"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat." --Ronald Reagan

 
Mahalo to Team Hawai‘i, the UH representatives for the 2011 Solar Decathlon, for engineering the brilliant LED lights that are dancing in our trees and illuminating the coolest LEGO town ever, meticulously crafted by the Lego Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii (LEAHI).
 
DID YOU KNOW... Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, can use 80% less energy and last 50 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
 
Blue Planet, KANU, and KUPU invite you to sign up for a FREE home energy makeover that includes a home energy monitor, a residential energy assessment, and an LED lighting retrofit. Up to 300 households will receive a home energy monitor and 150 households will be selected for the energy assessment and LED retrofit.
 
Businesses can get a $25 rebate on LED signs from Hawaii Energy.



 

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."--Eleanor Roosevelt

 
These Christmas trees are decorated with recycled bulbs from local school CFL exchanges. Mahalo to Lanakila Baptist, Farrington HS Law & Justice Academy, St. Anthony, and Pope Elementary!
 
Compact Fluorescent Lamps, or CFLs, use 3 to 4 times less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and can last 10 times as long. Replacing just one incandescent bulb with a CFL can save $114 in electricity costs over the bulb’s lifetime!
 
Hawaii Energy: How To Pick CFLs Guide

Wai‘anae Community and School Groups: Sign up to host a free CFL Fundraiser and earn $0.40 per bulb!

Here are a few photos for a sneak peek at the progress of our Santa Goes Solar display! A giant mahalo to Hawaii Energy and the Hawai‘i Wal-Mart stores for their generous support to help us build the display. It's not too late to donate!

To show Honolulu the power of clean energy, we're joining forces with the Lego Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii (LEAHI), Sunetric, and members of the UH Solar Decathlon team to build a brilliant holiday exhibit--entirely solar-powered--that will be on display at the 2011 Honolulu City Lights.

The LEAHI (Lego Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii) team will construct a workshop where Santa's elves can assemble their toys without using a drop of oil. Our Christmas trees will be lit with a dazzling array of high-tech LED lights engineered by members of UH's Solar Decathlon Team Hawaii and decorated with recycled incandescent bulb ornaments made by students from local schools. Sunetric's PV panels will harness the energy of the sun to power the display.

You'll have a chance to check it out on the lawn adjacent to Honolulu Hale from Dec. 2 through Dec. 31 at the 2011 Honolulu City Lights display.

 

They canvassed neighborhoods. They convinced their parents to swap bulbs at work. They held exchanges at condo buildings in their neighborhood. They changed out the old incandescents on campus. They asked parents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and grandparents to get involved. And thanks to this massive group effort, the gang at Moanalua High School exchanged a whopping 6,344 C.F.L. bulbs in one month, making them the official winner of our 100,000 Better Bulbs Blitz. By the end of the blitz, they will have exchanged 8,000 bulbs. Unreal!! The school's MeneMAC group will use the funds raised to travel to the national convention of the Student Television Network this coming spring. Congratulations to advisor Lynne and the entire Moanalua High School student body!

SOLAR FOR SANTA? To show Honolulu the power of clean energy, we're joining forces with the Lego Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii (LEAHI) and members of the UH Solar Decathlon team to build a sparkling and innovative holiday exhibit—entirely solar-powered—that will be on display at the 2011 Honolulu City Lights.

The LEAHI team will construct a workshop where Santa's elves can assemble their toys without using a drop of oil. The workshop, village, and Santa's zero-emissions sleigh will be lit with a dazzling array of UH-engineered LED lights.

You'll have a chance to check it out on the lawn adjacent to Honolulu Hale throughout the 2011 Honolulu City Lights display beginning Saturday, Dec. 3.

To make this a reality, we need to raise about $4,000. Think about how good Santa's been to you over the years... Would you consider giving a donation to help bring solar power and energy security to the North Pole?

We'll be sure Santa keeps your name on the "NICE," not the "NAUGHTY" list. (For real, email us and we'll add your name or a NICE person of your choice to the list that will be part of our display!) Thanks for supporting Blue Planet in our efforts to end Hawaii's dependency on imported oil.

We're rounding the corner into the final week of the 100,000 Better Bulbs Blitz, and so far there are about 60,000 CFLs out there, finding new homes where they'll help residents save energy and save money. Great job to all the school and community groups who are taking part in this massive campaign!

As of Oct. 24, here are the rankings for the school competition:
1. Moanalua High School - 6,000 bulbs
2. Kamehameha Elementary School - 5,500 bulbs
3. (TIE) Farrington High School and Waimalu Elementary School - 2,000 bulbs

Ready, set, swap... The winning school gets a bonus $1,000! One week to go.

Special kudos to the Kailua Girls AYSO soccer club for exchanging—get this—a whopping 4,500 bulbs so far!

