Meet Greg Memo, CEO of GreenWave Reality

If you've been thinking about "smart grid-ing" your home, GreenWave Reality could be your go-to. The newly launched home energy management company allows homeowners to reduce hefty electrical bills and their carbon footprint by plugging-in their electrical devices to GreenWave's unique smart power strips, Home Area Network smart grid and other cleantech savvy gadgets and gizmos.

As GreenWave's CEO, Greg Memo is passionate about putting his tech smarts toward sustainable home efficiency. Memo started his undergraduate studies in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University before leaping into several computer savvy stints at Apple, Compaq, Alta Vista, Gateway and Cisco.

Planet Green: How did you get into this line of work?

Greg Memo: A few of us got together and felt strongly that with our backgrounds, we could help consumers become more energy efficient…saving them money and having a positive impact on the environment.

PG: What was your "a-ha" moment?

GM: My "a-ha" moment was when I read that existing incandescent light bulbs use 90 percent of their energy producing heat and only 10 percent of their energy producing light. This inspired me to commit my time and passion to work on creating energy efficient products.

PG: Who is your green hero?

GM: Ted Danson, who founded Oceana in the early 80s before green became mainstream. Ted put in his own money and created an action-oriented organization to protect the oceans.

PG: What is your ultimate green goal?

GM: To have zero-carbon homes where consumers produce more clean energy then they use.

PG: What is your motivation?

GM: At GreenWave Reality, we have a group of individuals who believe that we can uniquely apply our understanding of technology and consumer behavior to improve home energy efficiency, thereby making a positive impact on the environment.

PG: What is most important to you, ecologically speaking?

GM: To help consumers improve the energy efficiency in their homes.

PG: What is the most challenging part of your job?

GM: Everyone understands that residential energy efficiency needs to happen. One of our biggest challenges is for governments and utilities to act faster, especially in the US.

PG: What is the most rewarding?

GM: I have been fortunate to work for some great companies in my career like Apple and Cisco, but this is the first time that people come up to me and say, "That's great you're working on products that can help the environment."

PG: Of the people you have worked with, who impresses you most?

GM: Martin Manniche, GreenWave Reality's Founder, Chairman and CTO, who has the passion to make a positive impact on the environment and a vision for how we can technically solve some very hard problems. Like, developing an affordable, easy-to-use energy management platform.

PG: What green thing do you do everyday?

GM: My wife and I both drive clean diesel cars that emit no CO2 and also get excellent gas mileage. I also have solar panels on my home and my entire family is passionate about recycling. Of course, we also use the GreenWave Reality products to reduce our energy consumption.

PG: What do you wish you could do?

GM: I wish that I could snap my finger and all consumers had affordable, easy-to-use tools to monitor and control their energy consumption. This would have a significant impact on the world by reducing CO2 emissions and reducing the dependence on our existing energy resources.

PG: What is your biggest eco-sin?

GM: Once I understood where my energy was being consumed, I identified a number of areas where I could reduce my energy consumption. One area is just simply turning off devices that aren't in use and another is replacing my air conditioning unit or old TVs with more efficient models.

PG: If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

GM: The disastrous oil spill that is occurring in the Gulf. This horrific event has further motivated my team and I to accelerate our work with home energy conversation to someday minimize the need for new drilling or the creation of new power plants.

PG: What is your best green advice?

GM: For consumers to better understand their energy use, and more importantly, where energy is being wasted. Energy conservation is the fastest and easiest way to make a positive impact on the environment.

Change Makers is series of interviews with people famous and obscure who are creating a more sustainable world through their work. Meet more Change Makers here.