It was a busy weekend for the EOS Alliance team! Over at Maple School Natural area, 160 plants were given a new home by volunteers from the Garfield High School Key Club. It was a wet workday but all the effort paid off and we want to send a big “Thank You” to everyone who stopped by and helped make that green space a little bit greener.

Meanwhile, up in Wallingford a much smaller group was gathering to learn about do-it-yourself weatherization projects that every homeowner can undertake. Green Blocks participants Michael and Julie Kucher were kind enough to open up their home to a group of would-be home retrofitters who saw first hand how to install weatherstripping, insulate an attic hatch and seal up pesky cracks that silently whisk away heat from most of our homes.

Guided by local home efficiency guru Bob Thoreson, we bounced around the Kucher household performing a variety of retrofits with a range of difficulty levels. The most challenging proved to be the recessed can lights (see diagram), although the energy savings make that task well worth the effort. Bob carefully walked us step-by-step through the process, providing us with confidence to take this knowledge and apply it to our own homes.

More do-it-yourself workshops are in the planning stages for other Green Blocks neighborhoods and we are looking forward to the next opportunity to make practical, money saving changes in a real-life home!