Go get your free CFLs!
Upcoming events and exchange locations:

Lanakila Baptist   *   Main office   *   Mon-Fri throughout October, 7:30am-3:30pm
Malama Learning Center   *   Kapolei HS Farmer's Market   * Every Thursday in October, 3:00-6:30pm
Ka‘ala Elementary   *   Main office   *   Oct. 24-Oct. 28, 7:15-8:15am / 12:30-2:30pm
St. Elizabeth School   *   Main office   *   Mon-Fri throughout October, 7:30am-3:00pm
St. Elizabeth Church   *   Church Rectory   *   Mon-Fri throughout October, 9:00am-3:30pm
Koko Head Elementary   *   Main Office   *   Oct. 27 morning
Kailua AYSO U19 Girls   *   Windward Mall Farmers Market   *  Throughout October
Nanakuli High School   *   Cafeteria   *   School days throughout October, mornings


View Blue Planet's 100,000 Better Bulbs Blitz in a larger map

What do you do to save energy? Blue Planet Foundation wants to know. Upload photos that show how you and your friends and family conserve energy, and you can win *your choice* of an ENERGY STAR washer, ENERGY STAR refrigerator or a Giant 3-speed cruiser from McCully Bicycle. Go to KITV's uLocal page to upload your photos. We'll use them to create a map that gives us a story in pictures of how residents are practicing energy conservation in Hawai‘i. It will show how each community is doing its part—and you'll be able to see what others are doing as we build Hawaii’s clean energy future together. ENTER NOW!

Thanks to McCully Bicycle for donating a 2012 Giant men's Simple Three cruiser (retail price, $449.98). It's an aluminum frame cruiser with an internal 3-speed shifter, equipped with fenders and a rear rack. That's a sweet, emissions-free way to roll!

CONTEST RULES: No purchase necessary.  Enter at http://ulocal.kitv.com/ by 11:59 p.m. HST on November 20, 2011.  To enter, you must have access to the Internet, valid email address, ulocal account and a valid ID. Must be 18 or over (as of October 17, 2011 and legal U.S. resident residing and domiciled in Hawaii. Limit one entry per person.  Incomplete and multiple entries are void.  Employees of entities associated with the contest, their families and/or persons living in the same households as such persons (whether related or not) are ineligible.  One winner will be randomly selected on November 21, 2011.  Winner receives a choice of an ENERGY STAR refrigerator, ENERGY STAR washer or a bicycle from McCully Bicycle.  Winner must claim their prize and execute contest releases at the KITV4 Studios by November 30, 2011.  Winner must respond within timeframe indicated in complete rules or prize is forfeited. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. Visit http://ulocal.kitv.com/ for complete rules and details.

Some of the Entries

Well, lookie here, it's your competition! We'll be posting selected entries below throughout the contest. So, get your camera on and start snapping.

 

Know a person or group whose contributions to clean energy in Hawai'i deserve special recognition? Nominate them for Blue Planet's 2011 Honua Award. The Award is given annually to recognize individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to moving Hawai'i along the path towards a clean sustainable energy future. Last year's recipient was Colonel Robert Rice of the Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i. Sopogy President Darren Kimura received the 2009 award and Maurice Kaya received the 2008 award.

Anonymous and self nominations are permitted. If you have questions about the Honua Award or nomination process, please contact Charin at charin@blueplanetfoundation.org or 808-954-6143. Nominations close Friday, October 28, 2011.

Henk gets his own headline in an interview with Mark Coleman in today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The interview spans a range of topics, and Henk talks about attracting investment capital, social gaming, subsidies for alternative energy, and competing against oil titans. Read the full story here.

Q: You started the Blue Planet Foundation to help wean society off fossil fuels. What will it take for these other energy sources to become market competitive?
A: It’s just a question of time. All they need is a chance. The vested interest, meaning oil, is so entrenched and powerful that it’s very difficult for these new technologies to flourish. Every once in a while it looks like things are going right, and then OPEC, the oil cartel, decides to lower the price of oil. And that really messes up business plans, because that’s what we’re competing against.
Q: Instead of having solar power and wind power and all this stuff feeding into the monopoly grid, isn’t the real ideal some sort of individual home-powering units?
A: Yeah, sure.
Q: How far are we away from that?
A: We have so many roofs in Hawaii wasting so much solar energy it’s not even funny. If we could put all those roofs to work, that would be great. I mean, that’s land that’s already been — how can I say — denuded. So the environmental impact is already there. It’s just that we have to get used to the aesthetics of having solar panels or even little windmills on top of residences and, you know, learn how to live with that.

Another container load of energy-saving refrigerators were brought to residents' homes on Moloka‘i yesterday as our Hui Up! program continues to bring energy and cost savings to folks on the Friendly Isle. Last weekend, the Youth Energy Team visited participating households to measure their energy consumption pre-energy-efficient refrigerator. They'll revisit these homes to follow up on the impact that the new, ENERGY STAR models make. For more information about Hui Up, check out our video!