Dear Friends & Neighbors,

Spring greetings! We hope this message finds you well and enjoying our recent much-needed April rain showers.

With spring here, and Earth Day just around the corner, in this month's E-News we celebrate Earthly Delights.

At Mendocino Solar Service, we are delighted by solar energy. Silent, clean and green, solar energy systems can effectively fuel homes, electric cars, and businesses. 

Solar is not only cost effective, but solar actually pays for itself. As we often say, if you install a solar energy system you can eliminate electricity bills that increase on average 6% every year. How delightful it is to be able to rely on the sun's power to become more energy independent and reduce your home's carbon footprint!

We at Mendocino Solar Service are also delighted to be able to support local efforts to promote environmental stewardship. In this month's E-News, we'll share about local Earth-friendly events and causes, such as the 9th Annual Noyo Food Forest Earth Day Celebration, and the efforts of Mendocino Middle School students to   keep Mendocino clean and green. 

So, read on, click on any text highlighted in green for a web link to more information, and join us as we celebrate Earth Day: everyday. 

Kind regards,

Bruce Erickson & Maggie Watson, Co-Owners, Mendocino Solar Service

Photo: Mendocino Headlands State Park, April 2015, by J. Anderson

On April 22, 2015, an estimated one billion people from 192 countries across the globe will celebrate the 45th Annual Earth Day.

To our ears, the theme for this year's Earth Day is absolutely delightful.  

In the words of the global nonprofit Earth Day Network: "This year's Earth Day theme, It's our turn to lead™ is focused on delivering millions of voices to push global leaders to take action on climate change, the environment, and the connection between poverty and climate change.  Earth Day is a stepping stone on the road to Paris, where the world's leaders will meet to sign a global treaty on climate change."

Environmental leadership is evident here in Mendocino County. We are impressed with the current efforts of 7th grade Mendocino Middle School youth, who are helping to clean up the village of Mendocino, while raising funds for a trip to the leadership-building ropes course. Mendocino Coast Children's Fund is seeking donations to sponsor the youth cleanup and Mendocino Solar Service was delighted to contribute. 

Another example of environmental leadership here in Mendocino County are the ongoing efforts to make property assessed clean energy financing (PACE) available countywide.  PACE makes it possible for homeowners and businesses to fund energy & water conserving projects, without the use of credit-based loans.

Currently PACE is available in Fort Bragg only, but the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors are considering resolutions to extend PACE across the county, possibly as early as May 2015. We'll continue to share updates about this effort on our Facebook page and on our website.

During April there are many opportunities to get involved and celebrate the delights of our earthly home. Connect with the Mendocino Land Trust to join a beach cleanup or catch a solar powered canoe ride. Explore natural places, galore, with Mendocino Area Parks Association.

And just in time, a complete list of Mendocino County's 2015 Earth Day events–dubbed ‘Mendocino County’s Party for the Planet’–is now available online. 

One Earth Day event we want to remind you of is the 9th Annual Noyo Food Forest Earth Day Celebration, Saturday, April 25, 12-5pm at the Learning Garden, next to Fort Bragg High School. Enjoy live music and entertainment, a culinary showcase featuring local food and chefs, hands-on sustainable living workshops, kids’ activities, a community art project, and the beloved Spring Plant Sale.

Stop by the Mendocino Solar Service booth at Noyo Food Forest's Earth Day for a hands-on solar energy project. You can also pick up your copy of the 2015 Mendocino Film Festival program guide, hot off the presses, and enter to win a pair of tickets to see “Racing To Zero," the film we are sponsoring for this year's Mendocino Film Festival Films For the Future series.

We greatly appreciate referrals. Indeed, each year more than half of our new customers came to us through referrals from customers, staff, neighbors and other local Mendocino Solar Service supporters.  

We send a big thank you out this month for recent referrals to Mendocino Solar Service by: customers Jack, Kathe C, Kathy S., Judy, and Morgan; our friends at SunPower; and Mendocino Solar Service Lead Installer (and solar aficionado) Andreas Dahm. 

We appreciate the environmental leadership shown by all of those who make the switch to solar and encourage their friends and neighbors to go solar, too.