Yellow Creek Goes Green

Published 03/21 2011 09:55PM

Updated 03/22 2011 09:03AM

PENN RUN, INDIANA COUNTY - A local state park is being honored for slashing their carbon footprint. Yellow Creek State Park in Indiana County cut their green house gas emissions by 20%.

Ken Bisbee has 30 years in the state park system. And he spent the last 21 at Yellow Creek. In 2007 he set a goal to reduce their green house gas emissions by 20%in five years, they did it in three.

He and his staff started using bicycles to get around the park instead of motorized vehicles. They bought more efficient motors for their rental and patrol boats. A recent study found that the boats were the largest polluters in the park because people run them for hours at a time.  They also started generating their own power with a wind turbine, and a solar panel.

Bisbee knows not everyone is going to do that, but he does have some ideas anyone can use in their home.  He switched their light bulbs to compact fluorescents, put in an on-demand hot water tanks, and a programmable thermostat saved them 230 gallons of heating fuel last year. He also took ground they used to mow and planted wildflowers. And what they do mow is now done with a propane powered mower. Bisbee says their mower is 99.6% cleaner burning than a gas powered mower.

Bisbee hopes what they've done will generate more interest in going green everywhere else.


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