15 Jan 2008 11 Comments
Environmental changes
At Greyhaven we’ve managed a number of environmentally friendly changes this year.
1. Got the house re-piped so we don’t have to run the upstairs water for a half hour to get it warm.
2. Got the south side of the house reshingled and repaired, so less cold air gets into the basement.
3. Did more shopping at the Berkeley Bowl, where they have recycled napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper, as well as locally grown produce.
4. For most of the year subscribed to the Full Belly Farms program that delivers local produce every two weeks.
5. Gratefully participated in the new Berkeley recycling program that accepts food waste as well as garden trimmings.
6. Got two new low-water flush toilets.
7. Stopped using paper plates for most of our house events.
We had already switched most of our lights to flourescents, and we’ve kept the thermostat at around 60 for years. Supporting a household of 9 people on one car, washing machine, dryer, etc. also saves some energy, I hope.
Things we should do in the future.
*Fix the rest of the outside of the house and insulate the basement.
*clean the heating ducts.
*replace the other appliances with energy-efficient versions
*buy more local produce
*buy carbon credits when I travel
Jan 16, 2008 @ 07:18:17
I commend this.
The only caveat I have is I seem to get migraine headaches with fluorescent lights, and I personally know other people who actually experience seizures under fluorescent lights. I’m really not trying to be an annoying bugaboo as I understand our Earth is important… we live here, this is all we’ve got, and we need to take care of Her. But if other people don’t have the same bad health reaction, that’s good. Myself, I like candles, a lot.
I’ve tried to be ecologically mindful for a long time, buying organic or at least locally-grown (100-miles) food the vast majority of the time, not using paper plates, buying recycled paper goods, etc. I am glad to see other people who care and are making active positive changes. There are many things that our Earth is suffering right now, besides the most obvious crises — including lots of soil + water pollution, unhealthy farming practices that result in unhealthy people, and yes, the landfill trash. What one can do, one should do. With some things (making household cleaners) it’s actually cheaper to do so and more health-conscious besides being eco-friendly.
Hail Nerthus!
Jan 16, 2008 @ 07:42:34
My husband insulated the heating/air conditioning ducts and installed an attic fan. It keeps the house cooler in the summer (blows hot air out of the attic, thus using less a/c) and the insulated ducts mean that the furnace’s first blast of air isn’t cold, either. We use florescents, too.
Having energy efficient windows also helps, as well as closing blinds in winter when it gets cold. I learned fast when I moved to the high desert that if I close the vertical blinds at night that it traps heat in and we don’t lose it out the windows.
We recycle too but our area’s not as enlightened as Berkeley…
Jan 16, 2008 @ 13:01:17
Greyhaven Nine?
Nine people in the house? You should get credit for that! A 2007 divorce study had interesting things to say about household size & environmental impact.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 21:13:22
Re: Greyhaven Nine?
Well, it’s a 15 room house, but still, there has to be some savings.
We’ve always been an extended, multi-generational family, with a multi-use house. It’s the only way for a bunch of fiction writers to survive.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 14:39:59
That’s tremendous.
If you’re in the market for looking into effective yet safe cleaning products, I personally love the smell and effectiveness of Method products (which can be bought at Target as well as online). They have a swiffer whose cloths are compostable, and their bathroom scum-cleaner makes everything just magically wipe away without harsh chemicals. Great air fresheners too (my fave is ‘fresh lychee’)
They currently have a home detox kit on sale: all purpose cleaner: french lavender
tub + tile spray (this stuff is amazing)
wood furniture polish
microfiber cloth: for wood
hand wash: sea minerals
25 oz omop all floor cleaner: lemon ginger (smells yummy)
25 oz dish soap: pink grapefruit (also yummy)
Clorox has come out with a line of green/safe cleaning products too that are going to be available in Safeways, Wal-marts and all those conventional places in America that might not offer Seventh Generation or other similar products.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 21:14:29
Clorox? Wow– Green really is getting popular.
The Berkeley Bowl has a large choice of green cleaning products. I get a lot of the “7th generation” paper products.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 21:16:24
Clorox recently acquired Burts Bees…and contrary to fears about this – there was buzz that this was going to actually increase the dialogue with the new parent company about the Green market. And it did.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 15:45:11
A suggestion from up here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada…
Two places you will loose lots of heat is the attic/roof, and the windows. I can’t help you about the top…but around the windows, what many people do around here that is very effective is that they put double-sided tape around the windows, then use clear plastic, stretching it so that it is tight…and then you can use a hair-dryer to tighten it further. This creates a dead air space between your windows and the frame, which could be up to a few inches…and each inch of still air gives you the equivalent of an R-5 insulation value. That’s the equivalent of having one of those pink fiberglass bundles in your windows…without the icky pink colour!
ttyl
Jan 16, 2008 @ 21:16:15
We did get the windows in one end of the Living Room double-paned, which has helped, and we have curtains or shutters over most of the others, which are closed at night. But they’re not airtight.
Jan 16, 2008 @ 21:21:02
It’s important to get the airtight part…it makes a huge difference!
ttyl
Jan 16, 2008 @ 23:55:34
We’re working on this but it is very slow going. Despite its “green” reputation, Ireland is way behind in this area. I looked into getting just one small double glazed window from my new weaving studio that The Lizard built for me inside an outbuilding. It would have been about 700 dollars for one window! That was more that materials for the entire studio!
So, for now, it still has just regular glass in it and a space heater set on “low” to keep the fibers and looms from getting destroyed.
We sort of have recycling, they are working on that, but at the moment no one is really sure what can and can not be recycled and every place in the country is different. Expose on local news showed everything being sent to land fill in China, which really just sends the mess elsewhere.
We are finally getting a few organic veggies, but they are very expensive and not always there. I have not been able to find any farmers doing vegetable boxes, and the system for the eco village (being built one village over) so far is just for members who live there. Understandable, but somewhat frustrating.
I will once again put hope over experience and try to garden again this year. Last year I got lots of colored tomatoes and enough peas for one dinner!
Disaster_Cat/Sagadis at Kilmurry House not as many rooms as Grey Haven but large enough to use a lot of energy.