Speaking of Heating Bills...

 As a continuation on the series about timing of renovations and home upgrades, the best time to replace your heating system is after insulating your walls and attic and ultimately, when it is showing its age.  If you have just installed a new system, this is not the time.  If, like ours, your system is over 35 years old, it's time to start planning.  Obviously it's not ideal to allow your system to completely die before replacing it.  When you are ready to replace it, move away from fossil fuels.  There are several systems out there that are very much in the mainstream.  Just because you currently have a gas furnace, doesn’t mean that you can’t upgrade to an all electric one.  Don’t worry, I’m not talking about electric resistance, which is expensive to run.  I’m talking about a heat pump.  These are super efficient and relatively inexpensive to run. 

Again, there are often government sponsored programs that can help you pay for this. Mass Save will cover $10,000.00 of an air source heat pump, and $15,000.00 of a ground source heat pump.

Our existing, dated gas furnace.

We have decided that it's time to upgrade. We had an issue with the furnace last year on a zero degree day and woke up to a very cold 40 deg. F. house. It was fixable, but in the end, this furnace is over 35 years old, and pretty inefficient. We are working with Mass Save to do a new, whole home heating system switch. The new system will be a Mitsubishi mini split heat pump system. I'll post an update after the project is completed in a couple of weeks!

Becoming a steward of your property

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea that we not only own our property, but are, in fact, stewards of this piece of land.  We are the second owners of this house and property and plan to be here for a long time, but our lives are finite.  I'm not saying I'm going to kick the bucket tomorrow, but someday we might decide to move on and sell this property to someone else.  Most people talk about that in terms of resale value.  Am I doing things that someone else will like?  Usually you don't want to do something like remove a bathtub and replace it with a shower because the next owners might have kids and want a tub.  Those ideas are valid, but that's not what I'm talking about here.  

I'm talking about making the right decision now even if you won't see all of the benefits right away, or ever.  If you make the right decision on something now, the next people that own the house won't have to.  It is quite literally the opposite of kicking the can down the road.  Sometimes we hear the words, "the next person can deal with it."  The problem with that argument is that the next person is probably my kid, or someone else's kid.  Or, in extreme cases, my kid's kid.  Wow, that was a lot of kids... 

Anyway, my point is that I was taught to pick up the trash in the hallway and not walk past it for the next person to deal with.  We think that, if we possibly can, we should make the more sustainable choice on the small stuff and the big stuff.  You will likely see some benefits now, but there will probably be long term benefits for someone else.  In fact, maybe that's your resale value.  You've done all of these things that benefit the next buyer.  Perhaps you can command a higher price because your house is "Zero Energy Ready"; because every time something in your house needed replacing, you made the most efficient, low energy decision.  You might not be able to afford solar panels while you are living there, but maybe that's the contribution the next person can make to the property. 

I'll give one example:  We bought our house for the blueberries... The previous owners planted about 50 blueberry bushes.  It likely took 20 - 30 years (possibly longer we aren't sure) for the bushes to grow to their current size.  They probably got plenty of benefit (in the form of blueberry harvest) while they were living here, but we, as the next owners, also get that harvest! (About 130 pounds this summer...)  It really was a big selling point for us.  The house on the other hand was... rough.  There were lots of bad decisions made for the longevity of the house.  We are trying to be better and make good decisions going forward, i.e. upgrade the electrical service, convert the heating system to electric, fully insulate the walls.  It isn't easy, but we'll get there.

-Nate

P.S.  For your enjoyment, here are some of the decisions we or the previous owners have made for our home with an eye on stewardship.

In addition to blueberry bushes, the previous owners also planted apple and pear trees.  We aren't the only ones that benefit from that decision.

Old electrical panel with our home inspector's understated comment...

He also said, "I've never seen one like this before." He has been doing this for 30+ years.

New electric panel with plenty of room for future expansion.  

It also has a 50amp circuit for:

New Chargepoint car charging port.

The blueberries... 1/4 of the daily harvest in July.

Turkeys among the blueberry bushes

The best time to insulate

Continuing on our series about timing, we thought it would be best to start at the beginning. Insulating your house depends a bit on what you already have.  Our house had 1.5 inches of foil faced fiberglass batt insulation in the exterior walls.  Restated, we had almost no insulation in our house...  The best time to insulate a house like that is, as soon as possible.  I would also say, the best time to insulate your attic is as soon as possible.  Heat rises, and it will rise right out of your house without a properly insulated attic space. 

