a year – enough to fill a 27 square foot space. RC Clear may try to demonstrate what that looks like at the Energy Expo in November.
Billboards and other printed materials may urge residents and local business owners to: “Learn. Change. Save A Ton.” RC Clear hopes to spread the Save A Ton message to local school systems, hoping that the message will “bubble up” to parents, according to tba president Thomas Becher. You Tube videos and links to success stories elsewhere in the country will support the mission.
A $50,000 Department of Energy stimulus fund grant helped RC Clear – an offshoot of the ICLEI organization – get off the ground. Roanoke County spends an additional $1200 a year on ICLEI dues, a practice criticized recently by the local Tea Party. Cave Spring supervisor Charlotte Moore defends the practice. “We learn so much,” said Moore in an interview recently on “Roanoke This Week (Fox Radio 910am), disputing Tea Party charges that the international ICLEI groups want to take away electric dryers and air conditioning. “I like my AC and I like my dryer,” said Moore, noting however that there are very energy efficient models available now.
Roanoke City representative Ken Cronin hopes that a number of localities sign on to the Save A Ton effort in the near future; “air and water pollution doesn’t stop at the corporate line,” said Cronin, who works as a city government liaison to Roanoke’s citizen-driven Clean & Green group.
