Do you seek out education and resources about sustainability and climate change? Spend time considering your part in working toward the future you envision? Are you always on the lookout for ways to support your local community and small businesses? Us, too. If you’re nodding along, this sustainability and climate change book list is for you.

You may have heard by now that there’s a last minute and quite significant change that was made to the Duke Energy NC Solar Rebate recently. We’re getting a lot of questions about it and wanted to share broadly how this is affecting the prospect of going solar in NC right now, as well as our promotion of guaranteeing ½ of the rebate in order to keep the value for our customers.

The following seven sustainable living ideas will take various amounts of time or energy to get established, but after they’re up and running they’ll consistently work in the background to make your home and lifestyle more eco-friendly without any additional work on your end.

Sustainabiilty isn’t only about planting trees.

It’s about people, too. Which is just one reason we’re thankful for Just Economics, an Asheville-based nonprofit that advocates for economic justice in Western NC.

Whenever you research online, you see varying claims for solar savings.

They seem sensible. Or are they far-fetched?

It’s hard to find the truth.

Maybe you’ve even seen those ads claiming solar energy is free.

Before we dive into whether solar can save you money, we’ll clear up that tall tale: switching to solar is not free.

Nope. Never. Nice try, tricky advertisers.

Sigh.

Well, looks like we’ll all be staying home quite a bit. For a while.

Flattening the curve and all that.

But social distancing and avoiding crowds doesn’t need to mean throwing our (well-washed) hands up and doing nothing.

Imagine: It’s 6:30, morning, a frosty blue ridge Thursday: You roll over in bed, switch off your chirping alarm. Slippers on, you pad down the hallway. Start the coffee. Nudge the heat up. Hop in the shower.

Ever notice how quickly young people get to the heart of the matter? When the team behind I Heart Pisgah asked local youth what they love about Pisgah National Forest, Ronya, thirteen, said: “I love this forest because it’s a habitat for so many creatures. And because it’s full of life — and I don’t think we can take that life away.”

“Where does a homeowner start? How do I know what is the best alternative for my house?” Excellent question.

If you’re new to the concept of solar energy, one of the most difficult pieces of the puzzle to understand is how installing a solar energy system actually saves you money.