Let’s say however, that your house is pretty well insulated, meaning that the exterior walls are fully filled and the attic is perfect.  If you plan to replace the siding on your house, this would be a good time to add some continuous exterior insulation.  Think of it like wearing a sweater in the winter (normal insulation), but then you go outside and realize that a big puffy winter coat would really be a great addition.  This is what I’m talking about.  Wrapping your house with a layer of insulation is like putting on a winter jacket.  It helps bridge all of the gaps between the buttons, or in this case, the wall studs.  I’ve put together a fairly standard detail drawing of how this might work.  If you are talking to a contractor about this kind of work, show it to them and tell them you are interested in continuous insulation.  It will add money to your project, but the benefit will be noticeable in the winter when your heating bill goes down.

There are some options here in terms of types of insulation and there is an opportunity to make a better decision. When we talk about insulation "in" the walls, cellulose is, by far, the best. It doesn't have the highest R-value, but it is easy to retrofit an existing home, it's made from recycled paper, and, most importantly, it can dry if it gets wet. (walls are prone to develop moisture either from temperature changes, or the fact that you breathe inside your house... and your breath contains moisture.) Foam insulation is not ideal. It contains lots of harmful chemicals and tends to shrink over time, negating the effort now. That said, there are some very difficult areas to insulate, so this might be the right solution given the circumstance.

Exterior insulation is a little different. There are a couple of options, but usually you want to go with a rigid board type of insulation. Mineral wool, or a wood fiberboard are good alternatives (see below for links) They are good at wicking moisture, and they are good insulators.

There are other ways, and if you are interested, feel free to reach out and we can talk about some other alternatives. They are just a little too complicated to explain here.

Sometimes there are government programs that can help you to pay for a project like insulating your house.  A quick google search will probably help you determine if there is a program near you.  In our case, we live in a town that uses National Grid (local utility), so the Mass Save program helped us.  They paid for 75% of our insulation project, bringing our total out of pocket cost from $7,500 down to $1,200.

Mineral wool: https://www.rockwool.com/north-america/products-and-applications/products/comfortboard-80/

Wood fiber board: https://gutex.de/en/product-range/products/walls/

(this product comes from Germany, so it is likely more expensive due to shipping etc.)

Our own insulation project:

Holes in the exterior where they "blew in" cellulose insulation.

Fiberglass insulation (pink) between the floor joists in the basement.

Spray foam (yellow) sealing the joint between the wood framing and the foundation.

Ways to Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly: Intro

House projects can be daunting and, if you don’t have a frame of reference for it, you might have a hard time deciding where to start on a project, or even which project to start with.  Even for us that was a challenge.  It occurred to me that there is a very rational way to look at this problem.  There is an order in which home updates can and probably should happen.

Sometimes it's easy to prioritize a particular project and know exactly when to do it.  In the case of our moldy carpet, we decided to immediately rip it out, but then paused and decided what the best replacement would be.  We waited 2 months, did some research and saved some money, then bought what we felt was the most sustainable flooring we could.  The flooring is sustainable in several ways.  It is going to last a long time, the material itself is renewable and it was purchased through a company that puts environmental concerns first.  It was not the most expensive thing we could buy, nor the cheapest.  We also tried to make a good decision about the way we installed the floor, knowing that buying a little more up front would allow us to have a seamless transition down our hallway to the bedrooms.  We know that this flooring will not need to be removed until it has completely worn out (hopefully a long time).  My goal in talking about this is to show that even in a crisis, it is important to stop and think long term about your project.

Sometimes however, it isn't so easy. Those reasons can be wide ranging from financial hardship to a lack of time to do it.

So, over the next few weeks, we are going to explore this topic of when and why to do projects, as well as some suggestions on how to make your decisions as sustainable as possible. In the meantime, here is the final result of the flooring project!

A Case for Burgers

I am a meat eater.  My wife is a plant eater.  I do most of the cooking in our house, and you had better believe that I don't make two different meals.  I am now a plant eater... well, much more than I used to be, and that is an important distinction.  I haven't stopped eating meat, I simply eat far less of it.

On Saturday night, we had my parents over for dinner.  Stephanie made some bread (see Stephanie's recent post on Sourdough), and I made burgers.  We also had some pickles on hand, and Stephanie made pickled onions, which are extremely simple and delicious.  So, when I say I made burgers, I should say that I made falafel burgers.  It seems to have been a hit, so here is the recipe:

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas) (drained)

    Substitute different beans here if you prefer.

