Burns Park

We would love to hear from you! Please contact us at:

nate@burnsparkgreen.org

About Burns Park Green - Our Mission Statement

We believe that human civilization is on the brink of a great transition. This transition will be marked by two very distinct features 1) Climate Change and 2) Peak Oil. Both of these situations, if left on our current course, promise to have profound impacts on the daily lives of every living being on the planet. What Climate Change and Peak Oil share in common is their foundation, and that is the fact that our modern global economy is growing toward total dependence on enormous quantities of fossil fuels, primarily petroleum.

Quite frankly, our money, our food, our transportation, our livelihood, and our lives depend on OIL. That means that when the cost of oil goes up, the cost of living on earth goes up.

So how do we stop the current rise in cost of living on Earth? We Switch to sustainable sources of energy. We begin the Great Transition.

What does this great transition entail? It begins with us, and a real evaluation of how we live our lives. It begins with literacy and education on the environment, conservation and sustainable energy. We must acknowledge that human activity is driving the climate crisis and skyrocketing energy costs. This shift in awareness means that we begin engaging proactively and intelligently, realizing that this great transition is in fact all about energy. And when we begin to take these steps, we will see that the challenge in front of us is the transition away from fossil fuels and toward alternative renewable forms of energy.

The technology and knowledge needed to begin this transition exists today. It has been encouraging to see that Barack Obama and other leaders understand the situation, and speak towards making the appropriate investments in renewable energy sources, efficient transportation, and sustainable agricultural systems. Unfortunately, much of the discourse that remains in Washington and important Board Rooms across the nation is how we can go about maintaining our current energy trajectory through offshore oil drilling, more coal, and greater corporate and government control over our localized food networks. The phrase “business as usual” certainly comes to mind.

Therefore, the transition we wish to enact hinges on large numbers of citizens taking matters into their own hands. This is where the Burns Park Green Energy Association enters the picture.

Our core value and guiding principle is our belief in community based solutions. We believe that community is the building block to true social change and awareness. We recognize the undeniable truth that the Burns Park Community has an abundance of knowledge, immense capital resources, and a unified desire to affect real energy change. We cannot depend on government or other institutions to save and guide us in this transition, but we can depend on each other. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

To this end, the Burns Park Green Energy Association (BPGEA) exists to

1) Educate our community on energy conservation and the renewable energy resources that are available to us now, so that we can begin powering our homes, schools, places of worship, and our businesses sustainably. These sources are primarily Solar, Wind, Wave, Biomass, and Geothermal energy. We accomplish this program of education through lectures, workshops, and seminars held at various points of community interest throughout the greater Burns Park area.

2) Coalesce Burns park into a unified voice to begin installing and implementing these energy resources immediately, en masse, at group reduced cost to the Burns Park community. This means installing solar panels on our homes block by block, geothermal retrofitting and renovation, and even wind turbines installed throughout our neighborhoods. We work together, house by house, to make sure we have the most beneficial community system of sustainable energy production.

3) Focus on our community and commit to buying local. Buying locally produced goods and services helps Ann Arbor. We love Ann Arbor. It also decreases energy costs and consumption, while fostering an even deeper sense of community integration.

4) Begin a sincere dialogue on food and local agriculture. We realize the inherent connection between the quality of food we eat, and the quality of health in our lives. We encourage the Burns Park community to begin gardening, farming and growing their own organic food and vegetables, without pesticides and additives. We also encourage the establishment of new Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSA’s), such as community gardens, greenhouses, and even the creation of a Burns Park Farmers Market.

5) Establish Burns Park elementary school as a model and leader in the transition to a sustainable energy future. In order to prepare today’s youth for a livable future, Burns Park elementary school will need to practice and teach environmental sustainability as a core part of its curriculum. The role of schools and teachers should be to assist children in igniting their own natural passion for love of learning. We accomplish this through integrating youth based sustainable service projects throughout our community, classroom by classroom, and grade by grade. This means more adult involvement and mentorship, and assures us that our children are given every opportunity to create and live in a safe, healthy and sustainable community.

6) Use our website as a Hub of sustainable community education and communication. Burns Park homeowners can calculate their carbon footprint, learn about local resources, and commit to creating sustainable, healthy homes for our children and future generations. The website is a wealth of knowledge for the exact steps you can take when implementing renewable energy renovations and improvements. Whether you want to install solar panels, learn about composting, find out about current renewable energy tax incentives, bills before congress, or simply voice your opinions on local energy matters. The BPGEA website is the place to do it. The site has message boards, ride share boards (find out who works where you do, start sharing transportation costs), and items for sale boards (including food harvests)