National Bike Month has been a blast. Aside from down right chilly weather and some rain showers, we’ve had a great time getting back on our bikes after the winter and getting to know some of the great biking organizations in DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

One of our favorites — and newly wind powered — is the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). As the DC region’s non-profit biking association, WABA promotes bicycling as a fun, affordable mode of transportation that builds community, keeps you healthy, and keeps environment healthy too.

WABA advocates for better bicycling conditions and transportation choices. They also educate the community about safe bicycling through classes and events. They do all of this with the vision of fully-integrated transportation system in the DC region that links transit, trails, bicycling, and walking.
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Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago for WINDPOWER 2013:  the American Wind Energy Association’s annual conference and trade show.

As a conference volunteer, my primary responsibility was to administer surveys to representatives of fifty different companies that manufacture components for wind turbines here in the United States. There are approximately 8,000 parts in a wind turbine, and about two-thirds of those parts are sourced from manufacturing plants located in the U.S.

Over the course of three days, I spoke with representatives of companies that manufacture nacelles, towers, bearings, lighting, and what seemed like everything in between.

The characteristics of the manufacturing plants and their parent companies varied. Some supply parts exclusively to the wind industry, whereas for others, the wind industry represents only 5% of their business.
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As if we weren’t already bursting our buttons in pride over the high quality schools in the DC metro area, several area schools were just recognized by the EPA for their renewable energy purchases through the Green Power Partnership program.

Four 100% Clean Currents powered schools graced the top 20 K-12 list: Bullis School, Norwood School, Maret School, and Melvin J Berman Hebrew Academy. Beyond their commitment to renewable energy, here’s a bit about why we love them:

Bullis School

Bullis School is an independent, co-educational school in Potomac, MD.  Educating students in grades 3-12, its mission is to provide a balanced academic, artistic, athletic and community service experience. Bullis’ vision to prepare students to be ‘caring citizens and critical thinkers’ is apparent in its green principles.

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Happy Bike Month! We’re all about this mode of transportation, and the many ways we’ll celebrate our bicycles this month. To kick things off, we asked the Washington Area Bicycle Association (WABA) to send us tips for participating in Bike to Work Day on May 17th. Not only is it a great day celebrating biking in DC, MD and VA, but it’s also a primary way to tally bike commuters. So check out these tips, and we’ll see you May 17th!

What is Bike to Work Day?

Bike to Work Day is a yearly event that encourages commuters to bike to work. BTWD is a free event and open to everyone in the DC and Baltimore area. It’s a celebration of biking in our region! This year, it’s on Friday, May 17.

Why should someone who has never biked to work give it a try?

Besides being one of the most convenient, least expensive ways to get around town, it’s fun! Bike commuting is better for the environment, your wallet, and your waistline.

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We bet you didn’t know its Air Quality Awareness week! Well, it is. And that means it’s time to learn a bit about how air quality affects all of us.

The American Lung Association just released their 2013 State of the Air report. While overall, air pollution is decreasing, 43% of people still live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

Unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution put people at risk for a range of health problems from asthma to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Some groups, including older, younger, and people with asthma and cardiovascular disease, are especially at risk.

The primary culprits of smog, ozone, and particulate pollution are emissions from coal power plant and cars. Although regulations are tighter on coal power plants, they are still among the largest contributors to air pollution and produce 84 known hazardous pollutants including arsenic and mercury along with carbon dioxide.

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Air Quality Awareness Week isn’t just about the air outside. If you’re anything like me, you spend most of your day at work inside. The air inside our offices can be more polluted than the air outside. According to the Oregon Environmental Council, poor indoor air quality can result in flu like symptoms including headaches, sore throats, and itchy eyes.

Here are 5 tips for improving your indoor air quality:

1. Open the windows or store front door. Let the air from outside circulate and carry away some of those dust particles. Remember to turn off the A/C first and don’t open on code red and orange days.

2. Bring nature inside with plants! The Mother Nature Network has created a list of 15 houseplants for improving air quality.

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As we’re asking people to Energize Responsibly this spring, we wanted to know what gets people up and moving. Here’s what we found:

The American Lung Association just released their new State of the Air Report for 2013, and things are looking up, especially for Baltimore, MD. But, nationwide, there are 131.8 million people living in areas with unhealthy pollution — that’s 42% of the nation!

Despite advances in reducing pollution from coal fired power plants, they are still one of the largest contributors to particle pollution, ozone pollution, mercury, and climate change.

By switching your home to clean, wind power you’re helping us get one step closer to clean air for everyone. Have you taken the pledge to ditch dirty air yet? If not, join us and be part of a clean energy future.

