Hello, all! Earlier this year I was interviewed by Jennifer Freedman, a writer for the Mindful Littles blog, an organization that “combines the power of mindfulness and community action, to equip kids to make conscious choices for a more positive future for themselves and the world— no matter what life brings them”(https://mindfullittles.org/). Ecological Action was a highlighted organization making a difference in our community. If you are interested in reading what I had to say,  please click HERE!

I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe during these unprecedented times.

Riley Weeks

Hello, all!

Just some recent updates as to what Ecological Action has been up to! Recently, Abbie and I presented in front of an auditorium of over 900 Cherry Creek High School students in celebration of Global Awareness Day. Hosted by Amnesty International, this day allows students to be challenged by new perspectives and inspired to do good in the world. We talked about what Ecological Action has accomplished in the past seven years, and where it is headed (hint hint we are now a non-profit!). But most importantly, we encouraged students to find their passion in life and stick with it, because passion is what makes life worth living. An important part of what we do is sharing it with others, and Global Awareness Day was a great platform for this. Thank you so much to the students and teachers who came to watch us speak, and thank you, reader, for your continued support!

Cheers,

Riley

Abbie and I smiling after our presentation!

Are you looking to donate money to help bring solar panels to the Spokane Native American Reservation?

CLICK HERE!

Thank you for your contribution!

Hey everyone!

A special shoutout to the 7th grade at West Middle School for participating in our fundraising efforts! To donate money, click HERE.

Thank you for all of your support and go West!

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Standing there with a line attached to my back and an harness that was too tight in the wrong places,  I watched as a man I had just met demonstrated pulling up shingles and sliding in a metal plate with a silver rectangle with a hole in the top into the shingles. The metal plate, called flashing, would be bolted into the rafters and serve as a reliable mount for the solar panels. 

My first thought was “oh please don’t make me do that I won’t be able to.”

But then I realized they needed help measuring out the area of the array. I volunteered to help measure out 48 inches between each chalk dot and 24 inches for the last distance. I nailed it, measuring perfectly and handling the tape measure with such elegance that it made the birds stop and stare.

But ruining my “on Top of the world” feeling we were called to lunch. Furiously I swallowed my mustard, ham and cheese sandwich and soon enough was standing back at the top of the ladder waiting to be clipped into my child safety leash.

We spent the next hours pulling up shingles and flashing them, once that was done, we’d install the brackets and bolt it into place and put on a washer and rubber stopper on top.  Next I descended from my perch up above and began to help assemble rails that the solar panels would rest on. We then took the rails and carried them up to the roof. We then bolted in the rails and began to attach the inverters. First we wired up the rails by placing a cord and nailing it to the metal. Then we took  inverters and screwed them in above the cord, and then at last we plugged them into the wire. Once that was done we looked around and saw that two arrays had been completed, this startled me because I was in such a trance of work. After feeling successful with being able to do the task I drove us back to camp – where we all slept gloriously.

Hey again! It’s Riley (If you don’t know who I am, check out my other blog posts towards the bottom of this page)! As I write this, I am sitting in the car with the door open and the breeze blowing through, listening to the sounds of cranking wrenches and steady drills on the roof of Mr.Conquering Bear’s and his family’s home. So far (its only 12:39 as a write this), it has been an awe-inspiring, productive work-day, which sounds far-fetched, but is honestly the truth! Let me back up though, I am getting ahead of myself. Yesterday, after our cultural meeting with Mr.Doyle, we drove down, following Mr. Boyce’s incredibly green and hippie-screaming Westfalia van, to the property where we were to spend the next three days installing solar panels. Honestly, I was clueless. Not just about the difference between AC disconnect and junction boxes, or where and how to saw conduit, but also what the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation was like and how the community works together to find solutions to energy issues.

But, in both these fields, I was learning, and fast. I was not expecting to do much work on the first day, as we didn’t start until 11:30ish after our cultural training. However, I figured out that we would be doing a lot. There was work to do just on the ground, not even related to the solar modules on the roof. I volunteered to drill holes, screw bolts, place conduit, and even go underneath the house in the crawl space to ensure that all of the wiring that we would eventually complete would have a secure place to go without the risk damage to the wires through water runoff or friction from other things near it. At the beginning of the day, I was afraid to ask questions of the trained professionals I was working with through GRID Alternatives. I figured they had a lot on their plates, worrying about where and when to place the solar panels as well as all of the other components to make the system work. But, I eventually understood that these trained professionals wanted to teach us about what they were doing, and wanted us to be as hands on as possible. It was incredible to be able to ask all the questions I wanted and after a while, I was able to really understand what we were doing throughout the day, and what the end result was bound to look like. When the sun had just begun to sink over the rolling hills in the distance of the Reservation, the only clear work that I had completed was a metal pole on the side of the house, with a box sticking out the end of it. To some, it might have been just that: a box on a pole, but to me, it signified the beginning of an amazing solar install to help an amazing veteran and his family live in their home with reliable, sustainable, and affordable electricity. For me, Day One on the ground was a job well done.

Monday May 29, 2017 Allan

My name is Allan Chen. I am a recent graduate of Cherry Creek High School and a proud member of the Pine Ridge Eco Action Solar Panel install team!  We met in the morning at the King Soopers with Boyce, Conley, Stella, and Claire driving in Boyce’s hippie van and Abbie driving Robin’s “Blueberry” with Robin, Lina, Riley, and me. We took the fast route and lost them a little which resulted in a quick “what part of follow me don’t you understand.”

Lunch break from looking for a campsite (Lina and Stella)

With our journey under way it became time for stories and sing-a-longs. Catchphrase and Disney songs made the supposedly 5 hour drive fly by until we stopped at a gas station near the first, but not last, world famous Taco John’s. When we finally arrived at our campsite in Hot Springs, South Dakota, we discovered that the week’s campground would cost us nearly $200, simply outrageous! We then drove around for hours to RV parks and open fields, trying to find a nice, affordable campsite. Just when all hope seemed lost we stumbled upon the beautiful but quaint Walgren Lake, which happened to be a few cranky hours away in Nebraska.

The lake shore was nice and sandy, but had some questionable foam and dead fish parts. We were excited to set up camp and quickly got to work setting up our two tents and Boyce’s portable camping kitchen. We collected firewood, played Frisbee in the fields, lounged in the hammock, and enjoyed the peacefulness of the location.

Sunset from our campsite

Dinner was cooked to perfection by Chef Allan, who some might call a culinary master. The platters arranged with remarkably exquisite quesadillas and an elegant but simple side of chips and salsa filled the stomachs of all our hungry campers.

We spent the rest of the night by the campfire, telling jokes, stories, and relaxing, knowing that we had a hard day’s work ahead of us in the morning. This tranquility was only interrupted by the sun making its descent over the lake, casting glowing red, orange, and purple hues all over the sky. We later made S’mores, and many of us had some more later, until the stars emerged. Using Abbie and Robin’s “sky scanners” we named all the stars and constellations. Finally, as the fire died down we headed to our tent; each snuggled in our own warm sleeping bags, and prepared ourselves for the chilly night and early morning ahead of us.

Chowing down on quesadillas