1 onion

cloves of garlic (to your taste)

salt (to your taste)

cumin (to your taste)

curry powder (to your taste)

1 to 1.5 cups oats

Olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time

1.  Combine ingredients into a food processor.  Hold back the oats for now.  Pulse the food processor until the onion, garlic, and beans are chopped well.

2.  Add  1 cup of oats and combine using the food processor.

3.  Add olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time until everything starts to combine like a dough.  The trick here is to be wet enough for the oats to get chopped and combined, but dry enough so the mixture isn't super sticky.

4.  Once you have found the balance, roll the mixture into palm sized balls and flatten into a burger shape on a silicone baking sheet.  Place in the freezer for an hour or so (or for a couple of months).

5.  To cook, heat up a skillet over medium heat with a bit of olive oil.  We use a cast iron skillet, but you can use what you have.  Add the burgers when the oil is hot enough to give a sizzle.  Fry them on both sides and make sure they have heated through.  

    If you are concerned about burning before the center is heated through, you can throw the burgers in the microwave for a few seconds to thaw them a bit.  Not too much though or you will end up with mush.

6.  That's it!  Serve and enjoy!

On Sunday night we got takeout with our friends.  I ordered a burger.  It was a beef burger because sometimes I eat meat.  We think that is okay from a sustainability standpoint.  Meat is part of my diet, so, when not dining out, we simply try to source my meat from a local farm, raising their animals in an appropriate way.  The argument we usually hear (and the one I made at first) is that it's more expensive.  That is absolutely true.  It takes more time and effort for the farm to raise animals eating what they are supposed to be eating and letting them out where they are supposed to be grazing, so they have to charge more.  So, the meat I buy is more expensive, but I buy far less of it!  When I looked at this more holistically, I realized that we were not spending any more money on food.  It is easy to get caught up on the price of a single item, but once you look at the total budget, things start to even out.  So I buy less meat at a higher quality, so that when I do eat meat, it's typically better for me and better for the environment.  Basically, better, not perfect.

To be honest, we try to apply this kind of logic to many of our decisions.  When we purchase something, there are costs outside of the immediate financial burden.  We put our decisions through this other filter when we ask more questions.  Basically, we just think about it in the context of the environment as well as our own circumstances.

So what's better, falafel burger or beef burger?  I actually like them both.  They have totally different flavor profiles, and a different feel.  They are both filling and satisfying.  Both burgers are gluten free.  I would say that the falafel burger has a little more versatility in that it can be flavored to your taste.  The recipe above can be changed with different spices and herbs.  Let us know what you think in the comments section!

Thanks for reading!

Nate  

Wood Shop Magic

 It has been a busy winter!  I believe I mentioned my new source for industrial pallets in my last post called "Pallet Wood Fun."  This time the objective was night stands!

Last summer we bought a pretty nice dresser for our bedroom from the ReStore by Habitat for Humanity.  If you've never been to one, it's like a huge playground.  They have leftover materials from builds, used furniture from donations, tools (my favorite), and many other things.  This dresser that we bought is painted white and has legs and drawer faces that are proud of the front of the cabinet.  It's a pretty nice design and functions fairly well.  There are six drawers and Stephanie and I share it.  The problem is that Stephanie filled one whole drawer with socks... she has sooo many socks!  They are all sorts of fun colors and designs, and they seem to make her happy.  So, with one drawer full of socks, it only leaves two drawers for the rest of her clothes.  She mostly makes do, but we thought that having a little more space would be helpful.  We thought nightstands would do the trick... except that apparently nightstands don't come in pairs? Ridiculous, I know, but we looked for a couple of months both new and used and either couldn't find a matching pair (used), or ones that fit our space (new).  Night stands are apparently 30" to 36" wide these days for bedrooms that are larger than our living room.  I know this because I've designed several of them (bedrooms, not night stands). 

Anyway, I had just taken another load of industrial pallet wood home, so I thought I would endeavor to build a couple of nightstands that matched each other and our dresser.  It was an interesting journey, let me tell you.

I started with 2x6 lumber which, for those of you who aren't initiated into the world of lumber, means that the dimensions of the wood are 1 1/2"x 5 1/2".  I figured out that if I cut a length of it and then re-sawed it on my table saw, I could get (2) 5/8"x5" boards out of each piece.  That meant that I could make the sides, back, and drawers out of the same material rather than buying plywood panels.  I had a few challenges in that I don't have a planer or a jointer, so in the end, the panels I glued up are not perfect.  I did have a large sanding block so, by hand, I was able to flatten each panel.  I now have muscles in places that I didn't know I could have them...

