On Saturday, July 13th 350 Boulder County hosted a Fossil Free Your Life Garden Party at the home of 350 CO Executive Director, Micah Parkin. Her daughters, Maia (age 15) and Ila (age 13) shared the following reflections just after. The event was focused on sharing ways to learn more about how to move your home and life off fossil fuels, including electricity, heating, mobility, and growing your own food. Friends from Skycap Solar and others were on hand to share ideas and resources. Evan Ravitz brought his electric bike and offered test rides. The party was hosted at the home of 350 Colorado Executive Director Micah Parkin, showcasing solar PV, a wood-burning stove, and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, as well as a greenhouse and chickens.  

On Saturday, July 13th, our family hosted a garden party at our house. People came to find inspiration in the things that we have done with our house, hoping to rely less on fossil fuels.  During the garden party all of the people attending, which even included Boulder’s Mayor Suzanne Jones, Council Member Sam Weaver, County Commissioner Elise Jones, and Rep. Jonathan Singer, got a tour of the different fossil free ways you can live. 

The tour showed solar panels that provide all of our electricity, an electric plug-in car, thick insulation, solar hot water and a high-efficiency wood stove. We also grow a lot of our own food with a greenhouse, cold frames, an herb spiral, fruit trees and bushes, and edible gardens. We conserve water with water barrels, a wetland to clean greywater and rainwater that falls on our roof, and a catchment pond which provides water for many creatures. 

From other people’s perspectives the achievements with our house seem incredible and unachievable – enough to overwhelm most people. What we have done with our house is NOT unacheivable though. The secret is to take tiny steps – one step at a time. We didn’t just decide to do all this overnight. It has taken many years to transform into the home it is today. 

I hope that the people who came to the garden party are inspired and filled with new ideas. Even if some of those people aren’t in the position to make big changes, being around like-minded people all fighting for the same thing will inevitably start creative wheels on how every single person can make a small change to fuel an enormous one.