WEBVTT

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[music]

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Major funding for this
program is provided by

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Additional funding is provided by Bank of America, a financial
services partner to customers and companies around the world.

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The United States Department of Energy.

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And by the CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING, A
private corporation funded by the American people.

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[sil.]

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I’m Bill McDonough,

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and I design things, all
sorts of things. Towns,

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factories, offices, schools and homes.

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What if I showed you how
to live more comfortable

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and healthier lives while saving money
and the environment? Interested?

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That’s what this series is all about.
You’re going to see American ingenuity

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at its very best. People all over the country
with new ideas, that will change your home,

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your workplace and your neighborhood. For
me, the key to all of this is design.

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Or the redesign of things we
may be taking for granted.

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Like this for example. When cars were first
invented, they were made to do one thing.

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Get us from here to there, quickly.

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They weren’t intended to destroy the air. But that’s been
a consequence. Now I don’t expect you to stop driving

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but we have a design problem here. I mean,
now we put a vehicle on planet Mars.

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Why don’t we design vehicles for
planet Earth that don’t pollute?

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In fact, this design revolution has already begun.
I’m going to take you on a ride across the country

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to see amazing new skyscrapers, waste
free factories and living machines

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that turn sewage into botanical gardens. We’ll
meet people recreating their own neighborhoods

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and, of course, we’ll drive in pollution
free cars. But before we change the planet,

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we need to start small like
the place where you live.

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Think about it. There are things
going on inside your home

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of which you’re not even aware.

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Are your windows licking money? What’s
really happening between your walls?

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Are your appliances eating up your
paycheck and messing up the atmosphere?

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The McQuaids of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Seemed to have everything they need.

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Convenience, comfort,

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over the large family and a 25 year old
house, the price for just the basics is high.

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In one month its $400. No.

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Actually its $500 in $1 (inaudible).
Yeah, I told. It’s just about double.

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Every time I see one of those common electric bills. I feel like
it’s just time to scramble. There’s nothing you can do because,

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I mean, if they said, that it costs a million
dollars a month to have electricity.

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Then that’s it, you would have to pay.
Yeah. It’s not quite million dollars

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but with six kids, annual electric
and water bill are $3500.

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That’s a lot of money for this family.
And I try my best to keep the heat low.

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We try to shut the doors. All
the windows have leakage.

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There’s drafts all over the house. And
you wear like three, four blankets.

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Well at least I do. In our rooms,

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if I took this towel out,
we could feel the draft.

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With air and water leaks breaking the bank,

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who’re they gonna call? The Home Doctor.
When customers call me up

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it’s because they have a frozen pipe, that they have an ice dam,
they have a mould, they have mildew, they have a cold house

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or maybe they have high utility bills.
That is really the driving force.

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By the time they get a hold of me.

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Bruce Torrey, blower door tester,
certified infrared thermographer,

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house doctor for the ‘90s. No more Mr.
Home repair man.

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This new breed of building
diagnostician is finding problems

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we never knew existed. One of the things that I can
do, you know, meter these different appliances

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and try to break down how much each one
uses. Talk to me about your lights

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uh… we can try to draw route, how
much of that goes towards heat,

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how much it goes towards hot water. And that way we
can come up, hopefully come up with a game plan.

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With innovative technology like the blower door test.
Torrey discovers that this house leaks air like a sieve.

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As you can see what we’re trying to
do is, create a pressure difference

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between the inside and the
outside of the house, okay?

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Uh… You can see now that, you know, we’re moving a quantity of
air out of the house and it’s creating this negative pressure

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outside air is not trying to
forcefully into the house.

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Through any cracks or, you know, defects
in the… off of the building shelf.

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Half the energy used to heat and
cool old homes literally leaks out

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through attics, walls and windows. Precise
readings from a digital pressure gauge

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help to pin point the problems.

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A lot of people assume, hey my house is already
insulated. Like, just like this house is, in fact,

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it’s insulated, the walls insulated, the attics
insulated and the… the floors also insulated.

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But if house is insulated,
how come it’s cold?

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Now with an infra red camera, the modern day
house doctor can go where no repair man

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has ever gone before.

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The darker images indicate cold
spots and the lack of insulation.

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Some of these interior partitions, I
now see are… are full of cold air.

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Uh… The way I’ve got this adjusted is that
I can assign certain temperatures ranges

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to different colors. So what… what I’m seeing here in
this particular wall, I’ve seen cold air inside the wall.

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Okay, which uh… indicates that
may we have a problem here

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since this is a wall
between two heated spaces.

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Isn’t this awesome? This is what walls
do with lot of humidity. Yeah, right.

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On top of air leaks, many of our
homes waste a lot of water. Yeah.