The legs were easy to make, and the whole thing went together with pocket screws drilled into the inside of the panels.  I inherited a small nail gun from a friend and was able to use that to put the drawers together.  

The entire outside of the cabinet was painted white to match the dresser, and then it was done!  Well, I still had to make another matching one for me, but one done and one to go!  The second one was easier, or at least more streamlined.  This time I cut everything I needed all at the same time and bought the right sized clamps to make the process a little easier.

Anyway, I think they came out pretty nice and we now have a matching bedroom set!  In the end, I learned quite a bit, used wood that was destined for the landfill, and supported the local hardware store where we bought drawer pulls... and a lot of screws.

Sourdough Crackers & Beyond

Ever since we went to Vermont in October and stopped at King Arthur's flagship store, I've been having fun with the sourdough starter I picked up there.  As you might know, sourdough starters have to be fed with some regularity, and this results in discard, which can be a huge source of waste.  Since I don't bake daily, I've gotten into the habit of refrigerating my starter for most of the week, taking it out to feed as the weekend approaches, so I'll be ready for baking and be left with a more manageable amount of discard.  I also keep a smaller amount of starter on hand, generally, which reduces discard, too.  However, there are plenty of recipes that call for discard, which keeps for at least a couple of weeks in a closed container in the fridge, and I've found it so useful in cooking that I always like to have some on hand.

homemade sourdough loaf

Perhaps the most unusual uses for sourdough discard include brownies (the best I've ever had) and pasta dough, though you can sub discard into almost any recipe by reducing the amounts of flour and liquid called for.  (For example, if your recipe calls for 500 grams of flour and 250 grams of water, you could sub in 100 grams of starter or discard and remove 50 grams each of the flour and water called for.)  But the recipes I make the most using my discard are waffles and crackers.  They're both relatively easy to make, if somewhat time consuming, and they're both convenience foods that normally come wrapped in plastic pouches.  Making them at home allows me to skip the plastic packaging (and all the preservatives and additives that are in the store-bought versions).  While it does take some planning ahead and a bit more time, the results are so worthwhile.  I get to feel good about avoiding packaging, and I get delicious bread products to enjoy--it's a win-win!

Pallet Wood Fun

 Well, its been a while since I've written anything here, but buying (and fixing) a house is a lot of work.  We've been pretty busy with many different projects.  Honestly, Stephanie and I both enjoy doing household projects, large and small.  We recently put in a new cork floor, milled stained and installed our own "shoe base." If you aren't sure what a shoe base is, I can't help you.  Its what my dad calls it, and I haven't heard a better term.  Its an addition to the wood wall base which in our case, takes the form of a quarter round piece of molding installed to take up the gap between the baseboard and the new floor.

Anyway, this post is about pallet wood!  Doing all of the projects has made me realize that I would like to have a little wood shop.  A dedicated space to put tools and do small projects.  I've slowly been gathering tools either passed down from relatives (my 1957 delta contractor table saw) or buying them on (you guessed it) Craigslist!  These projects however, need a place to be assembled, so the most important project I've done recently is an assembly table / work bench.  

Made of an old solid core wood door (SCWD for my architecture friends who have the pleasure of reviewing door schedules...), and an extremely robust pallet.  Most pallets are pretty flimsy, or at least made of undesirable rough cut, small pieces of wood.  These are great for small projects like the boxes I made for our wedding.  When it comes to larger projects however, larger pallets can be great.  I'm doing some work at a large food processing plant, and most of the machines come on gigantic pallets made of dimensional lumber including 4x4s and 2x8s, and that is pretty useful for some larger projects like assembly tables.

This table is pretty simple, using the 4x4s for the legs and 2x8s for the apron.  It's pretty solid, and should work out well as we continue to find ways to improve our surroundings!

My New (used) Car

I missed my exit on the way home today and ended up in New Hampshire.  If you know me, you are rolling your eyes right now saying, "What else is new?"  There are more than a few stories of me getting lost while driving.  The only reason why it doesn't happen more is that I usually have a personal SAS sitting next to me... (that's Stephanie)

To be clear, missing an exit and ending up in New Hampshire this time was not quite as bad as it used to be.  If I was saying this 6 months ago, there would be bigger issues.  We currently live 5 minutes from the border, so it wasn't that bad.

