Wednesday, March 30 I headed out to Warren, MI to check out their “All Things Green” expo. The event took place at  the IBEW NECA Electrical Industry Training Center I was excited to take part in this event, though only as an attendee. Maxi normally has a booth/table at these type of events (selling our Home & Garden products) but I went to this with the intention to learn, not sell. I was pleasantly greeted when I walked in, next they handed me a name-tag and explained the layout and schedule. I quickly did a once around briefly checking out the displays/exhibits and trying to spot anyone I knew. After saying hello to Greening Detroit and MI Clean Energy I went into the conference room to sit in on the lectures.

First we were exposed to the ins and outs of Electronic Vehicles (EVs), they even had a charge station in the parking lot! Both residential, like the Chevy Volt or commercial use of EVs, such as Staples and FedEx which are currently switching thousands of their delivery trucks to electric power was discussed in detail. It was an eye opening experience, I learned about the new infrastructure developing to support of EVs. Here at Maxi we are conscious of our carbon footprint and currently utilize Bio-Diesel for our fleet but are looking for even more efficient alternative energy ideas for the future.

Next we learned about how one car dealership, Roy O’Brien adopted Solar and Geo-thermal energy and eliminated their utility bill completely! There are plenty of tax incentives and rebates from DTE for installing such systems. (Over time the systems will pay for themselves and eventually start saving you money) I have read about the residential greening of homes. (Ann Arbor is home to the nation’s oldest net-zero home.) but hearing about how one business made alternative energy work for them was very inspiring.

Between topics I walked around the displays set up throughout the building. There were some really interesting displays, two in particular that caught my eye were the EcoGreen display and the Chevy Volt. (below are photos) I learned a lot and want to officially thank Macomb County for putting on this event. I will leave you with my favorite quote of the event, from Mike O’Brien of Roy O’Brien Ford when explaining the beauty of having no energy bills anymore, “We’re tapping mother nature for free!”

I checked out the new Chevy Volt, whoa what an awesome car!

EcoGreen Light powered by solar panels and wind turbine

For another great article about the event please check out CBS Detroit’s article here.