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If it rains too much, it just pours
right through that hole, bottom there

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and I don’t know if it’s coming from the sides of the
bulk head, come through the sides and end down here

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or it just comes through the wall or where
it’s coming. All right. So you tell me

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this is about what how many loads a day?
Umm… I do three… three to five loads a day.

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Today I went to two and I have this much left. Okay, an easy day today.
There mold all the layer, there’s all, this is all rotting I believe.

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This toilet works. Isn’t that awesome?

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Yeah, I think the one toilet that works.
That’s good. After testing the house,

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Bruce Torrey finds problem with
water, energy and appliances.

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Problems that plague many of our homes, our health,
and our pocket books. Yet, the McQuaids are hopeful

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that the home doctor can make their home a more
comfortable place to live and more affordable.

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Good news is you had a lot of problems here that are very,
very solvable. Yeah. You have some other problems here

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that are also solvable but they’re gonna be
very expensive. I think if you understand that

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some of these improvements aren’t gonna pay for
themselves, you know, instead of paying that monthly bill

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to your utility company, you know,
maybe that money will go towards,

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you know, cocking or… Taken care and
in the long term we save them, yeah.

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We’re looking real close to $3000
a year on my electric bill

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and if I could knock a good chunk of that. I
could knock 500 bucks off it that’d be great.

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But… But I’m home for even more, I’m
home we’re gonna knock 1000 off that.

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Obviously, they’re… they’re trying to save money. That’s… that’s
the bottom line for them but uh… I would, cant sacrifice that

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for the safety and some of the other concerns uh… in the house.
If I can come up with solutions that address the comfort

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and the safety first and
also save the money.

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Then I think that’s what we wanna hit.

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At this point, the McQuaids must decide how
to fix up their old home. But just imagine

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if they could start all over again.
Build from scratch.

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We design a home of their own or should
they build a new home? What about solar?

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Homes filled with straw, dirt, rebar,

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recycled roof tops catching rain
water for everyday use. Not for you?

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Well, what about something big,
luxurious and really expensive?

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Oh, when it comes to big, nobody
does it better than Texas.

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Big hats, big stairs and big homes.

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Meet Joel Katz,

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president of Katz builders. For 12 years,

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he’s built what his customers in Austin, Texas, want.
And energy efficiency is as far from their minds

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as it is from their pocket books. They
typically don’t come to us and say,

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”Well, I want a house that’s super energy efficient.” They’re not
looking at that. They’re going on, “look at the crown molding.

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God, look at this (inaudible), quinn(ph) or… or granite
countertops look at the finish on the cabinets.”

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[]They’re more attuned to esthetics or
square footage, how big is the house,

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how many rooms can I have.

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In contrast, across town,
Peter Pfeiffer designs homes

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which conserve energy and materials.
He is as so called \"Green architect.\"

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To me green is building it
correctly the first time,

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so it, lasts longer, consumes less
energy, consumer fewer virgin resources.

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Recently, Peter has tried to
convince a main stream builder

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like Joel Katz to build his way. But
the problem comes down to perception.

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For a long while, the green movement

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has been associated with what we might
call granola-heads or latter day hippies.

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And, for a builder that
specializes in high end homes,

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those clients who wanted to do high end homes are generally
not from that background. So they’ve wondering, “gees!\"

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This builder really someone who can relate to our needs
or not? If he’s trying to push this granola movement,

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is he not really one of us?

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For Joel Katz, certified public accountant,

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former owner of a New York style delicatessen, and now
a custom home builder. Green is as far from granola

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as it is from (inaudible). For Joel,
green comes down to one thing.

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This comes down to money. Well, we
have to make money to be in business.

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We have to make money to service our customers. We have to
be around to… to uh… provide the warranty for the houses.

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So you have to make money.

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Making money is what Austin annual
parade of homes is all about.

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Every year, a select group of developers build big
speculative house to the local association of home builders.

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It attracts business for
both builders and the city.

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This year, Austin’s green building program is joining the parade,
encouraging builders to construct energy efficient homes.

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Is that (inaudible)

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or any problem? Yeah, it’s great. Yeah, look at the
views we’ll be getting from the (inaudible) porch.

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Uh… With Joel building his first parade house,
Peter Pfeiffer is finally getting his wish.

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I’m showing Joel Katz
how to uh… build green

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and still hold on to market that he’s got. You can
definitely feel the prevailing winds from the rock today.

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Just blowing my hair, it’s just
messing it up. Yeah, mine too.

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The greening of Joel’s house begins at
the site where his house will be built.