Lets step back about a month though because the anxiety of this mistake, and then it's unconcerning conclusion may make more sense.  I recently bought an electric car!  Stephanie already had one and I got used to both driving it and curbing my "range anxiety." We decided that, since we sometimes like to do longer trips, and I often work in the Boston area, that my car should have a bit more range than Stephanie's.  Her 2017 Nissan Leaf gets about 125 miles on a full charge, and it fluctuates depending on which systems are also in use while driving (A/C, heat etc.)  We decided on a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt for me.  It gets anywhere from 240 to 260 miles on a full charge depending on how heavy my foot is that day.  

So, back to my lack of directional abilities.  One of the things I hear often about owning an electric car is, "what if I get stuck out in the middle of nowhere and the battery runs out?" My response is usually something like, what would you do if you got stuck out in the middle of nowhere and your gas runs out?"  Well, today I drove right past my exit and my first thought was, "crap, how many miles is it going to take to find my way home?" The answer to that question was... about 8.  My car still had 150 miles until empty.  I could have made it to Rockland, ME... a trip that would have taken 2hrs and 45 minutes.  I know your next question.  It's something like "yeah, but when you get there (in the middle of nowhere) how do you get home? (I swear I didn't look this up before, I just tried to find a place that was 150 miles north of Amesbury.) Rockland, ME has not less than 4 public chargers, and there are eight more within 10 miles of the center of town.  Three are apparently dedicated to Tesla, but there is a station located at 24 Limerock Street with two, tier 2 chargers.  I would have had to wait a while to charge up (probably 3 or 4 hours), but I could have done it!

The thing about electric cars is, you just have to plan ahead a little.  Stephanie uses hers primarily for commuting.  I commute less, but due to the higher range, we use mine for extended trips.  We recently did a trip from Amesbury, MA to Fair Haven, MA, a north south traverse of Massachusetts and could have done it on a single charge.  We decided to stop and top up at a fast charger for the way home, but it really wasn't necessary.  The daily commutes are easy with an EV.  Longer trips require a small amount of planning, but it isn't difficult.  There are apps and charging stations everywhere, and the infrastructure is getting better and more widespread all the time.  

We felt that it was time to make the switch.  We were able to make it work financially, and we have the convenience of being able to charge at home (more on that in the next post).  Like any big purchase, you have to make sure it will work for you, but we respectfully ask you to consider an electric vehicle for your next car.  This post was pretty light hearted, but the reality is that these kind of changes are necessary.  I heard about a study done in Europe regarding the lifecycle analysis of an EV vs a Gas powered car, and even in countries that mostly burn coal to produce electricity, an EV wins out from a emissions standpoint.  I found a wonderful article summarizing that study here:  (EV vs. Gas) though I first heard it on a podcast called How to Save the Planet, also a great resource.

-Nate

Adventures in a New Home

 Painting.  Ahhh the joys of a fresh coat of paint.  Plus the chemicals in the joint compound to cover up those holes you made while hanging pictures, the toxic dust when you sand it.  Don't forget to wash the walls with something like TSP (which can also be found in cereal?).  It isn't strictly toxic, but it isn't exactly healthy.  Then we get to the paint.  Isn't it fun watching it dry?  Did you know that while you are watching it, there are serious chemical reactions happening?  Some even produce toxic smells that fill the air.  We are going to TRY to do better.

Washing the walls:

Apparently, there are very natural home mixtures that can be used to clean the walls of all of that dirt, grime and grease.  We did a little research and found a very easy mix which includes water vinegar and baking soda...its like we are in 4th grade science making exploding volcanoes!

The recipe was found here and consists of the following:

4 Liters of warm water

1/2 cup of vinegar

1/4 cup baking soda

Then, just like Mr. Miyagi would say, wipe on, wash off... okay, maybe I'm paraphrasing there.  Anyway, you wash the wall with the mixture, and then wash again with warm water only. 

**So, while we did try the mixture, we also found out that straight vinegar would also do the trick, and it did.  No exploding buckets, but pretty clean walls, so I'd call it a success.

Prepping the walls:

I always thought that joint compound was a pretty benign thing.  It's basically just plaster like we played with in art class right?  Well, in order to make the pre-mixed stuff last on the shelf, there are all kinds of preservatives in it.  Sometimes you can find VOCs like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, as well as other carcinogens like crystalline silica.  Many of the ready mixed brands also make a powder form of their product which, when mixed with water gives the same performance without all of the preservatives etc.  The best brand I have found so far is Murco.  They claim zero VOC, and a pretty benign formula.  Unfortunately they are located in Texas, so ordering it would be expensive and non-sustainable due to the distance traveled.  So, we are going to go with USG brand.  You can get it at the local hardware store and its relatively inexpensive.

