Recap of Summer Think and Do Tank Program
The Eugene Northwest Institute for Community Energy is engaging in some reflection next week. The Think and Do Program was designed to help jumpstart programs that have community support, like Victory Gardens and the Energy Equity Program. We have had success in both! Dozens of students and community members have registered 120 homes for the Energy Equity Program’s Home Energy Checkup, and more than 20 have already completed training to become Energy Consultants to assist residents in reducing their energy consumption. If you would like to volunteer or intern with the Energy Equity Program, please e-mail jesse@thenice.org
After seven weeks of Think and Do Tanks, the NICE coordinators decided that the weekly Think and Do Tank Program was no longer strategic for helping the projects move forward, and we canceled them in mid-august. We will still hold Think Tank events in which we will train groups on energy skills or facilitate discussions or presentations. We will also occasionally hold Do Tank events to do more grassroots outreach for the projects and programs.
The Eugene NICE has been transforming throughout the summer and taking a shape that is different from our original concept. We are moving away from holding trainings around community organizing and instead simply advancing programs that make tangible steps towards real sustainability projects. Students and community members have shown our amazing potential in the areas of energy conservation and local foods and we look forward to continuing these grassroots efforts and more.
As we move into a new phase of Eugene NICE, we would like to learn from our experience this summer and strategize our new direction. Therefore, we invite YOU to the Eugene NICE Summer Debrief Dinner Wednesday September 16th, 7:00pm at the NICE Office (6th and Lawrence). We will be having a nice meal, discussing the learning points from the summer, and looking to the future. We really want to hear from you. We will learn more with your perspective on the summer and our work.
Sincerely,
Jesse Hough, Samantha Chirillo, Natasha Hultmann
Eugene NICE Coordinators
541-683-0786
NICE Update #5:
This week the Eugene NICE focused on self-training and self-sustainability, as we continue our push toward signing up households in the Whiteaker neighborhood for “Energy Checkups.”
Self-training involves the education required to carry out checkups. The NICE team is spending time both in class and in the field. EWEB’s Tom West took NICE staff along for audits this week, demonstrating the techniques required to help folks save energy. From wrapping pipes to making sure a home’s wall and attic insulation meets the grade, our Energy Checkups will comprehensively address room for improvement regarding a household’s electric use.
Self-sustainability refers to our efforts at generating the funding and volunteers required to fulfill our mission. Our THINK TANK discussion involved looking at how organizations such as the NICE can take advantage of possible funding sources, ranging from private sponsors to government grants.
Efforts at canvassing paused briefly out of respect for this week’s extraordinarily hot weather, but kicked back into gear later in the week. Working in the Whiteaker neighborhood, our staff and volunteers continue to sign up roughly half of those contacted to consider a checkup. AWESOME!
One notable signatory this week: Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy! She sat down with NICE coordinators at City Hall to discuss the group’s future. And as a resident of the Whiteaker neighborhood, the mayor asked to have a checkup at her home. Right on, Kitty!
Finally, we join the Whiteaker Block Party this weekend (3rd St. between Van Buren & Adams) to sign up folks for checkups, and also to give out information regarding other important sustainability programs and issues in our area.
Stay cool! (efficiently!)
Erik Silverberg
NICE Update #4
I feel so fortunate to spend this summer working in a beautiful city, with wonderful people, and on arguably the most important issue of our age: climate change. While the projects we support address an array of problems, I originally became involved with energy and sustainability because of climate change. All our projects will help decrease green house gas (GHG) emissions, and change how we produce and consume energy.
It’s no exaggeration to say that we need a complete overhaul of our relationship with energy. In addition to pursuing renewables like wind and solar – we must localize, decentralize, and simplify our energy consumption. This week, we took steps in this direction by addressing energy efficiency and local foods.
Our Think Tank included work on coalition building and networking. For our Energy Equity Project, we’re creating a coalition of students, community members, non-profits, and businesses to address energy efficiency. The advantage of a coalition is that each member contributes different skills towards a shared goal. The NICE contributes grassroot support including student volunteers, while EWEB and Climate Masters bring their expertise in household energy audits. Together we can help each other reach our common goal of decreased energy bills and environmental harm. If you are a member of an organization that would like to develop a partnership around the Energy Equity Project, please contact thenicejesse@gmail.com.
