Turn off, tune out, pitch in: Power Down Week begins June 25

Think you can go a day without electricity? Without checking your Facebook, updating your Twitter, or turning on the TV? What about not answering your cell phone or driving your car? How about going a whole week? Riverwest resident Sarah Moore can, and she’s challenging Milwaukee to give it a shot with this year’s Power Down Week, June 25 to July 3.

Power Down Week is a project of Transition Milwaukee, an organization working to “create, enhance, and promote community projects, to grow our own food, generate our own power, develop our own economies, and rebuild local resilience and self-reliance.” The event is in its second year, and was inspired by an ice storm in the late ’90s that rendered Riverwest neighborhoods powerless for several days. Its objectives are simple: Make your carbon footprint as small as you can, and do so with others in your community.

Moore says this year’s overarching goal is to take a “staycation.” Even though you’re not necessarily going anywhere, the point is to get away from the busy, plugged-in life many of us lead—if only for a week.

Moore isn’t taking any work or appointments, and she is unplugging her computer and TV so she can focus all of her attention on building relationships with family and friends in her neighborhood. She does recognize many people still need to work during the week, so she encourages people to commit at whatever level they can.

“For me, I’m really trying to get people to go for it and go for it in a playful way and have fun with it,” Moore says.

Whether this means biking to work instead of driving, busting out the clothesline to give your dryer a rest, or washing those dirty dishes by hand, the idea is to use as little gas or electricity as possible. “It lets you start to appreciate when we have energy, and start choosing when we use it,” Moore says.

During last year’s event, Moore and others in the Riverwest community developed an “off the hook” challenge, where participants unplugged their home phones and turned off their cell phones for the week. There was one phone between everyone in the group to be used in case of an emergency, but other than that, they were completely unavailable by any form of electronic communication.

Out of the “off the hook” challenge grew what was perhaps Moore’s favorite aspect of the week: a physical social networking wall. People made profiles, posted photos, and left messages for each other at Moore’s Pink House Studio.

“That was really fun and ended up working out pretty well,” Moore says. “It definitely added to the camp atmosphere.”

This year, the week is packed full of activities. Along with the return of the social networking wall, there will be workshops, yoga, potlucks, and community bike rides. Moore is especially excited about the cob oven building workshops that teach participants how to build a natural, safe, functioning oven made of clay, sand, and straw.

“I’m a supporter of natural building, and it’s important for people to realize that they can be empowered to build something by themselves,” Moore says.

One new event this year is the Bike To Farm Challenge, which encourages Milwaukeeans to bike to their local farms and check out just how much locally grown and harvested produce there is. There are 43 farms within 50 miles of the Riverwest Co-Op, and the individual who visits the most farms wins a prize.

Moore says the goal of Transition Milwaukee is to suggest ways we can change our lives. Power Down Week is an informal way of learning how to reduce your carbon footprint while building community all at the same time.

“Another part of the idea of the week is that it’s not all about success,” Moore says. “It’s about trying, and it’s about learning from those mistakes.”

For more information or to get involved with Power Down Week, visit Transition Milwaukee’s website.