**In the end, we ended up using some of the premixed stuff.  My dad had some that needed to be used up (shelf life issue) so we opted for using something up before it went bad instead of buying new stuff.  We also didn't need as much as I thought we would.

Painting:

Benjamin Moore offers zero VOC paints across most of their products now.  I am pleased to say that some of the more saturated colors we picked come in a zero VOC version.  Here again, we made an exception and for some of the paint, we worked with the local hardware store to use up some paint that they were trying to get rid of.  It was low VOC rather than zero, but we felt like we were helping them out a bit.  Primer, ceilings and most areas were done in the Benjamin Moore Zero VOC.

As it turns out, "zero" is not exactly zero, but very small amounts that the EPA allows to be called zero.  Again, better but not perfect.  

The project went very well, though it took longer than we thought.  The prep work was difficult and it dragged on for weeks.  The actual painting part was a little easier, and a little more enjoyable due to the fact that progress could be more easily seen, and we could enjoy the fruit of our previous efforts.  One thing to note is that when you do any project like this, it is best to do your research ahead and be prepared for the time and cost to do it.  It is easy, if you don't know what you are getting into to take shortcuts.  You might buy something less than ideal because it is less expensive, or you might decide not to do part of the prep because it takes a long time.  While the immediate feedback might be good i.e. more money left in your bank account, the end result may be a smell that takes weeks to dissipate, or walls with divots that show up in the light.  Take your time, buy the right thing, and enjoy the process.  

Maybe someday I'll take my own advice...(better, not perfect)

We would like to say a special thanks to all of our friends and family who offered support during this project, both physical and emotional.  It was a crazy month leading up to our move, but we got it all done and it looks fantastic!

Bib:

https://thediydreamer.com/diy/how-to-clean-walls/

Find It Used: Chapter 2

Remember this post we did about finding used things?  I know it was a long time ago, so here is a link to Find It Used.  Well, the saga continues, and so does my addiction... 

Craigslist is a wild and wonderful world of used items to be picked up for free or purchased at VERY low prices.  I know, I sound like a used car salesman but I did just buy a used car... More on that in another post.

It has been awhile since our last post to this blog post.  Lots has happened in these last few months, most notably, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!  Incredibly, even in this crazy housing market (you know, the one where there is not enough housing for everyone?) we lucked out and found a house, in our price range and in a location we found to be very desirable.  We have big plans for this place, but that's not what this post is about.  This post is about sweet second hand finds.  

If there is a stigma attached to buying things used, I left that one behind me when we bought a house and we are faced with a mortgage... not to mention unprecedented extraction of the earth's natural resources for my sole benefit.  Check out this interesting diagram Stephanie just sent me about Earth Overshoot Day.  Those things aside, I kind of like the rush of looking for things and finding them.  I bet you do too because we are American (Earth Overshoot Day)...

Let me tell you about buying things used.  Have you ever shopped and then found exactly the thing you wanted and found out there was a 15% off sale?  Well, I do the same thing only when I find something it is closer to 85% off, as in the case of our most recent snow blower purchase.  (New it was $150, used $20)

I also often find things that are 100% off... As in free.  It is truly amazing what people simply give away.

In the end, buying things used offers us a couple of advantages from an environmental standpoint.  First, the materials have already been extracted from the earth, so the carbon emitted from that extraction does not happen again in order for you to buy the same item new.  Second, the item you are getting, might have otherwise ended up in a landfill, using additional and precious space for trash, not to mention the carbon emissions to haul it and put it there. 

Lastly, when you are done with the service that item has provided, let it go to someone else who might use it.  Sell it to recuperate some of your money, or give it away to someone who might need it.  Either way, once again it stays out of a landfill.

Here are some images of items we have recently purchased used, and their associated prices.

Bedframe: New: $229, Used: $80 (Craigslist)
Dresser:  New: $503, Used: $100 (Habitat for Humanity ReStore)

Set of 4 Walkie Talkies:  New:  $30, Used: $10 (Craigslist)

Husky screw organizer:  New: $40, Used: $15 (Habitat for Humanity ReStore)

Black & Decker String Trimmer:  New: $99, Used: $35 (Craigslist)

(for fun, at Lowes, they offer a 5% savings if you use their advantage card... I saved 64% by using Craigslist...

Rigid 14 Gal. shop vac.: New:  $105, Used: $20 (Craigslist)

Also, the monitor I am using to write this post on I found on Craigslist for $10.

