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In the southeast many mountains in WV and other beautiful places are sacrificed to generate cheap electricity for millions of people. The results are ecologically devastating to the local ecosystems and the burning coal releases millions of tons of CO2 into atmosphere contributing to global warming and air pollution.  Until enough renewable and clean energy sources are put in place - the best way to reduce the negative effects of coal-fired electricity is to reduce the amount of energy we consume.

On that note our company began an initiative to see how much we can cut our electric use. I'll explain what we've done and give you the initial results.  As more data (aka electric bills) comes in I'll keep you updated on our ongoing progress. My personal goal is to achieve a 50% reduction.

When we first moved into this location - electric baseboard was the only form of heating.  Those first bills were enormous (well over $200/month in the winter). We quickly discovered that electric baseboard heating was one of the most inefficient forms of heating.  In quick order we added some propane heaters to the mix and reduced our heating costs greatly early on.  When our central air conditioner died the next summer, we opted for a high efficiently heat pump/AC - a good move! Now we only use a few gallons of propane each year to help out on the coldest days or when there are power outages.

We replaced all the windows with double pane vinyl windows - which are a huge improvement over the original uber-drafty ones.

OK. Keep in mind that all of the above was implemented before we started our new greening initiative, so the results will only show the changes we've made recently (since Feb 2008).  Here's what we've done since then:

We have installed Compact Florescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) into most of the fixtures in our office and home.  We've been putting them into the most used fixtures first and will gradually eliminate all standard incandescent bulbs. 

We also installed a water heater blanket insulator to help save on that energy cost - these run under $20 and are something anyone can install. Heating hot water uses a lot more energy than most realize and making that process more efficient is wise.

We installed an attic fan to vent hot air in the summer - reducing cooling costs and increasing roof life.

We added power strips to computers, entertainment centers and other areas so that phantom power loads are eliminated when not in use by switching off the power strips. We now shut down all of the computers each evening after we're done working and the files have backed up.

We installed a programmable thermostat allowing the air conditioning to turn down automatically when not needed. 

We blew in approximately 1200lbs of recycled cellulose fiber insulation into attic increasing the insulation depth from about 5 inches to about 12 inches.  If you find that your attic is lacking adequate insulation you can do this too.  My wife & I completed it on a Saturday. Your local Home Depot or Lowes will rent you the blower for free if you purchase a certain amount of insulation (we used about 2x as much as required for the free rental).

In addition to the projects above we also educated our employees on ways to conserve (like turning off monitors, lights, printers, stereo etc when not in use). Sherry, Trevor & I attended a Renewable Energy Class offered by our local community college.  This course taught us many of the principals we're now putting into motion.  There's also a plethora of great books on the subject.  One that I recommend that covers many subjects is the Solar Living Sourcebook from www.realgoods.com .

RESULTS!

March 2008- bill shows we reduced our AVG KWH/day from 54 in 2007 to 42 in 2008 that's a 22% decrease!

April 2008 - 48 KWH/day to 33 a 31% decrease!

May 2008 - 42 KWh/day to 23 a 45% decrease!!!

June 2008 - 54 KWH/day to 42 a  22 % decrease!  Multiple triple digit record high temps this month cut into savings percentage.

July 2008 - 62 KWH/day to 39 a 37% decrease!

In July we installed solar collectors to heat our hot water and replaced our old 1992 refridgerator with a new Energy Star model. 

August 2008 - 67 KWH/day to 32 a 52% decrease!  Goal achieved!

Ocotber 2008 - 45 KWH/day to 23 a 49% decrease.

We hope you'll learn from our examples and decrease your carbon footprint as well!

