Teens rev up engines with sun’s rays in A-Blazing Race

As a part of a fun-filled E-Day, 22 local high school and middle school teams are harnessing the sun’s rays to see who has the fastest and coolest solar-powered car on the track.

MLGW’s A-Blazing Race is a part of the University of Memphis’ Engineering Day set for Friday, Oct. 23.  One past winning team fashioned a miniature car from a Girl Scout cookie box to claim first prize.  The teams are racing in a series of head-to-head competitions with double elimination.

Dozens of high school and middle school students are expected to compete at various events and activities like the Egg Drop contest and FIRST Lego League, a robotics competition, at E-Day, hosted by Herff College of Engineering.

What: E-Day & A-Blazing Race Competition

When: Friday, Oct. 23

·        Car Race: 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  with 17 middle school teams competing

·        Car Race: 12:40 p.m. to 1:20 p.m.  with five high school teams competing

Where:  Race in the U of M parking lot at Zach Curlin and Norriswood

Parking: Central Avenue lot or Zach Curlin parking garage near Campus School. Call 901-678-2212 to get an advance parking pass or for any parking questions.

Who’s competing: Arlington, Bartlett and East High schools; White Station, Collierville, Sherwood, Germantown, Houston and Millington Middle schools and Memphis Homeschool Tutorial. (Some schools have three separate teams made up of two to eight students on each team.)

Prizes awarded for speed, best design and best notebook for the A-Blazing Race. To see a past solar race go to http://www.mlgw.com/community/ablaze

Plus-1 Jam 3: MLGW Celebrates Memphis Music for a Third Year to Benefit MIFA’s Plus-1 Program

For the third year, we will again celebrate Memphis Music during the month of May with live music on a stage set up on Beale Street by the Elvis statue on the north side of our Administration Building, and it’s all for a good cause to help our neighbors in need.

MLGW is sponsoring its third annual Plus-1 Jam in May, an MLGW celebration of Memphis Music that showcases local musicians to raise funds for MIFA’s Plus-1 utility assistance program. On Friday nights and Saturday afternoons and nights throughout the month of May, musical acts will volunteer their talents at the MLGW tent located on Beale Street between Main Street and Second Street. Some of the acts include talented musicians who are MLGW employees or family members. MLGW is also recruiting many local musicians and bands from outside the Division and from the Mid-South area to perform.

Volunteers will pass donation buckets for visitors to the music stage to make donations to benefit Plus-1, which is administered by MIFA to help those in need of utility assistance.

The event features a wide range of music styles, reflecting the diversity that makes up Memphis and its music. Visitors from all over the world will be able to get a taste of local musical acts while in town for Memphis in May at the MLGW stage on world-famous Beale Street.

WHAT: Plus-1 Jam: MLGW Celebrates Memphis Music

WHEN: Fridays and Saturdays, May 2-24, 2014

WHERE: North Side of MLGW Administration Bldg. on Beale Street by Elvis Statue

WHO: Local Memphis musicians as well as bands including MLGW employees

WHY: To benefit Plus-1 and MIFA (administrator of the Plus-1 program)

Cruisin for Kids

This Sunday, MLGW employees will be riding their motorcycles to raise money for LeBonheur Children's Hospital.

The ride starts at Harley Davidson Bumpus at noon and is open to everyone. If you'd like to join us, come make a $25 donation ($40 with passenger). We'd be glad to have you!

Get more info here or contact Brian Holland at 626-5556.

America's Best Idea

Don't miss this!

Community Conservation Day Tomorrow!

Stop by an MLGW Community Office tomorrow between 11am-1pm and receive a free energy conservation kit! Employees will provide information on our Energy Smart program and answer questions.

Help Recycling Efforts at the Delta Fair

Ever notice how most of our public events don't offer recycling? Ever notice that even when they do, people often throw trash in the recycling bins? Well, Clean Memphis is promoting recycling at the Delta Fair and Music Festival
Sept. 4-13. They need volunteers to hold signs encouraging fair-goers to drop
their cans or bottles into the recycling bins rather than the trash.

Volunteers will work 3 hours shifts and get into the Delta Fair free – a savings of $10.

Shifts they need to cover (in 3 hour increments) are listed below:

Friday, September 4 2pm-11pm

Saturday, September 5 10am-9pm

Sunday, September 6 12pm-9pm

Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day) 10am-9pm

Tuesday, September 8 2pm-9pm

Wednesday, September 9 2pm-9pm

Thursday, September 10 2pm-9pm

Friday, September 11 2pm-9pm

Saturday, September 12 10am-9pm

Sunday, September 13 12pm-9pm

Contact Janet Boscarino to Volunteer (488-6786 or janet@cleanmemphis.org)

Ordinary 2 Extraordinary

BRIDGES Ordinary to Extraordinary: Learning & Leading Green! (O2E) Community Tour

Come experience Memphis' 1st green commercial building in a fun, interactive way! Come alone, with your family/friends or with a business/community group.

