The Hill is Home

Every year, under the guise of New Year’s resolutions, we get a chance to kick bad habits en masse. Personally, I’m a SMART goal setter.  Yeah, yeah, my husband groaned a little bit too when I started getting all specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely at our annual post-holidays Indian-food-resolution-setting dinner several years ago.  But now it’s ingrained in how we think about our goals for the year.  And since we have about a 75% success rate (yes we bring the napkin, with last year’s resolutions scrawled on them, to dinner when talking about the next year’s resolutions) versus the 12% average, I think it works pretty well.  There’s no other way I would have actually taken those tango lessons; tried out so many new classes at the gym; visited South America for the first time; or probably even gone to graduate school. So over the next six Wednesdays, I’ll be looking at some of the most common New Year’s Resolutions, as divined through an unscientific Googling of the topic, and talking to local experts that will help us tackle them.  In the end, we will be Eating Better, Getting Our Finances in Order, Losing Weight, Exercising, and Getting Organized.  Today, though, we’ll start with Going Green.

Uploaded to flickr by sbluerock

A recent entrant into the traditional list of New Year’s Resolutions is the desire to live greener.  Most of us probably recycle at home or opt to run nearby errands on foot rather than drive, but there are a number of other simple habits one can cultivate to boost green living.  I talked to Adrienne Spahr, owner of Green Living Consulting (1319 Constitution Ave, NE, Ste B; 202-557-1032) to get educated on what exactly it means to live green and what things can be done over the holidays to promote green practices.

One service Spahr offers is in-home eco-assessments, so she likes to emphasize practices that are practical, purposeful, and that fit into an existing lifestyle.  In her view, “living a sustainable lifestyle means recognizing things you should do both for the environmental impact and for personal health.”  Spahr recommends picking three to five things that seem practical to you, integrate them into your everyday life and expand from there.  Make it manageable so you don’t feel like you’re compromising your quality of life.

Spahr offered suggestions for getting started and broke them down into three categories:  home, work and on the go.

Home
-       Replace traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs) to save up to $20 a year per bulb and save 150 lbs. of CO₂.  Unbroken CFLs can be recycled at the Prudential on 7^th Street, SE at Eastern Market.

-       Unplug appliances and chargers when not in use.  Plug other electronics (computers, DVD players and TVs) into power strips (or smart strips) to reduce vampire loads – the power drawn from electronics even when not in use.

-       Adjust your thermostat two degrees down in the winter and two degrees up in the summer (or even more when not at home).  This can reduce your CO₂ emissions by up to 2000 lbs a year for the average home. (Pick up a programmable thermostat from Frager’s to help you out.)

-       Get your own bags and re-usable water bottle: this will significantly reduce your need for plastics – saving energy, waste, and your money.  Don’t forget, DC is instituting a plastic bag tax starting January 1^st.  But bags aren’t just for the supermarket.  Take them wherever you go shopping.

Work
-       Turn off your computer completely:  it can save thousands of carbon dioxide emissions and lower energy bills.

-       Print paper on both sides and re-set your default margins to 0.7” or less because this can also reduce the amount of paper you print on, saving trees and greenbacks.

-       Americans buy more than 5.1 billion pens every year, most of which end up in the trash.  Get refillables or one of the many recycled plastic, paper, or biodegradable pens available to help reduce 770 tons of waste in landfills.

-       Create a healthier workspace by adding an air-purifying plant to your desk to absorb air pollutants and computer radiation, reduce exposure to germs, and brighten your work environment.

On the Go
-       Can’t get through the day without some caffeine?  By using your own mug, you can save up to 30 times the solid waste and 60 times the air pollution than if you use paper or foam cups.

-       Properly inflate your tires and drive the speed limit to maximize your fuel economy and reduce your CO₂ emissions.  Swing by Distad’s for an air pump.

-       Vacation without impacting the environment.  Reuse your towels by hanging them up after each use until you need a new one.  Use only what you need for shampoos and other toiletries so unused items are not replaced.  Turn off the tube, your lights, and unplug chargers, just as you do at home.

Spahr also does a workshop on eco-holidays, so she shared these suggestions to incorporate into our holiday activities:
-       When wrapping gifts there are many creative things you can do by reusing materials like comic strips; or, if you’ve ordered something, reusing the paper packaging.

-       Send e-holiday cards or if you’re really into sending cards, do something with them like making ornaments by punching a hole at the top and adding ribbon.

-       Use solar LED Christmas lights.

-       Get a tree you can reuse; recycle real trees rather than throwing them away. Check here for DPW guidelines on holidays and recyclables.

-       Buy eco-friendly gifts or things that aren’t necessarily a product but something that can be used like theater tickets, a class or a membership somewhere.  Local spots like Hill’s Kitchen and Homebody carry eco-friendly products.

Do you have any favorite green tips or local resources?