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Melina Rudman's avatar

Thank you for this Susan. I think we must all do what we can, where we are, with what we have. For me, I feel a bit of agency (and less despair) when I make decisions that make even the smallest difference. To answer your question, and with the caveat that these solutions are good ones (not perfect ones), here is a partial list: I drive a hybrid; my next car will be electric; we installed solar panels this year (there is a great tax rebate in CT right now); I use my clothesline from April - October; I have a vegetable garden; I compost and feed the soil to create a carbon sink. I think encouraging and incentivizing the public to make positive changes would build energy around this important issue.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

I forgot about composting! That's made a big difference in my gardens, and in my trash output. You are WAAAY ahead of me. Are you happy with your solar panels?

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Melina Rudman's avatar

It does make a huge difference. Another easy and affordable thing folks can do is to lean into more plant-based meals. Delicious and satisfying recipes out there these days. Good for human bodies and good for the environment.

Yes, I am happy with the solar panels, they're still new, so I will be interested in seeing what kind of long-term difference they make. Basically, the company we used created an array for our east-west faced roof that should produced enough energy to equal out our yearly kilowatt hours. We started the process last November, they were installed in early May and Eversource installed the new meter on June 1.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

I'd be interested in hearing more about this, as you get more accustomed to them. I've thought about them but that's as far as I've gotten, thinking. And great point on less meat, more plants.

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Bill Katz's avatar

We are all concerned over the environment. And we should be. But what remains missing from the dialogue is overpopulation. I forget that book written in the 1960s titled “Population Explosion “ when the human population was around 3 billion. So we are all deceiving ourselves when we think we can lower energy usage and save the planet. The Chinese government once had a program that I fully endorsed the one child per family. But even they ended it as their population aged.

I’m afraid to bring the bad news but until human population is reduced by billions, all this tutti fruity going green is for naught. At least partially. And that’s my truth, Ruth.

Let’s be real. Even unnatural gas is a polluter. Ever hear of methane gas leaks. Pa-lease, all fossil fuel is damaging although the energy industries would have you believe otherwise.

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Mary Ann Dimand's avatar

We now have two houses. At the big permanent one we don't use any A/C, and just open windows, which works fine. It is near enough the foothills that we get splendid air circulation. At the pied-a-terre we do use A/C or we will fry. (I acknowledge being spoiled: I grew up in the Mississippi Valley without A/C and just sweated.)

Meanwhile I compost. The Dalek-like compost bins are at the permanent house, and I take a bucket up from the pied-a-terre periodically, like a commuting peasant. We have 1.5 electric cars. And of course I turn things off.

Tangentially, I will dance a dance of joy when it seems to me that the "new rule" trope has fallen out of use.

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Mary Ann Dimand's avatar

Oh, we have solar panels at the permanent house.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

You sound like you have things covered. And I agree with retiring “new rule” and “I. Can’t. Even.”

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Mary Ann Dimand's avatar

I don't, of course. We need social institutions to get started covering things. :/

Something that continues to haunt me:

Some years ago when I was in the untenured stage of ordination and had to do Educational Retreats one of them was about environmental care in a Christian context. At one point the leader asked what people did toward environmental care, and suddenly there was a little avalanche of my female-identified colleagues feverishly talking about doing laundry with cold water (which I also do).

And then a few years later, I was part of a small (all female-identified) Just Faith group*, and at the environmental care unit there was a similar small trumpeting about Binging Your Own Bag, with retired clergy trumpeting how they want to beat people up (well, not quite) when they see them accepting disposable bags.

Guilt, I think, and an attempt to claim the I Do Enough.

* I had wanted to do the program for years, but for me it was disappointing. A bunch of introductory issue survey. I bet it's good for people who mostly don't pay attention to things, though.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

I feel like I’m still bragging that I bring my own bag — though that’s actually required here in CT.

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Paul Ashton's avatar

It will be nine years this December that we’ve had solar panels. We took advantage of the rebate and tax break incentives offered at the time that reduced the costs to us by a little more than half the price of installation. Most years we generate all the electricity we need from April through October, less but still a fair amount the other months of the year. We broke even on our initial investment at about six and a half years so it’s all gravy now. We were told to expect some degradation in the panel’s production but so far they are as efficient as they were when installed (I have a nerd friendly app on my phone that tracks such things). The good news is that cost has come down a lot since we installed ours and efficiency/production has increased by 25%. I imagine that at some point we’ll upgrade/update our panels and inverters (the gizmos that convert d/c to a/c). A big challenge is how to incentivize it so that people who rent can enjoy the benefits. There are some large community off-site solar projects that renters can subscribe to but not many. Engaging landlords so that they and their tenants share the benefits from on-site solar can be tricky.

If you haven’t done it, having an energy audit/assessment of your house is worth every penny. They can be as low as $100 and sometimes are subsidized. Most solar incentive programs require it.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

This is incredibly helpful. I think I'll start with an energy audit, which I've never done.

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Joan Sheehan's avatar

Love the comments! I was raised using a clothesline and have always had one. When it’s too cold in the winter, we hang clothes on a line in the basement, where our laundry is. We let the dishwasher air dry. I would love solar panels but we don’t get enough sun due to the hill behind our house. I look forward to an electric car and we only recently got central air but it keep the number higher so it saves energy. After all, we survived many years without it.

I also try to save water. Do the yellow/brown toilet test. My washer is usually only run when it’s full but it has a water sensor so it does not use more than needed.

And yes I combine errands and rarely shop in person.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

These comments make me believe I need to up my game.

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Aug 2, 2022
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Paul Ashton's avatar

Yeah, same for us on an electric car. I have to believe that at some point there will be a breakthrough in battery technology to change all that.

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Susan Campbell's avatar

I keep toying with the idea of an electric car, (as I toy with the idea of solar panels), though for a lot of people, a new car -- even a used electric car -- isn't in the budget. I actually don't like a/c air. I think I can smell the freon (not true, but I've convinced myself that I can) and I want fresh air, even stale, stagnant, late-afternoon-in-August air.

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