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So we know we got the front of the house. This
will give self into the prevailing breezes

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or acts a little bit of ease itself which is even
more ideal. I think the orientation of the house

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is an example of how going green
means starting from the very start

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with the initial site planning for house. Trying to
make it, so that the majority of the house faces

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to the south and to the north. The longer
walls face to the south and the north

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in most parts of our country. And smaller walls to
the east and the west for very obvious reasons.

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The sun rises in the east, is high up in
the sky when it’s in the south or at noon

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and it’s low in the sky and it sets in the
west. Therefore, you can use overhangs,

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shady windows very effectively
on the south side of the house.

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So make more of your windows face the south. It’s very
tough to shade east facing and west facing windows.

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So that very, the decision
alone can save you

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20-30% in your air conditioning needs.

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The next step in educating
Joel is in materials.

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Well, if you look around in this house and we’ve got little over
the place. Wood has been at the heart of homes built in America.

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Katz’s clients love it. They demand it.

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But the preservation of natural resources
is a key ingredient when building green.

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And his architect knows that Katz
must conserve wood in his new house.

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The problem again comes down to perception.
My question is the perception of the client

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that walks in the house in the (inaudible), “Go take a look at this
house.\" They don’t’ have double top plates, they don’t have this,

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they don’t have that and then the other thing. That’s the first
time. First show ‘em this sheet and show me its engineered but…

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Yeah, you’re gonna need to do more than that.
Because directly and education perception.

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Yeah. They look at how much wood you put into the house, how deep
your walls are and things of that nature and where are you skimping?

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Because their perception that you’re saving money and
goes into your pocket. And you know that this is…

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Competitors are gonna point to ‘em, ‘cause
of a bit of viciousness in the market

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and because of frankly a lack of education on their part. They’re
gonna say, “gees!\" That house isn’t build this totally is ours.”

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It’s not true, it’s absolutely false
statement. But then again, the client

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or the potential buyer isn’t necessarily
gonna have the knowledge base to know whose,

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be as in who and they might actually
believe the competitors say,

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”Yeah, you’re right. I can see a lot less lumber in that house,
and your house.” But the amount of lumber has very little to do

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with the quality of engineering and therefore
the ultimate strength of the frame of the home.

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[music]

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While Joel and Peter argue over
their half a million dollar house.

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Home is costing only $60,000 are going
up in another section of Austin.

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Step balance.

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Okay, so we got like three step balance.
Casa verde, Spanish for green home

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is being designed by Gail Borst.

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Her goal is to build quality
homes for low income families.

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This home in my opinion
is, is vastly durable.

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Than even, you know, an
expensive custom home

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because we’ve used materials that are
very, very durable and very… very strong,

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very low maintenance. So
affordability doesn’t mean

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we have to go with inferior quality at all.

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For Borst, this means using alternate materials,
such as recycled wood chips and concrete

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replacing the common wood stud wall.
Because of the wood chips

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in this product that, that gives it… it’s
thermal resistance and it also gives it,

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what’s called thermal mast
which has ability to store

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and re-release the heat in cold. So this, this
building will tend to be much more comfortable

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than the typical wood stud
structure with insulation.

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Because this wall form can
hold the heat and cold

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and then release it so that’s a
real asset to the thermal comfort

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of the house. Casa verde
also tries to conserve

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natural resources by building
with recycled material.

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Roof tops made from scrap metal,
interior walls filled with straw

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and recycled steel replacing wood studs.

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So we use these steel studs. And these days
almost all steel studs have a recycled content.

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So again, we’re… we’re able
to reduce the amount of wood

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that goes in to these houses. We’re
putting uh… one to two acres of trees

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into our homes, hiding them in the walls.
So anytime we can eliminate

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the use of material. We’re
doing a service to the planet

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and usually to ourselves.

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[music]

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An experiment for the planet.
At least for 21st century Texas

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can be found at the edge of Austin.

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With the kitchen on wheels,

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a rotating bathroom for
the rotating family.

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Will this be the home of our
grand children’s dreams?

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Pliny Fisk has always
recommended the out in front.

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But some of his ones crazy ideas are
now sweeping into the mainstream.

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[music]

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The green villa demonstration was meant
to be an experiment. It’s an experiment

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in the sense of being a social,

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a different way of thinking about how
people participate with buildings.

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There also is a different
was that we think about

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participating with nature.

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Participating with nature means looking
for everything you need where you are,

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right in your own backyard. we have
straw materials, we have recycled

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
long leaf pine, we have recycled industrial
byproducts, we’ve got many different things

00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
that fit in to it. Re using waste
is exactly what Fisk wants

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
all the builders to do. For ultimately,
it’s the scarcity of resources

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
that concerns him. Texas
is just now going through

00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
the problem of, we do not have all the water
that it takes to support Texas, inside Texas.

