Beat the Heat Next Friday

Although recently I havn't posted about what Beat the Heat has been up to, we have been doing a lot. Now, after working with John Creson, we now have a final, professional logo for Beat the Heat. Also, Next Friday, May 30th, Beat the Heat is having an informational meeting for all 6th, 7th and 8th graders on information about what Beat the Heat is, how to get involved, shirts and our future club at MVMS. It will be held in the Multi Media Room. Please spread the word about our meeting.

Beat the heat,
Mimi Wyatt


Energy Saving Tip #12: Make sure that your refrigerator door is sealed tightly so that you dont waiste energy by keeping the refrigerator cooler.

Home Energy Investigation

A great way to investigate how much energy you are using, is by doing a quick and easy check of all the rooms in your home. Here are some directions on how to conduct a Energy Investigation:

1. Draw a map of your home, one page for each floor in a bird's eye view.

2. Go room to room and investigate for how much energy you use by looking for theses clues:

• The lights. How bright are they? Are they left on when they don't have to be? Is it possible to switch some of these lights with compact flourescent bulbs?
• The windows. Do they have shades or curtains on them? Are the curtains or shades used when it is a cold night? When the windows are shut, does the cool air still get in?
• The faucets. Are there any faucets that have a leaks or drips? Do people turn them off all the way?

3. Then, every time you find emnergy being wasted, make a note of it on your map for each room

4. Show your family what you have learned about your home. Then brainstorm ways to stay more energy efficient with your family.

Beat the heat,

Mimi Wyatt

Energy saver tip #11: When you dry your clothes, seperate the fabrics so that the heavy and light fabrics are in their own group so that they dry evenly and at the same time.

Staying Energy Efficient

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Wasting energy is a very easy thing to do, and a lot of people don't realize they are doing it, but making the changes to stay energy efficient is a very easy fix. By staying true to the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recyle, you can help the environment. Here are 10 tips on saving energy:

1. When you leave a room, turn off the lights
2. Switch to compact flourescent lights and save a ton of energy
3. If your cold, instead of turning the heater on, put on a sweater
4. Don't forget to turn the heater off if you leave, or you don't need it
5. Keep thermostats under control. It is suggested that during the day they are set at 68 degrees F and at night 55 degrees F, and in the summer, leave the thermostat at 78 degrees F
6. Use solar energy!
7. Wash your dishes in only full loads
8.Clean the lint filter in your dryer clean after each use. A clean filter makes it so that the air can circulate efficiently
9. Buy an energy efficient shower head
10. Do an enerfy investigation of your home(more info in next blog post)

Beat the heat,
Mimi Wyatt

Addis Creson

Today Ali and I went to Addis Creson, a design consultantcy, on 2515 Ninth St. in Berkeley California for a meeting with John Creson about Beat the Heat. They have generously offered to do some design work for us which we appreciate so very much. Thank you Addis Creson!!! Overal, we feel our presentation on Beat the Heat and what we wanted went well. Basically, Beat the Heat will be getting an official logo. This whole experience of giving a pitch was very new and exciting for Ali and I, very much like the whole experience of getting this organization on its feet. Right now Beat the Heat is a baby, but we hope it can grow up fast and start talking for it's self. Along with our thank you to Addis Creson, I would also like to thank the help we have been getting from other sources like friends and family. We are ao appreciative and love every little bit of help.

Beat the heat,
Mimi

Global Warming

Most everyone knows what global warming is, but here is a comprehendable explanation for those who don't know. The solar radiation that comes from the sun in the form of lightwaves which go toward the Earth and is what keeps the Earth warm by passing through the atmosphere. Most of the radiation is then absorbed by the Earth. Some of the energy re-radiates back into space off of the earth in the form of infared waves. Some of the infared radiation is being trapped in the earths atmosphere, some is good because it keeps us warm and helps the temperature stay at a constant leverl, but this is being thickend where more of the outgoing infared is trapped and is caused by our carbon dioxide emmision and contribution to pollution. A great way Al Gore explained global warming in his video "An Inconvenient Truth" was with this video:
Global warming is such a huge issue and we as human beings contribute so much to this issue. I hope this gets you thinking about how your affecting the earth.

Beat the heat,
Mimi

Presentation Time

On Monday our project is due, which means Ali and I have to get ready ro present. It's amazing how fast teh time has flown by us as we have been working. So far it has been a lot of work getting to this point. We have been making/ designing t-shirts, doing a lot of planning of goals and things to do, researching, making a website and slowly putting parts of this puzzle together. Amazingly enough, it has actually been going well! On this Wednesday Ali and I have a meeting in Berkley with a professional web graphic designer who is going to help to make ou website more professional looking, which is so exciting. Ali has been using her resources and has been also talking to someome who works for MTV and Nickelodean who is interested in our project. We are hoping we can get far and raise awarness, and so far this has been going better than planned. As long as we don't blow our school presentation, which we are being graded on, then everything will be perfect!

Beat the heat,
Mimi

Thank You!

Thank you for all your support so far:
"hey when can i buy a shirt??"
"omg! mimi! i am so inspired by ur website. thats very neat. its really great how you guys are doing this for us. can we purchase shirts? they r sooo cute! keep up the good work! ur amazing!"
and other comments...
I am working on the shirts more and more, and have made a mock up of the 4 designs that I think will work. Please voice your opinion to me because I hate making decisions.
Beat the heat,
Mimi