In 2010, Annette Britton was walking through Green Fest Chicago, hoping to meet the writer John Perkins. His book “The World is as You Dream It” had inspired her, and she wanted a signed copy.

But something else caught her eye. It was a model of a wind turbine, about her height, displayed by the company Earth Wind and Solar.

“I thought, ‘That’s it. I’m supposed to have that,’” she said.