One man’s effort to teach alternative energy harnesses farts on Twitter

In the Twitter-verse, a lot of thought goes into choosing a name. A catchy handle attracts followers – something the man behind @HarnessFarts knows all too well. @HarnessFarts tweets often about alternative fuels and helps followers cut their water and energy use.

We caught up with Greg, the man behind the tweets, in an email and got answers to our burning fart and Twitter questions.

Why farts? Has your handle helped you get followers?

The name came from a conversation with a bunch of friends and a few too many glasses of wine. We were talking about alternative energy and reclaiming methane from landfills and livestock production. Someone said something along the lines of we have to find a way to harness everybody’s farts (did I mention the wine?) and then we started theorizing about contraptions. Anyhow, someone said that @HarnessFarts would be a great Twitter name. I looked it up, it was available and I took it. People seem to get a kick out of it and if it gets them to follow and learn something all the better, right?

Who follows you, and who do you follow?

I follow eco-related tweeps as much as possible, but I’m open to anybody who seems interesting. I hope that people who follow me share my passion.

How do you find stories to tweet?

I read way too many blogs.

What topics interest you most?

Anything related to the environment and finding alternative sustainable solutions.

Will you disclose your name?

I would love to but unfortunately I can’t give my last name. I work for a very un-eco company and it could come back and bite me. You should have seen when I suggested that we recycle in the office the reaction I got. I end up bringing mine home.

 

To get environmental news in 140 characters, follow @HarnessFarts, @GreatLakesEcho, @thompsoncarolk and @brianbienkowski on Twitter.

For another quirky environmental Twitter feed, check out our conversation with a web-savvy asian carp.