Solar Power and The Smoky Mountains

Last week I was lucky enough to do a little hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At the visitor center I saw something that I loved, a huge solar photovoltaic panel. There was a little sign next to it probably explaining it, but there were about 10 bees exploring the sign already (I know, I have no idea why, it was bizarre…maybe someone spilled juice on it?) so I decided to look into it later, and was happy that it was there.

Turns out the photovoltaic solar panel is used to soak up the sun’s energy and heat the water in the bathrooms of the visitor center. This is one of many steps the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is taking to help keep the park sustainable… especially since the early 1990’s, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park has been declared by many organizations as endangered due to pollution and poor air quality. So sad for such a beautiful place. (In case you were wondering, this pollution problem is caused by surrounding areas, not necessarily the park itself.) Other steps taken to keep the park sustainable include switching vehicles to hybrids, running diesel trucks on biodiesel, and building a LEED certified science lab.

I love the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and I hope that there will continue to be changes in the area to go green so that the pollution in the park is decreased and families can enjoy the park for years to come.

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Tagged as: Sustainable