Easy B-ing Green! Our Positive Energy Initiative

Meow Wolf is run by artists, yes! And in the spirit of that we’re constantly looking for ways to pioneer. Not just in the arts, but as members of our communities too. One big way we do this is through Green Energy.

Solar: Let The Sun Shine In

Within the last month we’ve had solar panels installed. They live on top of the Meow Wolf Art Complex at Rufina Circle, the location of our ever-popular House of Eternal Return. Not only that, they were installed by our fellow B-Corporation CertifiedNew Mexico business, Positive Energy Solar.

Thanks to Positive Energy Solar and our panels, we’ve already started to reap the benefits of solar energy. Did you know that Santa Fe gets over 315 days of sunshine every year? We're gonna sop up a lot of solar juice! Not only that, our water usage is very low.

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Water: The Life Giving Resource

In order to achieve lower water usage goals, Facilities Manager extraordinaire Wesley James says, “With the volume of visitors we see, bathrooms use a ton of water. We’ve installed waterless urinals, for which the City of Santa Fe provides a rebate incentive, low flow faucets, and now moved to artificial turf to decrease water usage even further. We hope to have water harvesting soon too.”

All of our water usage changes have lead to a 48% decrease in the amount of water that our facilities use! Even as our monthly number of visitors has increased dramatically!!

Earth: Every Day Is Earth Day

Our new off-site facility on the Southside of town also uses solar. So when our art teams moves into their new building in 2018, they’ll be creating, innovating and otherwise arting on greener energy that helps preserve that greatest of all artists in the known multiverse: Mother Earth.

We hope you find this as exciting as we do! Not just because of the improved impact it gives our company, but because as we all enjoy so much benefit from the sun. We’re humbled and grateful for this ability to accept more gifts from this natural, celestial wonder.

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But It Ain't Easy...

We must also acknowledge that a switch to Green Energy isn’t easy. We’re fortunate to be able to make this switch, and more fortunate still that we’re able to benefit from immediate results. In part this has to do with the large requirements of our facilities. We realize isn’t the easiest switch to make for home owners.

We hope that the impact will benefit Santa Fe as a whole. Our city and our hospitality community have made huge strides in recent years. For example, Mayor Gonzales of Santa Fe has set a carbon neutral goal for 2040, but huge successes have already been achieved in solar, water, waste, recycling and other initiatives.

Santa Fe has a large and well-loved historic district. In our historic districts solar is not always an option as we seek to retain a most unique past so beloved by the world that Santa Fe won National Geographic's "Sense Of Place" category in their prestigious World Legacy Awards earlier this year. Businesses outside of the historic district, however, can apply for free evaluations for solar energy. Water usage too!

We certainly hope that more large businesses will make the switch! But also that everyone makes smart choices, no matter how small, wherever and whenever possible. Thank you!

‍Photographs by Kate Russell.