Meranda Cohn at Dallas City Hall sends word that the city's giving out green goodie bags to anyone who wants 'em -- if, of course, you're willing to sit through one of 11 "Home Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation" seminars scheduled between Saturday (kicking off at Dallas Farmers Market) and October 3 (wrapping up at the Trinity River Audubon Center). The city's sign-up site doesn't tell you what's in the kits; the press release does:
The kit is a re-usable Green Dallas shopping bag filled with items including compact fluorescent bulbs, low-flow shower head, moldable caulking, clear window tape, faucet aerators, toilet tank leak-detection tablet pack, draft stoppers, foam weather-stripping, and other materials.Sure. Right now, you just wanna know who's paying for these kits. Well, Cohn says, that's the Environmental Protection Agency via the Dallas Sustainable Skylines Initiative, But there is a catch -- you knew there would be. Not only do you have to be a Dallas resident to snag a kit, but ...
In order to quantify the effectiveness of the program, the City of Dallas will capture kilowatt usage from participating residents' power meters. Residents agree to have their power usage tracked by accepting the kits; this process requires no additional efforts by participants beyond the educational seminar they must attend to receive their kit. Additionally, this program will also be used to gauge homeowner interest in additional weatherization programs offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and helping eligible homeowners with additional upgrades.