00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
So we’re getting the same
issues with other southern,

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
south western states have gotten into. How do
you convince somebody outside your boundaries

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
to ship you water in? Now what
people don’t realize is that,

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
”You can’t keep doing that forever.” Sooner
or later you got another person in trouble.

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
Pliny’s solution, go back to the future.
Collect rain water off the roof.

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
It’s free, it’s local and
even in draught prone Austin,

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
you can store enough for months.
As for energy, use the sun.

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
A solar cooker heats the meals.
Photovoltaic’s convert solar energy

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
into electricity. Placed on roof
tops and garages, these solar cells

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
will one day provide power for many of our homes.
In addition to creating energy efficient homes,

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
Fisk wants to change behavior.
We design how we live.

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
His kitchen is on wheels,
moving outdoors in the summer

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
to save on air conditioning. So
that goes actually right here.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Is it totally crazy to be able to take the
kitchen out to a totally ventilated room area

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
and cook and eat outside? Is this
backwards or is this forwards?

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
Adapt, study it, learn
about it and work with it.

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
While Pliny Fisk continues to
experiment with the home of the future,

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
Joel Katz’s parade house
is opened to the public.

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
Going green had its risks. But Joel
sold the house and made his profit.

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
The people who live in homes like this
will also make money, paying only a third

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
of what their neighbors
will pay in utility bills.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
Wouldn’t it be great if all of us
could enjoy these kinds of savings

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
and reduce our utility bills by a third?

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
Imagine how this could help your
home economics and the environment.

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
We all win. One of the ways to do
that lies right behind the door.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
Your refrigerator never sleeps. It’s an
energy guzzler, responsible for up to

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
a fifth of your electricity bill. And for
families like the McQuaids’ this thing

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
takes a big bite out of their paycheck.
Once again, we have a design problem.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
When refrigerators replace the
ice box, electricity was cheap,

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
and pollution not an issue. Manufacturers would
never that worried about energy efficiency.

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Refrigerators were
designed to be convenient,

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
stylish, even glamorous.

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:43.000
[music]

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
By the 1940s, electricity promised to
make our lives carefree, frost free,

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
pull-out shelves, ice makers, double doors.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
We were falling more in love with our
appliances than with our sweethearts.

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
But as refrigerators grew in size,

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
so did their consumption of energy.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
They were built with cheap
insulation and thin walls.

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
And without realizing
it, used a refrigerant

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
damaging the planets ozone layer.
Something needed to be done.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
The super efficient
refrigerator program or SERP

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
was designed to solve these two environmental
problems, ozone depletion and excess energy use.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
By encouraging a major step
forward in technology.

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
In 1992, the Natural
Resources Defense Council

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
joined forces with the government and with the utilities
to offer manufacturers a financial incentive.

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
The race was on to create
a better refrigerant.

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
The utilities put together
a pot of $30 million,

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
which would be available to
the winning manufacturer

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
if they met these (inaudible)specifications.
25% reduction in energy use,

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
no use of the worst ozone
depleting chemical.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Finally, the manufacturer was required to
deliver hundreds and thousands of refrigerators

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
that would be bought.

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
The challenge worked. And most manufacturers
entered the super efficient refrigerator contest.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
Our ultimate goal was to be
competitive in the contest

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
yet uh… make money.

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
Whirlpool strategy, create a refrigerant
free from Chloro Fluoro Carbons,

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
the chemical which damage the ozone
layer and more energy efficient

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
than any of their competitors.

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
Whirlpool believed that new government
regulations would soon be enacted,

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
requiring all manufactures to
adopt new energy standards.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
The winner would have a
leg upon the competition.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
Allow me to announce uh… the winner of
super efficient refrigerator program.

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
That’s uh… Whirlpool
Corporation, congratulations.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
[sil.]

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
In 1994, Whirlpool’s super efficient
refrigerators rolled off the assembly line

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
and entered the market place. But the hope
that other companies would file a suit

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
soon fell apart.

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Home appliance manufacturers

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
lobbied congress to stop the
government’s energy standards.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
They said that the cost of manufacturing super
efficient refrigeration was just too high

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
and their customers wouldn’t but them. So the
battle over standards continued for years,

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
with the potential for billions of dollars in energy
savings and massive reductions in damaging emissions

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
going up in smoke. But just
a couple of months ago,

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
the government finally made its case.
By the year 2001,

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
all new refrigerators will be 30% more energy efficient
than these. The price should increase about $80,

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
but when you save a 1000Kwh every
year, compared to your 1973 model,

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
the payback is really quick.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
And your family will reduce its carbon
dioxide emissions by over a ton.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
A happy ending after a lot of kicking and
screaming. Let’s face it, changing whole industries

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
is hard to do. For most of us, it’s
easier to stay with the status quote,

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
unless something like a crisis
really pushes us to change.

