February Book Discussion & Reflection on 2022’s New Green Habits
It’s winter, time for a good book. The Green Team invites you to read The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee and join our book discussion (in person and on zoom) on Monday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.
The Green Team took stock of our progress on adopting green habits in 2022:
- Ronda and Peggy put reusable bags back in the car immediately after using—Peggy keeps one in her purse.
- Jenny bundled her errands, minimizing trips, and even biked to them sometimes. Peggy & Joe shopped at thrift stores or at Buy Nothing, instead of buying new.
- Joe cut up old shirts to repurpose them…and told his friends about this tip.
- Ronda, Mary, Jenny & I used indoor racks to hang “in” our laundry during colder weather, allowing us to use minimize dryer use. Peggy adopted a once-every-three-weeks laundry schedule!
- Ginny heats the oven once to make a pizza and reheats leftovers in the microwave. I have bundled my oven meals to bake several items at once. Peggy doesn’t even have an oven! She uses induction cook tops, large toaster oven, & microwave.
- Jenny has dropped the house temp to 65.
- Peggy & Laura are vegan; Joe & Mary have cut their meat consumption. Stay tuned next month for a special Lenten challenge (Plant Based For Lent).
- Ronda & I have established composting practices. I have added shredding paper to contribute as my “brown”.
- Jenny has been out on the street drawing attention to climate change almost every week, at Chase Bank on Saturday mornings, in Wellesley (Fridays for Future), and with Extinction Rebellion and 350Mass.
- Peggy bought more glass containers for food storage to eliminate plastic usage. I have switched to bar shampoo and UnPaste toothpaste (tablets in a compostable bag—zero waste!)
- I attended recycling workshops put on by https://recyclesmartma.org. They have a search bar, where you can figure out exactly what can and cannot be recycled.
- Some of us made big changes this year, too! I got a whole home heat pump and a heat pump water heater, and I already have solar panels to generate the electricity they need! Jenny (& Willie) got a new electric car, a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV, which will be powered by their solar panels.
Next year, Joe would like to start a recycling program where he lives. Ronda wants to work on controlling impulse shopping/consumerism. I want to trade my plug-in hybrid for an EV, but that might not be in 2023. Mary wants to work on “killing her dryer.” I’m sure there are many more things we are all working on, but that’s it for now!
We invite you to take inventory of how you did as well. And…what new habits can we all add in 2023?
Laura Beck for the Green Team