Fresh AIRE

Slash Your Catalog Stack

Boy oh boy -- now that the holidays are in full-swing, I get TONS of catalogues. And it's not uncommon that I get several catalogs from the same company in a one-week period.

Recently, I learned about a way to get some relief -- and help the environment! A new (free) website (www.catalogchoice.org) helps you remove yourself from more than 1,000 mailing lists. The website collects names and then contacts the catalog companies to have people removed from mailing lists. There's more information in this article about how the website works...and some background on who launched it and operates it.

But here's my quandary. Truth be told, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to stop receiving all my catalogs. I know it's the RIGHT thing to do, but I sometimes like leafing through the paper versions...especially since I'm on the computer so much during the day! Am I alone in this feeling?!

P.S. The Arlington Public Library has a great online resource, "Greenspace," for locating information about our environment. You can find shortcuts to catalog and article searches, news, recommended websites, plus tips and ideas for saving energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling, and more.

The PATH to Energy Savings

The Saturday, October 27, Washington Post Real Estate section had an excellent article that includes 10 tips to consider when remodeling.  It highlights the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's PATH program (Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing).  The article touches on many of the items that have been discussed on this blog, such as efficient lighting and right-sizing heating and cooling systems. 

PATH is primarily a partnership with the housing trades (builders, remodelers, financers, etc.) but has done a thorough job of pulling together comprensive information and tools that will help improve our nation's housing stock going forward.  For instance, their web site includes a Tip of the Month.  This month's is very timely with winter coming on: Air Seal and Insulate.

If you are considering remodeling (or even if not--you just want to know more about how your home uses energy efficiently or inefficiently), I'd like to remind you of my post from a few months back recommending the book No-Regrets Remodeling, an excellent resource to use prior to undertaking any remodeling project.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington

The greening of my condo building

The AIRE team's "Greening Your Condo Association" seminars and outreach are bearing fruit! Some enterprising folks from my condo building in Clarendon organized a Green Fair, held last night.

What fun! They proved that learning how to go green can be educational and fun, too! When I walked into the building last night after work, the lobby was abuzz. The booths and displays included several of my Arlington County colleagues, who brought CFL demos (and gave away free bulbs) and useful info on recycling, how to buy green power, etc.

Other booths included green-grown wine and coffee (free samples - yum!), a green cleaning service,  Arlington's new "Car-Free Diet," and more. Our building engineer even had a little display! The festive atmosphere made for lively conversation and a fun, communal spirit.

Folks seemed to be very interested in learning how to recycle more and got all sorts of good, practical advice from Jan Guastaferro of our County recycling team. We do recycle in our building, so we're off to a good start, and we can do more. What are other condo buildings doing?

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, a new bicylist, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.

Not So Fast Mr. Car Driver

Okay, admit it. How many of you have driven past a commuter bus thinking, “No way. That’ll never be me.” As the bus passes you inevitably see a sour, stressed look on a passenger’s face or better yet, a passed out passenger with their face plastered against the glass window. Well, I’m here to tell you, “It ain’t that bad!”

As a full-time working mother of two, my time is very precious. Every day is like a race with the clock; squeezing every last minute out of my day to maximize time with my kids and time for my career. Until last week, I had never taken public transportation to work. Never even tried it or thought about it. I always felt that it was faster and easier to drive and I couldn’t possibly go a whole work day without access to my own car. And it’s not that I don’t know that driving a car adds to harmful emissions, I just felt I was doing my part for the environment in other ways –- I recycle like a champ, I use CFLs wherever possible, and I have a career as an environmental professional.

Since taking a job with Arlington County Government last month however, I’ve been hearing more and more about how progressive the county is in terms of smart growth and environmental sustainability.  I have even come to know the phrase “transit-oriented development” quite well. And not long after I start work, the county launches the Car-Free Diet and everyone is so jazzed about it.

So, I decide, I’ll give this public transit thing a try. It could save me money and buy me some time after all. Because of the long distance I have to travel (over 50 miles round-trip), and the fact that I do not live anywhere close to a Metrorail station, my route would involve driving to a Metrobus stop, riding a bus to the closest Metrorail station, and then hopping onto the Metrorail.

After doing the routine, I found that the trip was actually quite nice and the time was nearly the same as driving. The buses were prompt on both ends of the commute as were the trains. I was able to give my car a rest and I saved nearly $7 in that one day alone. I was also able to more effectively utilize my commuting time for reading and catching up on emails and my to-do list. Environmentally, I prevented emissions too. Not too bad for one day!