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
Such was the case in 1973.

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
[sil.]

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
An oil embargo forced western countries
to face a major energy crisis.

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
The cost of energy for homes, cars,
and businesses went through the roof.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
The shortage of oil perceived a real,
created havoc all over the country.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Well, during the oil crisis in ‘73,

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
I was waiting in an airport for a quite a long time,
because we have to wait for fuel to be delivered.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
So I… I thought then there
must be a better way to

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
operate than to try to by our
energy from the Middle East.

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
The energy crisis became a
wakeup call for Roy Gordon,

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
a professor of chemistry at Harvard University. Determined
to solve our dependency on foreign fossil fuel,

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
Gordon and others (inaudible)pointed to
windows as the major source of the problem.

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
Every square foot of single paying
glass in the Northern United States

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
make the equivalent of a
gallon of oil every winter.

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
Well, I looked up the over all energy usage
country, the statistics that were available

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
and it turns out that umm… more than a
third of our uh… energy is actually used

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
as to keep buildings warm or cool.

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
And I started to read about efficiency of
buildings heat transferred through windows,

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
and then I looked at the materials

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
that might change this situation. I was… was wanted
to find a material that would reflect the heat

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
and keep it on one side of the window
instead of letting it pass through.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
S In the beginning, Roy had it in theory
and hadn’t figured out how to do it,

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
and he tried to get funding and uh…
support from the government and industry,

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
and everybody said, \"Oh, don’t be silly! Nobody
can do that, it can’t be done, we have tried it.\"

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
And so he persisted himself.
The challenge, create windows

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
that would allow the sun to shine through,
but prevent heat waves radiating back out.

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
If Gordon could coat the
glass with a metal oxide,

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
heat would be reflected
back in to the home.

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
The additive of a course

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
had to be transparent. With the
mixture of tin Oxide and fluorine,

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
Gordon created a substance
harder than glass itself.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
Using a home made coating device,

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
he sprayed the chemicals
uniformly on to the surface.

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
The coater worked, but there was
a problem with the glass sample.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
Everyone who looked at them said, \"Well,
customers won’t like that at all.

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
This will be a uh…
unacceptable appearance.\"

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
In fact, the glass was
tinted, not crystal clear.

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
Back to the laboratory in neutralize the colors
and again return to the glass companies.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
In the beginning, certainly as the theoretical
chemist, you are not much of a sales man,

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
you are sitting in your ivory tower, and
here he was going around with his samples

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
and his ideas from company to
company really like a peddler.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
And uh… it took a lot of pedaling

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
before somebody was interested
in taking a chance.

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
And in fact, it was a big chance.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
No company had ever coated molten glass on
the factory production line. If it failed,

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
the entire process would
crash through a halt.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
Libbey-Owens Ford, a glass
manufacturer in Toledo, Ohio,

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
took the risk.

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
What was originally supposed to be
a five year plan, stretch to ten.

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
After spending $20 million
with no product in side,

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
Libbey-Owens Ford almost killed the
project. But Gordon would not give up.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
Roy wanted this finished, he
wanted it in to production,

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
he wanted really the… the product to be commercialized.
Rick McCurdy, a former student of Gordon’s

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
worked at Libbey-Owens Ford.
It wasn’t eight to five old

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
this is a nice idea and the…
and we gave it a good shot.

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
It was really, we can do this, it was
very frustrating, but end of the day

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
uh… we wanted to see coated glass
going in the box and… and going out

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
to uh… to builders’ and home owners’.
On November 24th, 1986,

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
the industrial strength coaters were ready
to spray Gordon’s mixture on to the glass.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
Okay, the batch has been opened for
a certain (inaudible) coaters.

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
[sil.]

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
It was actually a very dramatic
moment, because at this point

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
we are just gone through nine or ten months
so of construction of these coaters,

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
and these now had to be inserted
in to the bath, and the bath is

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
uh… very molted glass floating on top of molted tin,
and it’s… it’s had about 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
So there were many people actually standing
around waiting for the possibility

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
of what we call, losing the sheep

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
or actually heading the rhythm disintegrate uh… on due to the factor
it’s being uh… chilled too quickly and would actually break up.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
[music]

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
Every one just watched and waited.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:48.000
[music]

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
After years of frustration and obstacles, Roy
Gordon’s idea was on the verge of becoming a reality.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
I was standing at the cool end
where the glass comes out.

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
It was only after 12 years
of work that we got

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
any glass coated on an actual Glass plant,

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
so it was… was very exciting to
see that possibility coming out.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
One of the things that really

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
gives me a thrill is to bring a product
to market, to bring a technology

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
in to something concrete, in to something
people are gonna use, uh… you know?