I write this post as a call to action:  Buy things that you need used instead of new.  It often helps causes that are worthy, like the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  It allows extracted materials, which are so precious, to live on without additional carbon inputs, and it helps to keep money in your pocket.  If you need help finding used stores, have a look at the list of places below.  

Goodwill:  Clothes, furniture, kitchen items

Salvation Army: Clothes, furniture, kitchen items

Habitat for Humanity:  Furniture, tools, construction materials including paint, windows, flooring, tile etc.

Looking for a book?  Take a look at your local library... They lend them for free :)  (I'm married to a librarian what can I say)

St. Vincent's Thrift Shop:  Located in Reno, NV (not sure what they have, but let us know!)

Life Long Thrift Shop:  Located in Seattle, WA (not sure what they have, but let us know!)

Adventures in Gardening, Part 1, 2021

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I'd do a quick post on our gardening activities so far this spring.  (If you want ideas on how you can celebrate Earth Day, check out this booklist I made for work.)  While we're not currently in a position to grow a large garden, we did manage to do pretty well even with a 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed last summer (plus some pots and planters).  

Growing your own food--even a little--is much more sustainable than buying it from the store: you save on emissions by not driving to the store (think how much less often you could shop if you didn't need a regular supply of fresh produce), and you save on packaging by harvesting directly instead of buying vegetables in the plastic they usually come in.  Plus, you're creating a more nourishing environment for insects, birds, and those pesky squirrels.  (I recommend dousing your garden soil liberally in cayenne pepper on the regular to deter squirrels.  It doesn't hurt them; they just don't like it.  Neither will you, if you touch it directly, so be careful when harvesting if you try this technique!)

Our raised bed near its peak last summer.

As you can see, even in a pretty small space, it's possible to grow a good deal of food and flowers.  The golden cherry tomatoes and lettuce were probably our most successful crops, along with broccoli and Brussels sprouts--all of which we bought as transplants, involving plastic containers that are flimsy and not recyclable...  

Last summer's herb box.  Herbs are much harder, in general, to propagate from seed, so we may end up buying them as transplants in the future, too... but at least the companion flowers (to attract pollinators) might be possible to grow from seed.  I haven't had much luck with that in the past, but then I haven't tried super hard, either...

This year, we want to do a little better by starting more plants from seed--still some waste, as the seed packets have to be purchased and may not be recyclable--and in the future, we'd like to get to the point where we can save our own seeds from our crops.  This would be the most sustainable option.  In the meantime, we do have plenty of seed packets and plenty of plastic egg cartons to use as seed starting compartments.  Our favorite cage-free, certified humane brand claims they'll be switching to more sustainable (easier to recycle) cardboard packaging soon, which would also work for seed starts and maybe even be better, as cardboard will decompose pretty quickly in soil, allowing us to potentially plant the entire carton directly into the ground when ready to transplant, which would disturb roots less than popping transplants out of plastic egg cartons, which will obviously not decompose basically ever, though they can be reused from year to year.  

Our current seed starting setup.

I guess the upshot to using the plastic cartons for seed starts is that the plastic acts as a mini-greenhouse, helping keep heat and moisture in with the seeds.  There aren't a lot of areas in our apartment that get sustained direct sunshine, which isn't a problem at this stage--the seeds need to be kept warm at this point, but light doesn't matter--thus the setup here: it's over the baseboard heat, and you can also see our little heat fan, which we run for a few minutes in the morning and sometimes at other times of the day to give them a boost.  We water with the spray bottle, from a bit above.  If we spray directly, the soil goes flying! 

Two days after starting the seeds, we already noticed that our arugula seeds were sprouting!  This is far faster than we imagined, and it's probably due to luck more than our particular skills.  Nothing else is sprouting yet, but that's to be expected: most of the seeds would normally take closer to two weeks to germinate.  We're excited to see how our seed starts fare and to continue nurturing them so, hopefully, they will grow into plants that can nourish us this summer.  

Arugula sprouts!

Beyond the Bin: Recycling Clothes, Furniture, and More

Most people know to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and glass.  But many other things can be recycled, too.  Go to your favorite search engine and type in "how to recycle [thing]," and you'll probably find something.  Still, we wanted to have a page here for these items.  We've just added it, and we'll try to update it periodically.  If you know of a great resource, whether local or national, let us know, and we'll add it to the page!

