On Friday, November 13th, I attended the 3rd Annual Summit for a Sustainable Tennessee, and, man, was it an action-packed day. I learned about everything from protecting our natural resources to smart urban planning to the benefits of rain gardens. I even had the chance to speak with several people about our favorite way to conserve water: Brac Systems.

The summit was all about educating, advocating and collaborating, and it was a great way for people to get organized and speak with one voice. I’ve always believed that the right words can lead to action, and Kathleen Williams, the Executive Director of Tennessee Parks and Greenways, proved it when she gave a short presentation about Tennessee’s abundant natural resources.

Williams asked a room full of people who is willing to commit 30 minutes of their time each week to help keep Tennessee green. Naturally, everyone in the room raised their hands, so Williams upped the ante by saying that she wanted our time right then and there. Go hard or go home, right, Kathleen?

With a little poking, prodding and a box full of pre-addressed envelopes, we wrote letters to Senators Alexander and Corker, urging them to restore the Tennessee Real Estate Transfer Funds, a small fee that has been implemented since 1991 on all land purchases and sales to be set aside to conserve parts of Tennessee. Here’s an excerpt from that letter:

Please restore the Tennessee Real Estate Transfer Funds in June 2010…These funds generate $20 million to create local parks, greenways, state parks, wetlands, wild lands, open spaces, wildlife areas and cleaner water supplies. This is less than 1/10th of 1% of Tennessee’s $27 billion budget. Our homeland is worth more than this small investment…”

John Noel, President of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, pulled a similar maneuver during his presentation when we wrote letters yet again. This time we asked the senators to pass a strong climate bill and go to Copenhagen in December as a country of leadership. Specifically, we advocated for cutting emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.

John’s knowledge and passion for curbing climate change was nothing short of inspiring. Just like climate change, the world’s water shortages will need to be addressed by thinking globally but acting locally.

Here’s one example: while speaking with Doug from Monteagle, Tennessee, I learned that his town faced a severe water shortage in 2007—so severe that the town had already moved to emergency rationing and was down to 60 days of safe drinking water. Fortunately, Monteagle escaped having to import water from another area and pay higher water costs because rains began to replenish their supplies just in time.

Now, I’m not saying that the crisis in Monteagle could have been avoided, but just think how much water could have been saved if local residents and businesses had been given some sort of incentive to conserve water–prior to a serious drought.

Now that I have plugged in with a group of dedicated citizens in Tennessee, I plan to work with others in making water conservation a high priority, and I am extremely proud to offer a product that can truly help the situation.