Piedmont Post

Transitioning to 100% clean, renewable energy

April 19, 2023

On April 5th, the Piedmont League of Women Voters and Piedmont Connect presented the sixth and final event in their joint 2022-23 Climate Speaker Series. This month’s lecture and discussion was given by award-winning scientist, author and Stanford professor Dr. Mark Jacobson. He spoke on the technologies and actions needed to provide 100% of the world’s energy with clean, stable, renewable energy. READ MORE

Eat What You Buy

March 22, 2023

As we face the dauting, global challenges of climate change, it’s often frustrating to ask what can I do that will make any difference? One answer lies in our kitchens and thinking more carefully about the fod we buy, how it’s stored and cooked, and what we throw away. READ MORE

Green team to plant bee-friendly flowers on PHS campus

February 15, 2023

Piedmont High School (PHS) is about to become a garden oasis for bees and other pollinators. The PHS Green Club recently launched the “Bee-Friendly Flower Project,” an ambitious plan to install bee-friendly plants in concrete-lined boxes that extend along the walls and walkways of the library and the student center. READ MORE

Climate Speaker Series continues on February 8 

Piedmont resident Rupa Basu to address health impacts from rising temperatures

January 25, 2023

Piedmont Connect and the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Piedmont continue their 2022-23 Climate Speaker Series on Wednesday, February 8, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. with an online presentation by Piedmont resident Dr. Rupa Basu. The talk will highlight the health impacts of fossil-fuel pollution present- ing the latest scientific evidence, followed by a live, moderated Q&A. READ MORE

Going green for the holidays

December 14, 2022

It’s that time of the year when holiday shopping, gift giving and home decorating are top of mind. But maybe it’s time to take a step back and think about what and how we buy, wrap, give and decorate. Maybe there’s a better way that fills our holiday needs and at the same time, offers the biggest gift of all: helping save our climate, our environment, our future! READ MORE and Eco-Friendly Holidays

LWV, Piedmont Connect co-host talk on sustainability of textiles

November 9, 2022

Rebecca Burgess was the guest speaker in the Climate Speaker Series on Wednesday, October 19, presented jointly by Piedmont Connect and the League of Women Voters of Piedmont. Her informative talk focused on the sustainability and future of textiles.

Burgess is Executive Director of Fibershed, an organization that invests in regenerative agricul- tural research and practices and advises on regional sustainable fiber production systems. READ MORE

Mulberry’s switching to compostables

October 26, 2022

Mulberry’s is going green. Piedmont’s popular, one-and- only market is now using com- postable utensils and is “slowly transitioning” from plastic to compostable cups and deli con- tainers. According to General Manager Sal Viveros, com- postable utensils replaced plastic six weeks ago, and compostable cups and deli containers are on order. But, he said, “there’s a supply chain problem. We expect deli containers to arrive in three to four weeks, but the coffee cups may take three to four months.” READ MORE

The Question Man

September 21, 2022

QUESTION: What do you consider as the greatest threat to the environment today?

Asked on Monday, September 19 outside Mulberry’s Market.

MILAN MUKHERJEE, 11th grade: I would say it’s the excessive meat farming, especially all the methane that results from cattle ranching.

HANA THOMAS, 11th grade: Adult inaction. If we keep expecting the problem to deal with itself and push it off onto future generations, it will never get taken care of. READ MORE

ESG investment CEO calls solar “a pretty good investment”

January 20, 2021

Recently, after Ben and Cortney Allen moved into their 1905 “forever home,” they installed a 41-panel rooftop solar array with two Tesla storage batteries. “We didn’t set out to be climate activists,” said Ben, CEO of ESG investment specialists Parnassus Investments. “We didn’t set out to be climate activists,” said Ben, CEO of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investment specialist Parnassus Investments. “In today’s low-yield investment environment, solar is a pretty good investment.”

Ben points out that the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, hovering around 1%, offers a much lower return than his solar investment, calculated at 5% to 6%. Now the Allens power their home and their personal transportation (via an electric vehicle) with clean electricity generated from their roof. READ MORE

Electric bikes flatten Piedmont hills

November 25, 2020

Every weekday morning, Piedmont resident Kelly Brezovec and her five-year old daughter, Esther, mount the family’s electric cargo bike and ride uphill from their home near Beach School to Esther’s transitional kindergarten class at Havens Elementary School. The trip takes less than 10 minutes, with no parking problems or waiting in a line of cars to drop off or pick up students.

“Riding the electric bike is such easy exercise,” said Brezovec, a dedicated bicyclist and e-biker. “We can spend more time outdoors. It shows my daughter that biking is just normal transportation, and I don’t need to fool with car seat challenges.” READ MORE

Steve Schiller: Piedmont’s energized EV owner

August 19, 2020

As a clean energy expert working on climate change for 25 years, Steve Schiller knows he has to “walk the walk.” But even he didn’t think he could get by with only one car that was all electric.

When the lease was up on the family SUV, he and his wife Kristine decided they would try getting by with just their Chevy Bolt for a month rather than looking for another car — one of their least favorite activities. That month-long experiment has now extended into a second year.

“We’re getting by fine with one car,” said Schiller, an empty nester who acknowledges his situation may be fairly unique. “My fun fact is that the best way to reduce your energy consumption is to have your kid move away,” he joked. READ MORE

Piedmont gardens flourish during pandemic

July 15, 2020

As ongoing shelder-in-place takes its toll on daily life, many Piedmonters have found new and continued pleasure in their backyards. Julia Burke, a member of the Piedmont Garden Club, and avid native-plant gardener and beekeeper, is delighted to see more gardens springing up in town. She is hoping to see more city properties and sidewalk strips planted with wildflowers.

“People need to know that native gardens can make a difference for wildlife and for drought,” she says. READ MORE

Harnessing the sun to combat climate change

March 11, 2020

The Brien family’s solar PV array collects sunlight to supply electricity for their family of five. Rooftop solar panels were installed to generate electricity and a solar hot water system for their pool and spa. They also reduced the size of the pool by half and installed a pool cover, along with the solar hot water system to make their pool as carbon neutral and efficient as possible. READ MORE

Going electric on water and heating

February 12, 2020

When Russ and Amy Griffith’s natural gas-burning water heater started leaking on Christmas Eve in 2018, they quickly replaced it with an electric heat pump water heater. Since the technology worked so well and is so energy efficient, they followed up in early 2019 by installing an electric heat pump combination furnace and air conditioning unit.

“I’d been thinking about replacing our furnace since 2017,” Russ said. “Originally, I wanted to use a heat pump system just for heating, but after the summer heat waves of 2017 and 2018, I gave up on my desire to never have A/C, realizing air conditioning is helpful for the 10 to 20 days per year with extreme heat waves that we didn’t have when I grew up here in the ‘80s and ‘90s.” READ MORE

The Piedmont Post is a community newspaper serving the citizens of Piedmont, CA