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
To write in papers is one thing, but on the other hand
to make uh… a few million square feet of the glass

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
that’s uh… that’s actually has an economic
and also uh… an environmental benefit.

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
It’s really something I think great.
Since the 1980s,

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
windows improved by Gordon and other scientists
have saved the planet over billion dollars

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
in annual energy costs.

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
Most new homes built in the Northern United
States now use high performance windows.

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
In fact, amazing windows for all
climates are now in the market place.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
One day, Photo chromic and
Thermo chromic windows

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
made for warm climates will automatically darken to
keep our homes cool from extreme sunlight or heat.

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
You will even be able to make your Electro
chromic window a shade with flip of a switch.

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:33.000
[music]

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
But when it came to the
quick fix for this home,

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
new windows were not part of the answer.
Instead, house Doctor Bruce Story (inaudible)

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
had another prescription for the McQuaids of the
Plymouth, Massachusetts. What’s going on, huh?

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
We had looked at replacing all the windows of
the house, because windows do need replacing.

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
But the cost of all the work that we did
was still than replacing the windows.

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
There is a success story to be told here.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
Almost over night, Bruce
Story transformed this house

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
in to a healthier and more comfortable place
to live. We cut down the drafts we’ve,

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
we’ve made the whole raw house tighter and we
helped the existing insulation work better.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
Cause there is no longer air moving through it
and we have been approved comfort of the house.

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
[sil.]

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
[music] It’s incredible, it really is. I mean
you can really tell how much warmer it is?

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
I think that’s, that’s the best. Fuller
I had to get all these blankets,

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
but now I have to just get to feel. It was
evident when we stand from the inside

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
that there was a lot of cold air
between the first and second floor.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
Uh… and as we found out this
outside over hang area,

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
we opened that up there is no insulation
inside there, there was a lot of air leakage.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
Cold air was actually coming from the outside and shooting the
house right through the house between the first and second floor.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
So the fairly simple fix on that is that
we head the insulation crew come in,

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
uh… you know drill holes
every 16 inches as needed

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
and, and did what we call it dense pack cellulose treatment
in there which uh… just added the insulation we needed and

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
stop the air flow at the same time. So we
can now read after the work has been done,

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
what we did was cap these different
partitions off, at the attic level.

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
Even though they were already insulated, they
still needed to be sealed for air tightness.

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
And we can now see there is no air leakage into these walls
and I don’t see any cold spots in here which is good for me,

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:58.000
cause I don’t wanna go back up there again.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
It’s also good for the local utility company
which provides incentives to save energy.

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
Common wealth electric help pay for the
new insulation and the new appliances,

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
including this horizontal
axis washing machine.

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
Whatever capacity my big washer had before

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
I take that same amount of clothes put it in, you
would have to stuff in it and shut the door.

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
You really do shove clothes in, you know I always
thought everything had to be so loosely packed

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
in order to get clothes clean. But you actually
open the door and shove the clothes in,

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
and shut the door like…

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
And they do, they all come out clean, it’s
incredible. A regular washing machine uses

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
approximately 40 to 50 gallons of water, isn’t
that incredible how much, all that water?

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
And a few times that by five loads of that, it
is 250 gallons of water. This machine uses ten.

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
That’s because the typical washer needs
to fill all the way up with water

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
and agitate your clothes. This
machine turns the drum on its side.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Clothes now tumble in and out
in a shallow pool of water

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
that also needs less electricity to heat. The horizontal
axis washer will cost about four hundred dollars more,

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
over the five to seven year payback
in energy and water saving,

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
it’s a simple investment decision.

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
In addition to the washer, the McQuaids will
save money with their new refrigerator.

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
A new super efficient refrigerator.

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
This actually is a larger refrigerator, there is more
capacity in this refrigerator than she had before.

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
So, again, more… just like
the with the… more capacity,

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
but the energy efficiency makes up for it so. In some
cases, some of the things we have done to this house,

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
you might… on a surface you might think have
increased the heating lobe, we have added heaters,

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
we have added size of the refrigerator, but
the bottom line is the over all building

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
is substantially down. So it’s not always a matter
of, you know, sacrificing size and comfort,

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
you can certainly increase your comfort
and, and save some money at, at same times.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
They also say what digital thermostats

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
and compact fluorescent bulbs, which
use a third of the electricity

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
and lasts ten times longer than a incandescent bulbs. And
with low flow shower heads and ventilated bathrooms,

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
this house is cleaner,
healthier, and more affordable.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
The McQuaids approximately cut 25 %

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
of their annual water and electric bill. I
am looking forward to next month’s bill,

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
I have never ever, ever looked
forward to a bill in my life.

