Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, surrounded by a culture of change, Tanya developed a deep appreciation for “the beauty of nature and everything natural.” That love, shaped by family hikes, skiing trips, and early environmental campaigns, became the foundation for a lifetime of personal responsibility and action.
Now at 65, living in Virginia, she recognizes the urgency of the moment. “Given the current state of the biosphere, it’s bad, and I personally think we need a total paradigm change,” she says. For her, clean energy isn’t just about efficiency or savings—it’s about ensuring that future generations inherit “a stable climate and biosphere with a degree of natural beauty, wealth, and abundance that we’ve enjoyed.”
Tanya has taken practical steps to reduce her footprint, from improving insulation and using LED lighting to creating a DIY gray water system that conserves water. Her biggest shift came when she switched to an electric vehicle. It wasn’t a meticulously planned decision—her old hybrid car died, and she knew she wanted to go with an electric car and made an impulsive choice to buy a BMW i3. Despite its 60-mile range, she has no regrets. “That I haven’t had to step foot in a gas station except for inspection has been incredible. It just feels so good. I just—I can’t recommend it more.”
We’re all interconnected, and that’s something people lose sight of
Tanya Roland
When Tanya looked into solar panels, she found the upfront cost prohibitive. “When you’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars, most people just can’t do that,” she explains. She hopes policies like the federal clean energy tax credits will “continue to bring costs down” to make solar more accessible for homeowners like herself.
For Tanya, clean energy is about personal responsibility and interdependence. “We’re all interconnected, with nature and each other, and that’s something people lose sight of,” she explains. But she remains hopeful. “We’ve done incredible damage to the planet, and it’s devastating. But it’s reversible. It’s very reversible.” Her message is clear: “Every choice in the right direction makes a difference. Let’s do it.”
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Clean Energy Home Toolkit
