There's this Hawaiian Electric Co. commercial that ran at the start of the year, as part of a series of ads aiming to educate the public (and paid for with shareholder funds).

No, not the one where Jade Moon interviews HECO executive Robbie Alm. It's the one where Jade Moon interviews two HECO representatives — Ka‘iulani De Silva from education and consumer affairs and Blaine Cacho, an account manager.

The script goes something like this.

Jade Moon: "Does conservation really work?"

Ka‘iulani De Silva (smiling sympathetically): "We know high electricity costs are frustrating for our customers. But simple steps can amount to surprising savings."

"That's right," chimes in Blaine Cacho, matter-of-factly. "If you turn off the air-conditioner and let the tradewinds cool your home, you can save more than $1,000 a year."

While watching this commercial or whatever you call it, I found myself talking to the TV. "But we don't have any air-conditioning in this house! Not even a window unit!" I said.

Summers are sweltering in our house. We turn on fans and desperately open up all of the windows, wishing the tradewinds would flow through the house (if only it was built with the windows facing the right direction). The best solution seems to be an escape to the beach.

Our electricity bill currently averages about $200 a month, which is about $50 higher than it was a few years ago (along with everybody else's).

Then Jade asks Blaine about a second refrigerator and he says if it's a really old model, it could be using up plenty of energy. Removing it, he says, could also save you more than $1.000 a year.

"But we don't have a second fridge!" I said. We only have one fridge. It isn't fancy, but it's not one of the old models, either.

The HECO representatives, with pleasant, wanting-to-help smiles, dole out more tips. Washing your laundry in cold water can save more than $800 a year, adds De Silva.

"But we already wash in cold water!" I told the folks on T.V. "We've been doing that for years."

So seriously, what more can we do? HECO has a whole slew of publications with more energy-saving tips which you can find by clicking on "Energy Savings Toolkit." You have the "Power to Save" pamphlet as well as the "101 Ways to Save" brochure and the "Energy Tips & Choices" booklet. HECO does do a good job of putting out all these education pamphlets.

Still, our bill hasn't gone down much lately.

Did I mention that we already have a solar water heater and that we line-dry, too? Well, most of the time. On rainy days, we do resort to the dryer.

Lately, I've been walking around the house, flipping off the lights (yes, powered by energy-efficient compact fluorescents, mind you) and switching off various power strips at night, too. I bought an energy-saving "smart" power strip which keeps the DVD player from sucking out energy when it's not in use.

Since 2010, monthly bills have risen by 50 percent, says Alm, almost all of it due to oil. In the wake of the tsunami in Japan, oil has largely replaced nuclear energy, causing prices in the Asia Pacific region to skyrocket.

The cost of electricity is only going one way – up. You know what I think? I think it's time to go solar. The federal and state tax credits are still available, and there's still enough room in plenty of neighborhoods without HECO's concerns about destabilizing their circuits.

Do you know how much solar PV there is on your street? You can look it up on this map.

Stay tuned.

Kona Brewing Co., organizer of the Kona Brewers Festival on Saturday, chose to go solar in 2010 with this 229-Kilowatt (KW) solar array. Courtesy Photo.

It's almost time for the 17th annual Kona Brewers Festival, a celebration of beer and cuisine on the Big Island this Saturday (March 10). So what's green about beer in Hawaii?

In 2010, Sunetric installed a 229-kilowatt solar energy system for the Kona Brewing Co.'s flagship brewery and pub, which started the Brewers Festival in 1996.

Here are some interesting figures on Kona Brewing Co.'s solar array:

• Produced 314,563 pints, or 2,537 kegs, of hand-crafted brew to date.
• Produced enough wattage to power 76 average residences each day.
• Conserved 734 barrels of oil to date; the equivalent of 4,498 trips around the Big Island.
• Prevented 691,132 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere – the equivalent of taking 2,425 mid-sized cars off the road.
• Saved Kona Brewing Co. $209,416 in electric costs in 2011 alone.

The Brewers Festival raises funds for environmental, educational and cultural causes. To see a list of beneficiaries, visit Sunetric's blog (and is giving away iPod Shuffles and other prizes to help raise awareness). They include everyone from The ACF Chefs de Cuisine Kona Kohala Chapter to the Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii.

Sunetric is also bringing its Watt Wheels mobile solar energy station (a bright blue Honda Element retrofitted with three 230-watt SunPower modules) to power one of the festival's stages.

Holiday gift guides are chock full of ideas on what to buy for Christmas this year. How about some eco-minded gifts for your loved ones?

Here's my personal list of eco-friendly gifts for this holiday season, available online or from local businesses. If you have some good eco-friendly gift ideas, send them to me for this blog. I have room for three more, to bring the list to 10.

Remember to wrap your gifts "green"— using recycled gift bags, calendar paper, a piece of fabric, Furoshiki-style or better yet, inside a reusable bag which becomes part of the gift.

1. Reclaimed Silver Jewelry.

Nilma Hunter Creations makes these handmade pieces of jewelry from reclaimed silver — melted down from older pieces of jewelry, scraps and old electronics.