Thursday, August 27
5-7 pm
BRIDGES Center
477 N. 5th Street

RSVP by emailing Mollie at mmcampbell@bridgesusa.org

Learn more about BRIDGES Ordinary to Extraordinary: Learning & Leading Green! (O2E) program here.

Upcoming O2E Experiences:

* August 27
* September 24
* October 29
* November 19
* December 17

Community Conservation Day Tomorrow!

Utility bill got you down? We want to help teach you some easy ways to conserve energy in your home.

Tomorrow is another Community Conservation day. It is being held at all MLGW Community Offices from 8 am - 2 pm. There will be a MATA bus in each parking lot so that MLGLW representatives can conduct EnergySmart workshops and distribute large TVA conservation kits to each participant. (There is no charge for the workshop or the kit!)

Those without time to attend the EnergySmart workshops will receive a smaller kit (similar to the ones previously distributed at Exxon) that include a CFL, outlet covers, and energy conservation brochures.

So be sure and stop by one of our offices!

Gone Fishing

Click to enlarge!

Earthfest

Come to Lichterman tomorrow for the annual EarthFest celebration between 10am-2pm! Stop by the MLGW booth for a little Plinko and some great energy saving tips!

Its a day for the whole family, featuring a parade, storytelling, parachute tosses, a "Short Attention Span Theatre" with films about the environment, live entertainment, food prepared by Jarrett's Rick Farmer, a yoga class, nature walks, and much more. If you happen upon a woman carrying an opossum, say hello. She's Mother Nature.

Lichterman Nature Center, 5992 Quince, 767-7322

Down to Earth Celebration

MLGW will also be hosting a booth at this year's Down to Earth celebration at Shelby Farms, April 19th from 10am-5pm.



There will be a free shuttle from the main library to Shelby Farms and activities for all ages.

Africa in April

It's April, which means festival season has begun. MLGW will be hosting a booth on the corner of Beale and Fourth as a part of this year's Africa in April celebration in honor of Mauritania. We'll have some great information on conservation, special programs, a Plinko game, and cool giveaways. Come see us!

The festival lasts all weekend. Visit the website for more information!

Ordinary to Extraordinary

Join the BRIDGES O2E Challenge!

BRIDGES is leading the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Memphis by 10 million pounds by 2010. Come and explore the green building features of the BRIDGES Center while learning how you and your organization can inspire leadership for environmental sustainability.

Ordinary to Extraordinary (O2E):
Learning and Leading Green!
Interactive Community Tour & Action Challenge Launch
Tuesday, April 21, 5-7 p.m.
BRIDGES Center
477 N. 5th Street

Interactive building tours will be open for business, faith, school and civic groups starting in May! Attendees at the launch will be given first priority for registering their groups for the 02E Community Tours!

RSVP by emailing O2E@bridgesusa.org

(Please note that the email address starts with the letter “O”, not the number zero. This acronym is for the program name, “Ordinary to Extraordinary!”.)

Ride Your Bike to the Grizzlies' Green Expo

On April 3, the Grizzlies are going GREEN! The evening's events include a green expo (MLGW will be in attendance) and a community bike ride to the game. The Tour de Grizz bike ride will start at First Congo in Cooper-Young. It's a 4.8 mile ride and all participants get discounted tickets, a police escort, and free "parking" in the lobby of the FedEx Forum. Fun!

Fix a Leak Week

Every Drop Counts

Did you know that an American home can waste, on average, 11,000 gallons of water every year due to running toilets, dripping faucets, and other household leaks?

Nationwide, more than 1 trillion gallons of water leak from U.S. homes each year. That's why WaterSense is promoting Fix a Leak Week from March 16 to 20, 2009, to remind Americans to check their plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks. Here's how you can participate:

* Take the WaterSense pledge to fix a leak, or send this link to a friend.
* Learn step-by-step instructions on how to fix a leak today.
* Find more facts and figures about leaks.
* Place the Fix a Leak Week widget on your Web site or blog.

Parent Summit offers Utility Vouchers

Memphis City Schools is holding a series of Demand Parent Summits on four successive Saturdays - the last one is this Saturday, March 14 from 8 AM to 3 PM at Hamilton High School, 1363 Person St.

