Photo Credit: White Roof Project, Painting the Bowery Mission! Sept. 2010

You may be thinking why does it have to be white? Why can’t it be painted black? Or what are we painting anyway? Well, Manhattan Young Democrats started The White Roof Project to paint all the black rooftops white in 11 major metropolitan cities. Before you start up your conspiracy theory machine you should know it’s not just any white, it’s reflective white…or so they say. Here’s why:

A white roof is painted with solar reflective white paint and reflects up to 90% of sunlight (as opposed to traditional black roofs which reflect only 20%).

A white roof has a special thermal mass so it doesn’t trap heat like a traditional roof.” ~whiteroofproject.com

Their mission: To paint all the black rooftops white in 11 major metropolitan cities, and save us $750 million in energy a year.

How do they do it? With reflective white paint, roofs, and a lot of elbow grease. If you’re interested finding a roof to paint, donating or volunteering to help paint a roof click on whiteroofproject.com/volunteer-now

Note: I always advise you to investigate these organizations for yourself if you’re interested.