PPD Pure Power Distribution

Last month a group of homeless teens who live at an LA Family Housing family shelter were introduced to Pure Power and the world’s most powerful Mobile Solar Power System. It was one of those moments where, one hopes, the concept of renewable energy was made real in young people’s lives.

The visit was part of “Hollywood 101″, a 10-week course I developed specially for LA Family Housing to introduce middle and high school kids to potential careers in Hollywood. On their field trip to Warner Bros., the kids were able to meet and talk with Jonny Romano, Manager of Sustainable Production, who told them about the many things Warner Bros. is doing to reduce the environmental impact of its feature films.

You might think that would have been “less than interesting” to a group of homeless teens, but it’s times like these when one realizes that kids this age are the hope for the planet.

One might think that these kids had every reason not to care about externalities like recycling and climate change – they’ve got more pressing concerns, right? – But they get this stuff intuitively and they act on it. They get recycling, they get “carbon neutrality”, and they get solar power. When Romano was speaking, you could have heard a pin drop (and since the “48″ was running and not a diesel generator, you really could have heard it…)

Pure Power’s Mark Garrett was incredibly generous with his time, and spent over an hour sharing his knowledge and life experience with the kids. One said, “Man, I want to do what he does. That looks so cool!”

Mark Garrett

Seeing the one-of-a-kind 48-foot Solar System powering the base camp of the new Steve Carrell production, on the lot at Warner Bros., was a special experience for these kids, who have so many challenges. Warner does a lot in this community, and here was a great example.