Hey Neergs!

Hope you enjoyed yesterday's our coverage of the Catalog Canceling Challenge. Please email us with your inspirational eco-action stories. We want to hear all about it!  Speaking of inspirational stories, did you know that it has been five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region and New Orleans? If you have time, check out our sister site, "The Guardians of Neerg Hall" and read our first E-Chapter. You'll notice that the kids live in New Orleans! My family lived there before Katrina, but had friends who lost their homes as a result . New Orleans is a very beautiful place, but has lots of old historical buildings. Some of these buildings just couldn't hold up to the storm and water and were completely destroyed. Some were damaged badly, and even those that were spared were built at a time when energy efficiency was not a priority. My families house in New Orleans had 14 foot ceilings! Talk about an air conditioning bill--yikes! And yes, it was devastating to lose those homes but the storm created an opportunity to build some new and better buildings--including schools!  

In yesterday's Huffington Post, there is an awesome story about Global Green. They are this really cool non profit that has committed to rebuilding New Orleans in an efficient and sustainable way. Because of Global Green, and with some help from movie star Brad Pitt, there are more green houses being built in New Orleans than any other U.S. city. New Orleans now has 500 LEED certified homes and 73 LEED certified projects underway. Wow! And New Orleans offers the most progressive solar tax credit too--an incentive for people to use this new alternative energy and save money too! Global Green has been helping schools too, making them more energy efficient and teaching families about the environment. Global Green is our Neerg of the Day! Thank you for creating an inspiring model for cities in and outside of the U.S. to follow. Now New Orleans can be proud of its heritage and their accomplishments in sustainability!
 
Peace Out--Ethan