At this week’s Do Tank, we took a field trip … literally! We toured farms in Linn and Benton counties that participate in the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. This effort helps farmers move away from growing grass seed, and toward producing beans and grains. Close to 100 people – including farmers, journalists, and teachers – turned out to learn from growers pioneering this critical transition to the production and consumption of local food.
The fun continued on Thursday as we hit the streets of the Whiteaker Neighborhood. We gathered new Energy Checkup applications, making progress toward our goal of one hundred. We expect to have the content of the ready for next week, having now researched other relevant and current energy audits. The Checkup will cover three primary categories of energy improvements for households: envelope, plug load, and no or low cost solutions. At the end of the check-up we will write a “prescription” for the home, including options for next steps.
We sincerely appreciate your interest and participation during this exciting time at the Eugene NICE!
Jesse Hough
Eugene NICE Founder & Coordinator
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NICE Update #3
Welcome back to the Eugene NICE Weekly update! After doing outreach and having a wonderful time at the Oregon Country Fair, it’s been a fun week for everyone at the NICE and many wonderful volunteers. The pieces of the Energy Equity Project are coming together nicely as we began crafting the energy audit together in the Think Tank and reached out to the Whiteaker community during our successful Do Tanks. It has been wonderful meeting members of the Whiteaker community and also having more participants at our Think and Do Tanks. Through our eclectic backgrounds and knowledge base, we can work together to advance sustainability in Eugene
This week’s Think Tank was centered around our NICE Energy Check-up and what it will entail for the homes we will visit. We were fortunate to have EWEB staff Ann Porterfield attend the Think Tank and she helped us understand what EWEB puts into their energy audits. Focusing mostly on infrastructural improvements, we will incorporate some of the EWEB audit into our Check-Up. We also had input on the audit from Climate Master’s Lorraine Boose, and her audit focused more on habitual energy practices. Both of these aspects of energy conservation are very important, and we will have both in the NICE Energy Check-Up.
A treat for the NICE crew this week was having Monica Dutcher at our Think Tank because Monica has volunteered to translate our materials into Spanish for the only-Spanish speaking residents of the Whiteaker. The NICE passionately seeks to serve diverse communities and this translation support will help us reach out to communities we may otherwise miss. If you would like to receive any of our materials in Spanish, please contact jesse@thenice.org
Our Think Tank was productive, exciting and didn’t go over two hours! Thank you to everyone that came and contributed to the process, please come back next week!
If I thought the Think Tank was as fun as it could get, I was wrong; the Do Tank was a blast! Our Do Tank was designated to the first massive canvas into the Whiteaker neighborhood. We set up maps, rapports, flyers, and clip boards for twelve volunteers to hit the streets. We had a goal of getting twenty-five residendts signed up for the energy audits, and we got twenty-seven! The next day we hit the streets a little more and got up to thirty-five! Residents of the Whiteaker have been over-all supportive of our work and many have signed up. If you would like to sign up for an audit, please contact thenicenatasha@gmail.com.
We would like to send out a huge thank you to all of the volunteers that came to the Do Tanks. The Corvallis NICE crew came all the way down to support us and many UO students came out too. Our organization thrives through grassroots support, so we look forward to working with you all in the future.
The Eugene NICE has recently applied for a grant through Focus the Nation, called the Roots Fellowship. We have described the work we are doing in Eugene and hope to receive support for our effort. Please go to focusthenation.org to show support for our project and learn more.
We would also like to thank Green Printing Solutions for donating free printing to the Eugene NICE for business cards, thanks!
This coming week will be designated to networking and coalition building for the Energy Equity Project and other supported project. Don’t miss our next Think and Do Tanks because we all need your input! Please contact us with any questions or if you would like to get involved.
Jesse Hough
Eugene NICE Founder & Coordinator
503-438-0738
jesse@thenice.org
thenice.org
Eugen NICE Office: 570 Lawrence St. Suite 211 97401