This one in the photo is called "Lip of the Wave" ($36) but there are other designs, including a plumeria flower and monstera leaf. Hunter is a self-taught jewelry maker. She's making her rounds at various craft fairs this holiday season. You can also find her at Haleiwa Farmers Market on Sundays or visit www.nilmahuntercreations.com.

2. Bamboo Utensil Set.

Support a Honolulu-based non-profit group, Beach Environmental Awarness Campaign Hawai‘i (B.E.A.C.H.) while reducing single-use plastics with this bamboo utensil set as a gift this Christmas ($18 for non-members, $15 for members).

Single-use plastics, like disposable plastic forks and knives, are only used once and then tossed into the trash. Many of them also end up as litter on Hawaii's shorelines and  beaches. You can help reduce this plastic from our landfills and oceans by bringing your own utensils.

With these bamboo utensils, you'll be set for your next meal anywhere. The sets come wrapped in blue, green, light green, red or black.

Available from the B.E.A.C.H. website or at SoulTrex, Windward Mall.

3. Melissa & Doug wood toys.

Melissa & Doug wooden toys are an alternative to ubiquitous plastic toys, and these are usually a hit.

I found a wooden toy train set and wooden shape sorter cube by Melissa & Doug at a discount at Ross Dress for Less ($10).

You can also find plenty of handmade wood peg puzzles, ranging from colorful shapes to farm animals, the alphabet, numbers, sea creatures, dinosaurs and planes, trains and automobiles ($8 to $20).

You can find Melissa & Doug toys at various outlets, including boutiques, toy stores and Macy's.

4. Native Hawaiian Plants.

Give a "green" gift that keeps on growing. Hawaiian plants never go out of style and should grow well in your yard here in Hawaii (where they were naturally designed to grow, after all).

You can find native Hawaiian plants (like this low-maintenance pohinahina) or others (kokios, or native Hawaiian hibiscus plants, come in red, yellow, orange and white) at Home Depot or direct from native Hawaiian nursery Hui Ku Maoli Ola (From $5 to $20).

When you put a native Hawaiian plant into the ground, I think it's nice to have some symbolic meaning to it. You can plant one for every member of your family to commemorate birthdays (or the birth of a new one) or a certain milemarker for that person (college graduation, for instance).

5. Ecohashi Chopsticks.

True, anyone can bring their own pair of chopsticks out to eat, saving the world's forests, but here's a fashionable way to do it.

Every year, 63 billion disposable chopsticks are manufactured, using 25 million trees. Honolulu-based ecohashi offers reusable chopsticks wrapped in fun and colorful print fabrics.

For every pair sold this year ($10 each), ecohashi, in partnership with Red Pineapple (at Ward Centre), will donate $1 to the Hawaii Food Bank.

6. Solar-powered watch.

There are all kinds of solar-powered gadgets these days — solar flashlights and solar rechargers for your iPhone and iPod and solar-powered watches.

This Citizen Eco-Drive men's watch charges in natural daylight or indoor light, so you won't have to worry about replacing the batteries. How cool is that? I got this watch as a gift for my husband last year.

Browsing online, it seems as if the number of choices in solar-powered watches  has expanded. The prices range from as low as $27 to $300. You can compare prices and read reviews at www.solarpoweredwatches.org.

Check out all the choices in solar-powered watches available on Amazon.com.

7. Soy-based crayons.

I was browsing etsy.com the other day (which by the way, also has an eco etsy site) and stumbled upon these eco-friendly, handmade crayons made from soy.

I think the sea turtle-shaped ones ($12 for a set of six) are adorable and will probably get them for my little one this Christmas. The site claims the crayons are paraffin-free and biodegradable.

There are also hearts, butterflies, fish, Christmas trees and other fun shapes.

This solar-powered "Santa Goes Solar" display is part of 2011 Honolulu City Lights. You can see it on the lawn next to Honolulu Hale Dec. 3-31. Courtesy photo.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Santa is on his way here, and he's using solar energy to spread Holiday cheer. Check out the solar-powered Santa exhibit at this year's 2011 Honolulu City Lights.

The display, which showcases an eight-foot diorama of Santa's workshop and village built by the LEGO Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii, along with a front panel saying "Santa Goes Solar" and candy cane posts, will be on the lawn next to Honolulu Hale as part of city lights from Dec. 3 to Dec. 31.

Two Christmas trees next to the display will be lit with a dazzling array of high-tech LED lights engineered by members of UH's Solar Decathlon Team Hawaii and decorated with recycled incandescent bulb ornaments made by students islandwide. Sunetric designed a custom, state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic canopy to power the entire display.

The people in the LEGO town are hustling and bustling, getting ready for Christmas (bringing trees home on a horse-drawn carriage, for instance). The LEGO Miniland residents, of course, value a "clean energy lifestyle" and have solar panels on their businesses and homes (as you can see in the photo to the right).

The "Santa Goes Solar" project was a collaboration between the Blue Planet Foundation, the LEGO Enthusiasts Association of Hawaii, Sunetric and members of the UH Solar Decathlon Team Hawaii.

Hawaii Energy and Wal-Mart Hawaii stores offered financial support to make the project possible.