So, if you haven’t given public transit a try, why not do so now? You’ll only be doing your wallet and our environment a favor.

Sarah E. O'Connell
Energy Outreach Coordinator, Fresh AIRE

Arlington's Car-Free Diet

How many diets let you eat all you want? Arlington's Car-Free Diet does. This new campaign, recently launched by Arlington County Commuter Services, encourages citizens and those who work in Arlington to give up one or more single occupancy car trips a week and try transit, walking, biking, carsharing, carpooling, or teleworking.

A Car-Free Diet brochure with "diet tips" containing a detailed transit map and bike/walk map is available at all Commuter Stores and was inserted inthe Nov./Dec. issue of The Citizen newsletter which was mailed to all households in Arlington.  You'll also be seeing ads on Metrobuses, in Metro stations, newspapers, and online.

A new website -- carfreediet.com -- let's you calculate how much money, calories, and CO2 emissions you currently use and how much you'll save by going on the diet. Fill in your numbers and you'll get a coupon for the special Arlington edition of "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car" by Chris Balish.

Take the Car-Free Diet challenge at carfreediet.com and tell us what changes you'll make. Or, if you're already on the Car-Free (or Car-Lite) Diet, we want you to share your story.

Bobbi Greenberg, Marketing Director, Arlington County Commuter Services

How many diets let you eat all you want? Arlington's Car-Free Diet does. This new campaign, recently launched by Arlington County Commuter Services, encourages citizens and those who work in Arlington to give up one or more single occupancy car trips a week and try transit, walking, biking, carsharing, carpooling, or teleworking.

A Car-Free Diet brochure with "diet tips" containing a detailed transit map and bike/walk map is available at all Commuter Stores and was inserted inthe Nov./Dec. issue of The Citizen newsletter which was mailed to all households in Arlington.  You'll also be seeing ads on Metrobuses, in Metro stations, newspapers, and online.

A new website -- carfreediet.com -- let's you calculate how much money, calories, and CO2 emissions you currently use and how much you'll save by going on the diet. Fill in your numbers and you'll get a coupon for the special Arlington edition of "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car" by Chris Balish.

Take the Car-Free Diet challenge at carfreediet.com and tell us what changes you'll make. Or, if you're already on the Car-Free (or Car-Lite) Diet, we want you to share your story.

Bobbi Greenberg, Marketing Director, Arlington County Commuter Services

Investments, Efficiency, VA Tech, and the DC Area

Last Tuesday's Washington Post featured a  great article about the confluence of economic value and actions to reduce energy use and climate change. Virginia Tech and investor Hannan Armstrong along with other partners, including PEPCO Energy Services, are investing $500 million to improve the efficiency of at least 100 buildings in the DC area.  The initiative is called the Energy Efficiency Partnership of Greater Washington.

It's important to note that Mr. Armstrong is not doing this because he is an environmentalist.  He's doing it because he can make money at it. Opportunities to improve efficiency in buildings are enormous and profits can be made. The concept is pretty simple: invest money in energy performance improvements and then share the savings that come out of the utility bills. The building owner pays nothing up front and enjoys same or lower utility bills. The investor creates a stream of income from the utility savings that yields a good or excellent return on the initial capital investment. Both parties win . . .and so does our environment. The expectation is that the buildings they are investing in will reduce their energy use by 20% - 50%. Buildings in Arlington County are eligible, and owners and managers should check into it.

You can do this yourself, too, actually. In the short term, investing $200 in changing out the lighting in your house can yield  up to $100 per year in investment returns--a fabulous return rate.  If you have a home equity line of credit you can create your own positive cash flow--it's like printing money. By investing in efficiency improvements that have rates of return higher than the interest you pay on your loan, you can create a cash cow right in your house.  Here's an example:  $3000 wisely invested in improvements could save you  $30-$40 month or more on your utility bills.  A 15-year home equity loan payment is $27.81 at 7.5%.  So every month you essentially print yourself a $5 or even a $20 bill (because you save more on your utility bill than you pay on your loan). As utility rates rise your savings go up, too, but your payment stays the same. Many improvements will also add to the value of your home, so if you move your house will sell for more--recouping your investment again. 

I've always thought that investment resources like Money Magazine and Kiplinger's should recommend these investments to their readers. They can create better returns at lower risk than a lot of the other investment recommendations they make. The environmental benefits are just gravy.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington County resident