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Let’s Ditch Dirty Air and Energize Responsibly

Energize Responsibly

American Lung Association State of the Air Report 2013

It’s spring — finally! The cold of winter is melting away, buds are bursting into flowers, trees are becoming green again, and we’re all making a bee line for the outdoors. Time to get out the bike, the running shoes, the bat and ball, and PLAY! But, what are we all breathing while we’re soaking up the glorious sun?

Turns out Maryland has a problem with smog and air pollution. In 2012, 11 out of 15 counties studied earned a failing grade for air quality from the American Lung Association. Also, Baltimore County experienced 32 Code Red or Code Orange Ozone days in 2012, enough to receive an F in the ALA’s State of the Air Report.

So how does this impact us?

Ozone pollution has serious health effects, and disproportionately affects the young, elderly, and people who exercise outside.  Ozone pollution causes shortness of breath, coughing, asthma attacks, increased susceptibility to respiratory infections and more. Baltimore leads the state of Maryland in asthma deaths and has one of the nation’s highest rates of hospitalization for children with asthma.

Wind Power means Cleaner Air

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This Sunday, I had the privilege of watching Cassie Meador’s How to Lose a Mountain — the story of her 500 mile journey to uncover the energy sources that power her home in Takoma, Washington, DC. Cassie’s inspiring story hit home with the audience as we were taken through a journey of gain and loss, despair and hope, and the use and reuse of our natural resources.

This innovative social and environmental initiative touched various communities between DC and West Virginia, where Cassie visited a mountain top removal site. Along the 500 mile journey, Cassie engaged community members, taking stories of individuals along the way to incorporate in her How to Lose a Mountain performance. The incredibly creative interpretation of the story captivated the audience and opened eyes to the delicate relationship between humans and our surroundings.

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“I work everyday to be an example for green living,” says Nick, our Baltimore based customer of the month.

As a Geologist for the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Solid Waste program, he spends his days protecting the environment from water and air pollution caused by landfills. Previously, he worked as an energy efficiency analyst with ecobeco, quantifying savings from energy efficient home improvements.

His commitment to sustainability goes beyond his day job. From reducing his energy consumption through BGE’s smart energy saver program to biking to work, he reduces green house gas emissions. And, for all the electricity he does use, it’s offset by Clean Currents wind power.

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Last week, we did something a little crazy. We took a 20 foot, human powered wind turbine on a tour of Philly to show the power of the wind.  We traveled through Rittenhouse Square, Manayunk, and even to a Flyers game to spread the word to Philadelphians that local, Pennsylvania wind power is available for their home.

The turbine was built by the talented artists and craftsmen of Frank’s Kitchens, a local Philly artist co-operative specializing in building human powered kinetic sculptures.  Frank’s Kitchen used all found and recycled materials, including an old car axel. People could come up and take the turbine for a spin with the hand crank wheel. By turning the wheel, people could experience how strong the wind needs to be to make the blades of a turbine spin — and have a little fun at the same time.
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We love March! Usually, it feels like winter is coming to an end and spring is just around the corner. But even with the “snowquester” in the forecast, we still love this month because of the Environmental Film Fest. The festival is the largest showcase of environmental films globally, bringing hundreds of films from 50 countries to DC. But most importantly, at least according to us, the Festival is wind powered by Clean Currents.

The 21st annual Environmental Film Festival takes place March 12 through 24, presenting 190 documentary, narrative, animated, archival, experimental and children’s films selected to provide fresh perspectives on environmental issues facing our planet.  This year’s Festival theme is the vital role of rivers and watershed in the global environment. This will be explored in works from 50 countries and include hundreds of films seen for the first time.

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This week, we’re taking a 20 foot wind turbine on a road trip through Philly to celebrate opening up shop in Pennsylvania. Yup, you read that right — we built a 20 foot wind turbine made of upcycled materials that you can hand crank!

Think you’re as powerful as the wind? Join us at Rittenhouse Square, Manayunk Brewery, the Flyers — Penguins game, and LOVE Park to give our turbine a whirl and find out. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled, too.  We’re giving prizes to the first person to spot the turbine each day and to whoever captures the best picture this week. Winners will be announced on Friday at LOVE Park and through Twitter.

Join the fun by following us on Twitter @CleanCurrentSol, #SeeThePower, on Facebook, and learn more about how to See The Power. We hope to see you out there!

After this week, there will be no doubt that Philly residents can get 100% local PA wind power for their home or business with Clean Currents.

Join Them & Switch Your Home to Wind Power Today!

