Greetings, fellow Washingtonian!
I wanted to tell the world why I started this company, and what drives me every day, despite the seemingly endless stream of bad news about the environment I hear on the media. My story is a simple one.
Years ago, I made the decision to reduce my own carbon footprint in every practical way available to me. It began with choices around becoming a vegan -- at least as close to vegan as I can -- as well as traveling by public transportation and/or bicycle everywhere I went. I might take the occasional Uber or Lyft when public transportation is not available, but I have replaced perhaps 90% of my travel with transportation that has little or no carbon footprint.
And then one day, my combined experience in automobile crash testing, electronics, and customer service, brought me to the quickly-advancing technologies of electricity generation from solar energy. For some years, I watched companies and politicians push and pull back and forth as the technologies involved sought to find a foothold -- from my viewpoint, at least -- until about the year 2016, when it became clear that solar energy panels might actually pay for themselves.
Still, it wasn't the mere payback that interested me most. It was the existential threat on a planetary level that inspired me to act. On the one hand, there is plenty of bad news about the environment, but on the other, there is actually plenty of good news, too. Renewable energy alternatives are becoming more affordable, and at the same time, life for humans has across the planet improved every year since the end of World War II. Infant mortality rates, for example, in both absolute terms and as a percentage of births, have declined almost every year. The infant mortality rate is considered by many to be the single most accurate measure of how 'well' people are living as a whole in a society. Literacy rates, education levels, access to clean water, nutrition levels, and many other measures all tell a positive story.
So, I decided to focus on the positive.
We humans do have the ability to change. We've proven that fact throughout history. From rising up to tackle fascism, to landing on the moon, it seems we can do anything we put our minds to.
I believe humanity will be successful in this endeavor.
Environmental Restoration is the term I like to use now because if we work with nature, nature will do its part. In the 1960s, for example, Lake Washington was so polluted, you could injure yourself simply by swimming in it. Today, the water is mostly drinkable, with little danger of becoming sick. (I know because I have accidently ingested some of it while swimming). So, I know we can turn things around.
Solar power will be with us for a long time to come, and it's good for all of us. I for one want to do my utmost to bring this 'free energy from the sky' to benefit as many people as I can, and to contribute to the coming wave of environmental restoration. Will you join me on this journey?
James Lill.