There will be drawings throughout the day at each of the summits for $25 vouchers which can be used toward MLGW payments. Up to 10 voucher cards will be given away to different parents at each location. Parents who come early and stay for all of the workshops will have more chances in the drawing.

Superintendent Kriner Cash has created a series of community outreach events for parents called -Demand Parent Summits- so that he may have open conversations with parents, guardians and caregivers about their child's education and future.

The district will provide transportation from designated locations within each region, breakfast and lunch, as well as interactive child-care. Each summit will feature sessions like Early Childhood Development, Basic Tenets of Strong Discipline: Parents Must Lead the Way, How to Support Your Child-s Education at Home and at School, Avoiding Surprises - Charting the Course Towards Graduation, Our
Children - Math & Literacy Development, and Gang Awareness and Intervention.

For more info about the summits, call MCS at 416-7264.

Community Conservation Day Tomorrow!

Stop by any Exxon on the Run tomorrow and receive a free energy conservation kit! MLGW employees will be on site to answer questions and provide kits & information.

Energy Smart Workshop Tomorrow!

EnergySmart Memphis’ public kick-off tomorrow at the Orpheum from 11am-12:30pm will feature MLGW energy experts, TVA representatives and local city and county leaders – as well as some great giveaways, all coming together to give attendees useful and applicable money-saving home improvements that will show real savings on their utility bills.

Giveaways at the kick-off event include energy-saver kits for all attendees from TVA (valued at $50), as well as prize-drawing giveaways of $1,000 in free utilities (donated by private citizens), a free home energy audit with $500 for energy-saving improvements, and $25 gas and Kroger gift cards. The random drawings will be held at the Orpheum event. The first 50 customers to arrive will receive a free Hunter ceiling fan.

See you tomorrow! Tell your friends!

One Week Until Energy Smart Event!

MLGW will take to the stage at the Orpheum Wednesday, March 11 to present a public energy-saving program to Memphis and Shelby County residents. The program, called EnergySmart Memphis, will help participants reduce their energy bills, as well as reduce the carbon footprint of Shelby County. The event will be held in conjunction with MLGW’s 70th anniversary celebration. (MLGW was originally chartered March 9, 1939.)

EnergySmart Memphis’ public kick-off at the historic theater will feature MLGW energy experts, TVA representatives and local city and county leaders – as well as some great giveaways, all coming together to give attendees useful and applicable money-saving home improvements that will show real savings on their utility bills.

Giveaways at the kick-off event include energy-saver kits for all attendees from TVA (valued at $50), as well as prize-drawing giveaways of $1,000 in free utilities (donated by private citizens), a free home energy audit with $500 for energy-saving improvements, and $25 gas and Kroger gift cards. The random drawings will be held at the Orpheum event. The first 50 customers to arrive will receive a free Hunter ceiling fan.

Following up on its wide scale efforts to help customers use energy more wisely, MLGW will hold another Community Conservation Day the following Friday, March 13. The county-wide event at participating Exxon On the Run stores will offer free conservation kits, energy use advice and energy saving materials to customers.

TERRA House Ribbon Cutting

After more than three years of research, design, and planning, the TERRA (Technologically + Environmentally Responsive Residential Architecture) demonstration house is complete! The ribbon cutting ceremony and formal opening of the house, which is located at the northeast corner of North Main and Greenlaw, is on Friday, February 27 at 10 a.m.

Following the ceremony, the house will be open for tours February 27, 28, and March 1, as well as every weekend in March (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays). Tours are free and open to the public.

MLGW was pleased to work over the last three years with University of Memphis faculty, students and contractors in the design and construction of this innovative energy-efficient, environmentally-sustainable residence. Aside from the public awareness benefits of TERRA, we have been delighted to see how eagerly U of M students embraced the concept of sustainability in residential housing.

TERRA stands in the midst of one of the largest green neighborhoods in the nation, the Uptown neighborhood. Houses in Uptown built since 2003 have all been constructed through MLGW's green building program, EcoBUILD. These homes utilized MLGW standards designed to achieve a 30% energy savings--but, on average, have actually exceeded those savings targets. (34% electric savings and 56% natural gas savings, average household vs computer-modeled typical baseline home.)

TERRA includes many cutting-edge innovations to minimize the use of energy and natural resources and, as such, sought not just EcoBUILD certification but also the U. S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes and the American Lung Association's Health House certifications.

TERRA is the first home in Shelby County to participate in TVA's Generation Partners solar power generation program. TERRA is creating solar power through 2.1 kW of PV panels on the roof and using that power in the home, then sending any momentary excess to the electric grid.

Go see the TERRA house for yourself!