Featuring GALACTIC w/special guest Boots Riley (of THE COUP), PERPETUAL GROOVE, LOTUS, MIDNITE, EOTO W/ MICHEAL KANG, YO MAMA'S BIG FAT BOOTY BAND, MAHAVISHNU PROJECT, THE AFROMOTIVE, SEEPEOPLES, LAURA REED AND DEEP POCKET, DUBCONSCIOUS , GFE AND MANY, MANY MORE!!!!

at DEERFIELDS AMPHITHEATRE, Mills River NC  (www.deerfields.com)

*TIX AVAILABLE NOW AT WWW.TRINUMERAL.COM
*EARLY BIRD TIX AVAILABLE NOW, ONLY $99!  (Does not include $20 camping fee)

The Trinumeral is a yearly festival held on the date in which the day, month, and year align in an auspicious numeric sameness. The Trinumeral Festival began on January 1, 2001: 01.01.01, and has expanded to become a multidisciplinary event held every year on the synchronized dates. Past Trinumeral Events have taken place in Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte and Asheville.  This year's event, which takes place at Deerfields Amphitheatre in Mills River, NC (just outside of Asheville) promises to be the largest and most exciting Trinumeral event to date,and features one of the strongest festival lineups in the Southeast this year. 
 
From the high-octane New Orleans funk of Galactic, the sweet harmonies of reggae legends Midnite, to the pulsing breakbeats and swirling sounds of livetronica acts Lotus and Eoto w/ Michael Kang (members of String Cheese Incident), as well as regional touring sensations Perpetual Groove and Dubconscious, and local favorites Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band,  the Mantras, Incognito Mosquito, Granola Funk Express (GFE), the New Familiars, Gavin McGowen, SeepeopleS, Custard Pie and Stephanie's Id, Trinumeral offers up a diverse and delicious musical plate full of fan favorites and stellar up and coming acts. The festival also includes national touring acts such as Kaki King, Danny Bedrosian and Secret Army (featuring members of Parliament/Funkadelic) and the Mahavishnu Project, plus many more acts scheduled to appear and more headlining acts to be announced!  The initial artist lineup is listed below. 

This year's festival is also taking place at one of the premier outdoor concert spots in the United States, Deerfields Amphitheatre.  Located 20 minutes south of Asheville on 940 acres of unspoiled wilderness, Deerfields offers camping, swimming, fishing and hiking amidst breathtaking surroundings. Surrounding the two swimming lakes and two log cabins are apple orchards and rhododendrons that cascade throughout the Queens Creek Mountains.  Tent camping will be plentiful, with a secluded family camp ground set aside. Car camping and RV passes are also available at an additional cost.

For more information on the Trinumeral Festival Festival or to purchase tickets, please visit
www.trinumeral.com

Early Bird tickets are on sale now for only $99 for a full weekend pass (excluding $20 dollar camping fee). 

Please keep checking www.trinumeral.com for up to date festival information, schedules, directions, and most importantly, artist additions as more national headlining acts will be announced soon!

Thank you so much for your time,
we hope to hear from you soon.

Will Bradford (for all press and publicity correspondence)
Johnny Hustle Publicity
willbradford3@gmail.com
857.488.0280

THE INITIAL FESTIVAL LINE UP (MORE ACTS TO BE ADDED SOON!)

Trinumeral Festival is proud to be working with our sponsors, who are as follows:

MOUNTAIN XPRESS
THE REVOLUTION 880
STAR 104.3
ROCK 104.9
GREENCULT
DEERFIELDS
MYSPACE

The four-day festival takes place at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, July 31 through August 3, 2008.

The confirmed lineup so far:Phil Lesh & Friends
The Neville Brothers
Mike Gordon
Taj Mahal Trio
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival
Kreutzmann/Burbridge/Murawski
Jackie Greene Band
Dark Star Orchestra
Zappa Plays Zappa
American Babies
Sam Bush Band
Assembly of Dust
Ryan Montbleau
NRPS
Deep Banana Blackout
Porter Batiste & Stoltz
King For A Day
Donna Jean & The Tricksters
Strangefolk
David Gans
MC Wavy Gravy
More artist to be announced soon.