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
That’s encouraging, very, very encouraging.
Yeah, I mean, it was just a $100 a month,

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
which is a lot and it’s going to be more.
I mean, that’s 1200 a year.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
Wow! Well, the McQuaids and the
home doctor fix up this house,

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
one day may homes will use new
technologies to save and even make

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
more energy and money.
Just imagine rooftops

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
made from photovoltaic shingles providing solar
powered electricity for your home and car.

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
Small sky lights connected to
light tubes and fiber optics

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
that will day light your house. A
fly wheel cylinder in the ground

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
for storing electricity from the roof. Thermo
chromic windows adapting the heat changes,

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
old fashioned over hangs, and
trees, and green houses,

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
and water system that collect and
purify rain for all your water needs,

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
that is what your home may
be able to do one day.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
[music]

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
There is however

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
another problem with our
homes, it’s called Garbage.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
And each one of us throws away 4 and
half pounds of the stuff every day.

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
Look at this, plastic toys, bicycles,

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
appliances, tires, a television set.

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
When you throw away your old television set, you are
actually getting rid of an implosion glass tube,

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
thousands of chemicals, heavy metals.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
Toxic waste is an obvious problem, but
there is an other one, lost resources.

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can separate
these things in to their basic elements?

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
Then this land will would be
filled with valuable resources.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Like this, paper comes from natural
materials, it could become paper again

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
or it could go back to the soil and
become food for something new,

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
let’s call it an organic nutrient.
That’s what happens in nature,

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
waste doesn’t exist. One things
waste becomes another things food.

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
It closes the loop waste equals food.

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
So whose food is this? This
could be food for industry,

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
this television could be broken down in to its basic
components. Let’s call them technical nutrients,

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
which could go back to industry, to
make things like televisions again.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Wouldn’t it be great, if we could design things this
way in the first place? Made to be truly recycled

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
either by nature, or by industry,

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
no more mountains of trash. But until then

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
there is something that you can
do right now in your home.

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
In Bellport, Long Island, people are transforming
their garbage in to something valuable

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
and this guy is showing them how?

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Art Cooley knows about garbage.

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
He successfully lobbied for a bottle bill in
Suffolk County which began a nation wide effort

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
toward recycling. But it wasn’t until
Art confronted a garbage problem

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
in his own backyard that he
ran up against a stone wall,

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
or rather into the largest man
made mountain on Long Island.

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
We are going to the Brookhaven Town Landfill and
this… this originally started out as a dump

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
uh… which is what anyone call a place where
you just took garbage and dumped it.

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
This is a pretty large hill now and
the original plans 25 years ago

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
was we were gonna have a Ski Slope here, and
there was gonna be a park, and all of that,

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
uh… that long sense has gone by the
way side. Plans for park and a dump

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
have both gone by a way side.
During the 1980s,

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
New York State banned dumping on Long Island,
because toxins leaking from Landfills

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
were polluting the drinking water.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
As a result, Bellport and other towns
choose to incinerate their garbage

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
and bury the hash from the incinerator in the
Landfill. Art thought his town was wrong.

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
We were concerned about air pollution,
we were concerned about water pollution,

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
uh… we were concerned about waste of
resources, these were all the issues that

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
at that time uh… were clearly
unresolved and arm lined,

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
therefore we one at the town to
pay attention to those issues.

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Dioxin, (inaudible) lead cadmium, mercury.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
Some residents from Bellport and other
towns protested, but many simply gave up

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
and accepted the town waste reduction plan.
Then in 1991, a twist of fate

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
became a catalyst for change.

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
Children at one the schools became sick
from fumes coming from the Landfill.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
The fumes would make their eyes burn, they
would be nauseous, they would have headaches,

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
so the principal would
suspend play times outside

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
and I felt that was the
most horrible thing.

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
I made a vow that I am going to do whatever I
could to prevent that from happening again

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
to this generation or the next generation,
I feel it’s my responsibility.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
If my garbage coincide(ph)
those children to be sick,

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
I was going to stop making garbage.

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
Betty Gundlach attacked the
problem in a grocery store.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
With so much packaging ending up in the
trash, Betty tries to buy items in packages

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
that can be recycled or composted.
I won’t buy my (inaudible) yogurt

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
until a company decides to put
it in a recyclable container.

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
Every single one of these are number five.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
And in my town, they only accept
number one and number two

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
plastics for recycling,
and this is a number one,

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
so this would be fine. I am looking
for packaging that I can compost.

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
General Mills told me that their
all boxes are compostable.

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
Juice boxes are the worst,

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
because they are made with three
different types of material.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
There is an outer layer of paper,
then plastic, and then foil

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
and it’s very difficult to recycle,
so I wouldn’t buy juice boxes.