Help us support Dance Exchange’s mission to address social and environmental issues through expressive art and movement: switch to wind power before Earth Day (April 22nd) and Clean Currents will donate $30 to Dance Exchange.

Clean Currents is the region’s leading independent and sustainably certified green energy company, offering residents clean, renewable wind electricity.

Dance Exchange is an intergenerational company of artists that creates dance and engages people in making art. They stretch the boundaries between the studio, stage, and other environments to make dances that are rooted in the particularity of people and place.  Through local, national, international, and online projects they gather and create community to contribute to a healthy and more sustainable environment.

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Encourages Energy Suppliers to Back Offshore Wind Act of 2013

Clean Currents presented a letter of support for Maryland’s Offshore Wind Act of 2013 to State Representatives in Annapolis, MD today in anticipation of final passage of the bill. Although other suppliers were invited to lend their support to the letter, Clean Currents is the only supplier signing on.

The bill mandates electricity suppliers and electric utilities to utilize a certain percentage of offshore wind in their energy mix while preserving the integrity of the restructured electricity market.  The bill would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, bring economic activity to Maryland, and provide a long-term stable electricity resource.

“Mandating the use of offshore wind as part of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard is a vital part of growing the clean energy economy. It will be good for Maryland’s economy, our environment, and our future. We support this bill without hesitation,” states Gary Skulnik, Clean Currents’ President.

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Leah Stonefeld is the winter semester marketing & communications intern at Clean Currents. She is a graduate student at American University where she is pursuing a Masters of Arts in Global Environmental Policy. Leah has a passion for renewable energy completed undergraduate studies at Arizona State University, School of Sustainability. Besides renewable energy, one of Leah’s main reasons for wanting to intern at Clean Currents was our B Corp status.

As a new intern at Clean Currents, I wanted to discover why staff chose to work for a Benefit Corporation. I met up with Jason Schwartz, V.P. of Sales at Clean Currents to discuss what makes working for a Certified Benefit Corporation so unique.

Prior to working with Clean Currents, Jason was the Senior Sales Strategist for Kurlan & Associates. He also has experience as an entrepreneur, starting his own business Bkind Foods, LLC in 2009. Jason has extensive experience consulting on executive level coaching, sales team training and development, and leadership development. He has a M.S. in Organizational Change Management from the New School University.

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The Courts of Devon is proud to announce that it has purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (REC)s from wind farms in the United States that is equivalent to 100% of its common area electricity load. This was done to offset the carbon emitted from the conventional generation of the electricity needed to power the common areas. By purchasing 100% wind power from Clean Currents, a Maryland-based green energy supplier, the electricity consumption of The Courts of Devon is now carbon neutral.

The wind power purchase of 268,680 kilowatt-hours of electricity by the Courts of Devon is equivalent to removing 417,924 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere or removing 28 single-family homes from the electric grid for a year.

“Buying renewable energy makes sense — sustainable energy use increases value, which benefits our policy owners, and it’s a win for the environment,” notes Angela Scodellaro, Washington, D.C.-based asset manager for Northwestern Mutual, which owns The Courts of Devon.
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The Clean Currents mission is to energize communities for a clean energy future by enabling individuals and businesses to make responsible choices that protect their bottom line while reducing their environmental impact.

Since 2005, Clean Currents has helped 10,000 individuals and 3,000 businesses make the switch to wind power in Maryland, DC and Pennsylvania. We’ve also donated over $20,000 to community greening projects through our award winning Green Neighborhood Challenge program.

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What happens to your favorite, socially responsible ice cream maker when a multinational corporation sets its sights on acquiring it? That is exactly what happened in the case of Ben & Jerry’s, and they had no legal options but to sell to the highest bidder — even if that company’s values didn’t align with their social mission.

So, how do socially responsible businesses hold themselves responsible to their stakeholders when corporate structures put shareholders and financial profit first? Enter Benefit Corporations and Certified B Corporations.

By providing legal structures that increase transparency, accountability, and performance, Benefit Corporations and B Corps are changing the way we do business.

Certified B Corporation vs. Benefit Corporation

There are two ways for companies to participate in the B Corp movement: Certified B Corporations are 3rd party certified by non profit B Lab and Benefit Corporation is a legal status administered by the state.  “B Corp” generally refers to either of these types of organizations.

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There’s nothing like reaching the top of the mountain or crossing the finish line. But what are you breathing while doing it? Take the pledge to support wind power at home and join a movement of people who are committed to a sustainable, healthy future.

Plus, your pledge qualifies you to win prizes including:

• A Specialized Bike
• A ChicoBag DayPack loaded with a Klean Kanteen and other goodies
• Charm City Run Gift Card