SUSTAINABILITY IN LAFAYETTE
How a Movie Changed our Lives for the Better
BY VIOLET HSU & WEI-TAI KWOK
I n 2006, we went to the Orinda Theatre to watch “An Inconvenient Truth,” a documentary about the climate crisis. On the drive home, we discussed, “If what we heard was true, we don’t have 100 years to solve this — maybe just 30.” Our kids were just 6 and 9 years old. It would be too late for them. Our generation of adults had to take urgent action. But what could we do? We felt worried and anxious. We started to research how to live more sustainably. Violet volunteered with the Happy Valley Elementary Green Team. Wei-Tai joined his Green Team at work but later quit his career in advertising to switch to solar so he could work full time on clean energy solutions. Working with others helped us feel less alone while accelerating our understanding of the issues. In 2012, to reduce our fossil fuel consumption, we installed solar on our home and purchased a Nissan LEAF. Despite initially experiencing range anxiety, we’ve become EV converts due to the quiet ride, powerful acceleration and low maintenance. In 2019, we replaced all gas appliances in our home with better-performing, all-electric technologies, including heat pumps and induction cooking. We called PG&E to remove our gas meter and disconnected from the gas grid. It was easier than we thought to become a zero-emission home, with zero-emission vehicles powered by rooftop solar and MCE’s Deep Green 100% carbon-free service. Our home is more
”We can still cook delicious Chinese food on a flat-bottom wok with our induction cooktop.” Photo by Building Decarbonization Coalition
Gareth and Shelley Kwok (2006)
YOU’RE INVITED! Wei-Tai and Violet
comfortable, and better yet, our energy bills declined. In the last five years, we learned about the health and planetary benefits of a plant-forward diet. Our taste buds were worried that increasing the ratio of veggies to meat would be a great sacrifice, but there are so many delicious plant-based recipes that it has not been a compromise, much to our surprise. Implementing solutions in our home is one thing but getting out to collaborate
with others in local nonprofits and serving on the City of Lafayette’s volunteer and elected bodies have been essential to keeping us inspired and hopeful that through a community-wide effort and mutual inspiration we can and will solve the climate crisis in time for our children’s future. Special thanks to Electrify My Home for sponsoring our new Sustainability In Lafayette section.
welcome Greet Lafayette readers to an open house at their zero-emission home on Saturday, September 13. If you’re interested in attending the 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. session, email us at Lafayette@ n2co.com for location and additional details.
Wei-Tai Kwok and Violet Hsu. Photo by Brooke Mohiuddin / @betmphoto
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10 August 2025
Greet Lafayette 11
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