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
[sil.]

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
Well, some residents work toward
reducing garbage brought into the home,

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
others increased efforts towards
recycling garbage going out of the home.

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
Glass, paper, cans, and
certain types of plastics

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
all went in to the recycling truck.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
Okay, umm… you have been to some of the houses… Art
Cooley decided to organize a Grass Roots campaign

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
to reduce the garbage output even more.

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
He solicited the help of student volunteers. There
are few questions that we wanted real answers to,

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
and on of them was, can you get by with one

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
next garbage pickup a week? Hi, we are conduct… we’re at the Bellport
village and we are conducting a survey of all the village residents.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
We are just trying to get a general
feel for uh… what everyone does

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
as far as composting? Would you be able to
manage if only one garbage pickup for a week?

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Yes. How many cans of regular garbage do you put out for
each collection? Two thirds of those surveyed agreed

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
to cut garbage pickups. All right.
All right. But aside from recycling,

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
how could that be done? I have decided that I would
weigh all of the garbage that went out of this house

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
for one month. And in round
numbers what I found out was

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
50% of the waste that we
make goes out in red can

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
and gets recycled. So that’s newspapers, cans,
bottles, uh… plastics one and two, cardboard.

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
40% by weight that goes out of this house,

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
goes into a compost pile, and 10% by weight

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
goes to the incinerator. And when we looked at the
mixed waste that was going through the incinerator,

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
we found out that about 30%
of that was compostable.

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
So there was a big piece of the
remaining garbage that could be handled

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
in someone’s backyard responsibly
and easily, relatively easily.

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
Critics scoffed claiming that composting
produced a small portion in mixed waste

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
and that most people wouldn’t do it.
Art set out to prove them wrong.

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
[music]

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
Bellport started to pile up program
and compost fever began to spread.

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
[music]

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
You need a pitch fork.
We need a pitch fork.

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
Try this, see how much easier it is. Davis Stravinsky trains
village residents. And with this you can get a little,

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
you can get a lot. First of
all you need a composter.

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
Of course, you could just have a
pile or a hole in the backyard,

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
you will put all your vegetable peelings,
all your apple peelings, or cores,

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
coffee grounds, egg shells
out to your composter

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
and dump it in.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
Then you may want to add
some dirt, you may add some

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
leaves and some grass
clippings from the lawn.

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
So you are building up the strand of
kitchen scrap, some dirt, some lawn waste.

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:53.000
[music]

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
Creatures large and small go to work on all
those food scraps and it’s a food chain.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
Oh, there, there is a lot
of those little Sow bugs.

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
Sow bugs come in, the centipede, some millipedes
and they all play part in the process.

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
But each one of those by eating and
excreting all of that material

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
build the humus, the compost.

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
Betty Gundlach teaches
elementary school kids

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
how to compost right in the
classroom by using worm beds.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
I got it, it’s right there. I
know it’s not gonna be tomorrow

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
that will eliminate our garbage problem.
But it has to start somewhere

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
and I’m, I’m hoping those starts with me and
my passing all the information to children

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
whom will pass along to theirs

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
and hopefully think differently.
From families to restaurants,

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
to schools, even the
town librarian composts.

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:08.000
[music]

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
Since Bellport’s started its compost
program, the town has reduced

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
mixed waste by 25%. As for Art Cooley,

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
his plans just get bigger and bigger.
With recycling now common place,

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
he hopes composting will spread nation wide.
Eliminating the need for incinerators

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
and taking care of garbage
right in your own backyard.

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
Biology really works.

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
I have been composting for years
here in Charlottesville, Virginia.

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
But I lived in a New York City apartment, I
used to compost for the garden on my roof.

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
But wouldn’t it be great if we could redesign (inaudible)
packaging and things that don’t get recycled,

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
so they could decompose safely,
and we could just do this.

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Waste equals food. Imagine
if everything was redesigned

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
with safe materials to be food for
gardens and farms, or food for industry

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
like your television set, or your car.
No more waste

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
and a lot less draining of the planets
natural resources. If we redesign our homes

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
to be less wasteful and more cost effective, they don’t have
to look radically different, they just have to be smarter.

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
Good old fashioned ideas like trees
and porches for shade and coolness,

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
the sun for warmth, light
and now, electricity.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
Backyard and city rooftops for
food, beauty and relaxation,

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
you can also start right now with new
technology, smarter windows, appliances,

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
insulation, faucets and
other fixes anyone can do.

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
After all, global change
must begin at home,

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
what we do here and now will determine how
we sustain our communities, our families,

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
and in fact the future of
all children everywhere.

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:13.000
[music]

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
Major funding for this
program is provided by

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:08.000
the National Science Foundation.
America’s Investment in the Future.