On Saturday, Oct 2, from 2-6 p.m. at the Cool Creek Park Nature Center, you will have an opportunity to learn about solar power for your home or business. You will learn about solar panels, inverters, disconnect switches, and whether it should be grid-tied, battery-based or grid-interactive. You will learn how to offset costs with net metering and feed-in tariffs. You will also learn about solar thermal and other technologies.

The 2010 Indy Solar Tour is a practical, hands-on educational opportunity to see operating solar thermal and solar photovoltaic, as well as energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies. The tour will kickoff at the Cool Creek Park Nature Center located at 2000 East 151st Street, Carmel, IN 46033.

This free, self-guided tour includes six new sites this year!  Tour sites include Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Lugar Center for Renewable Energy, Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis, Indy Power Systems, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Schmidt Associates, Indiana Municipal Power Agency, Johnson-Melloh Contractors, TL Factory, as well residences in Indianapolis and Bargersville. To download a tour guide, visit http://indianarenew.org/index.php

Additional solar tours are also scheduled around Indiana including Lakeshore Solar Tour, in northwest Indiana, the North Central Tour in Kokomo, Logansport and Lafayette, the Solar Indiana Bloomington Style, and the Michiana Solar Tour.

These events are part of the 15th annual ASES National Solar Tour, the world's largest grassroots solar event, and are organized by Indiana Renewable Energy Association (InREA), state chapter of the American Solar Energy Society.  In 2009, about 150,000 attendees visited some 5,000 buildings in 3,000 participating communities throughout the United States.

For information regarding the Indy tour:
Mark Oehler
(317) 844-6712
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
See flier

Click here for tour map..

Click here for driving directions.

For information regarding other Indiana tours:
Laura Ann Arnold 
(317) 635-1701 
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Indianarenew blog
www.indianarenew.org

Saturday, July 24^th from Noon to 9 pm at the Arts & Design District.

Be sure to visit our booth (located on Main, west of the Monon) where you can enter for a chance to win eco-friendly prizes.   We’ll also have an update on city-wide curbside trash and recycling and more.   Special thanks to our eco-raffle sponsors: Whole Foods Markets and Thermo-Scan Inspections.

Raffle Prizes

• $25 Gift Card from Whole Foods Whole Foods is the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket, featuring the best selection of organic, locally grown products.   Check out the sales specials and some green tips for shopping at Whole Foods.

• Stainless Steel Water Bottle from Whole Foods- Are you addicted to bottled water? If you schlep a 24-pak home every week, it adds up to over 1,200 plastic bottles a year.  That’s a lot of money for water that’s not as well regulated as the tap.  It’s also a lot of oil! According to the EPA, the total estimated energy needed to make, transport, and dispose of one plastic bottle of water is equivalent to filling the same bottle one-quarter full of oil!  If you’ve got a drinking problem, maybe it’s time to kick the habit with a really cool water bottle.  Please note: in order for a stainless steel bottle to have a lower carbon footprint than plastic, you have to offset over 500 plastic bottles.   Read more

• Home Energy Audit from Thermo-Scan Inspections Are you ready to take the next big step to going green?  Is your home air-tight?  Do you have enough insulation? Is the HVAC airflow system balanced?  Do you have any serious energy hogs?  Thermo-Scan will help you identify ways to save energy and save money.  Estimated value $300.

Hope to see you there!

Carmel Green Initiative was selected as the Whole Foods Market Community Support Day recipient for our work on sustainability. This is really quite an honor as Whole Foods teams up with a local, nonprofit organization as a way of giving back to the community - only four times a year!   On June 16th, Whole Foods will feature the Carmel Green Initiative from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at both the Clay Terrace and Nora locations.

On Wednesday, June 16th
when you shop at
Whole Foods Market
at Clay Terrace and Nora
5% of the day’s net sales
will be donated to
Carmel Green Initiative

See Flier

Free Raffle
Enter to win
a green gift bag
of eco-friendly products

Estimated value: $75

Or

Win a gift bag
of healthy goodies

Estimated value $95

See details below.

Whole Foods will provide finger foods for you to sample.  Carmel Green Initiative volunteers will be on hand to tell you about all the good green things we’re doing  and how you can get involved to help make our community more sustainable. We'lll provide information on plans for city-wide curbside recycling, and raffle a ‘green’ gift bag full of environmentally-friendly  and a gift bag of healthy goodies.

Eco-Friendly Goodies:

• programmable thermostat
• 13-, 60- and 75-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs
• Food waste BioBag
• Green Savings Indy coupon book (green savings up to $800)
• Recycled content garbage bags
• Acrylic latex caulk
• Eco-friendly cleaning cloths
• Biodegradable sponges
• Window insulation kit
• Adhesive weatherstrip
• Draft stoppers
• 1 package of foam electrical outlet insulators
• Low-flow shower head
• Faucet flow restrictors, aerators
• Hot water gauge
• Hand-made afghan

Estimated value:  $75.00

Healthy Goodies:

• Barlean's Omega Swirl flax oil
• Green powder
• Fruition bars
• Pro bars
• Xlear nasal spray
• Assorted Spry sugar free gum
• Barlean's t-shirt

Estimated value:  $95.00

Please join us if you can, even if it's just for awhile.   Be sure to tell your family and friends to shop at Whole Foods on the Wednesday before Father's Day.. You definitely want to get in on the raffle!

WHOLE FOODS

• Main web site
• Whole Foods makes it easy to be green
  

WHOLE FOODS AT CLAY TERRACE

• Carmel store web page
• Carmel store sales specials
• Carmel store calendar

WHOLE FOODS AT NORA

• Indy store web page
• Indy store sales specials
• Indy store calendar

CANCELED

When: Saturday, June 5, 2010

• 8:30-9:00 am Registration & Information Fair
• 9:00 am-3:00 pm Green Ministry Workshop

2010 Green Congregations Workshop Flyer

This free event will include tours of the waste water treatment plant as well as informative talks by Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation staff.  There will also be informational displays & booths from various community environmental-based organizations and businesses.

Time: Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April 25th

Place: Pickup at your home by Appointment!

On Saturday, the 24^th, the City of Carmel has arranged for Disposal Alternates Organization crews to pick up large items for recycling, by appointment, that are difficult to drop off. This would include household appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, stoves, ovens, furnaces, water heaters, air conditioners and yard maintenance equipment such as lawn mowers. DAO will also pick up other items that are difficult to transport including large office equipment, mattresses, box springs, large playground equipment (broken down).

To schedule a pick up time with DAO, please call (317) 375-7788 or schedule online by emailing name, address, phone number and a description of recyclables to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For a full list of items accepted for recycling click here www.daorecycling.org.