Potatoes

Continuing on my "prepared foods" binge, our next topic of discussion is potatoes.  Well, I guess we could call them hash browns... hashed browns?  You can buy them in the frozen foods section of the grocery store, but I like my potatoes out of the ground with a little dirt on them... I can hear my dad saying "man up" already.  

Anyway, I do buy potatoes in the store, or more recently, receive them in our CSA.  Hash browns are half of my breakfast every morning and since we are trying to do better on the zero waste front, I decided it is probably just as easy to make them myself vs. buying them pre-shredded and in plastic. 

Actually, I started this little adventure by making home fries.  I would chop the potatoes into small cubes and par broil them...you know, those were pretty good.  I'll just give you the recipe:

Home Fries:

1.  Cut as many potatoes as you want into 1/4"-1/2" cubes. The smaller the better if you like crunchy home fries like me.

2.  Put them all into a pot, and fill the pot with enough water to just cover them.

3.  The goal is to par broil them, meaning soft, but not falling apart.  Usually they come to a boil and need about 5 minutes.

4.  I keep enough to cook for one meal now, and put the rest in a container in the fridge for the rest of the week.  

5.  Mince some onion and throw it in a skillet with some oil (this is optional, but adds a lot of flavor).  Add some cumin, paprika, salt, and anything else that feels right.  (I stop just shy of the kitchen sink.)

6.  Add the potatoes and get everything well coated.  The longer you cook them, the crispier they get.  

Add a couple of eggs and BAM there's breakfast! (Just try not to bam those eggs all over the floor...)

Anyway, back to the hash browns.  If you have a food processer this should take all of 5 minutes.  If you don't, well, this might not be worth it.  It probably isn't worth your time to sit there and grate 2 full potatoes.  Then again, if that's what you have, go for it!

Hash Browns: 

1.  Wash the dirt off the potatoes.  Seems obvious, but Stephanie had to train me on that one. (that was for you Dad... cue the Tim Allen grunt.)

2.  Cut the potatoes in half so they fit in the food processer with the grater attachment.  (I know this is a silly step to have, but I've got to have more than one step in the process right?)

3.  Grate the potatoes...

4.  Dump some into a pan with some oil and cook on medium heat.  

5.  Place the rest of the grated potato on a silicone mat on a baking sheet.  Spread them out into a single layer.  Don't skip the mat on this one, believe me, they will stick to the pan.

6.  Put the sheet pan in the freezer and give it 4 hours.  When they are frozen, take them out, break them up, and put them in a silicone ziplock bag.  Place back in the freezer for tomorrow.

7.  Quick! back to the pan it's going to burn!  Flip the potatoes and finish frying them up.  Add salt to taste.

8.  That's it!  You have just made breakfast and frozen prepared hash browns for the week! 

Food processer!

Hash browns in the skillet

Frozen hash browns

 

Broccoli Anyone?

We can get any food we want, in almost any location, in any season.  It has been this way my whole life.  Have you ever stopped to think about how amazing that is?  When there is snow on the ground outside, I can buy strawberries, peppers, zucchini, summer squash, avocados, and almost anything else I desire.  Part of this is due to the ability to ship food across the country, and part of it is due to the ability to flash freeze and package.

There is a wonderful book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle recommended to me because I want to become a farmer... well, maybe not, but I do enjoy many of the farm tasks like growing vegetables, composting, and moving dirt around.  The book is about the author's family and their attempt to eat only locally grown food for an entire year.  They scour the local farmers markets, grow a surprising amount of their own food, and make it through the year.  The winter of course, is the hardest part as surviving on what can be stored from a fall harvest is tricky, not to mention that root cellars are no longer on the must have list in a new home. (Believe me, I've checked.)

One way of preserving summer and fall vegetables is by freezing them.  Yes this takes energy, not to mention valuable space in the freezer, but things like kale and broccoli don't keep in a root cellar, even if our Wakefield apartment had one. (Which it doesn't, I've looked.)  So I embarked on a project.  Over the summer, my mom has a market garden, though due to COVID, she did not participate in the market, so there was a bounty.  Every week I went grocery shopping in my parent's backyard, picking raspberries, (okay, Stephanie did most of the picking.) kale, spinach, and many other things.  We don't go though all of that in a week, so I started to preserve them.  I'll give the steps I took to freeze things below.

Typically, we  also get an assortment of frozen vegetables when we go food shopping, but they come wrapped in plastic.  While things like broccoli are not strictly in season right now, I thought it is at least better to buy the unpackaged stuff rather, so we tried it.  We now have a re-usable bag full of frozen broccoli and a little less guilt about how it got there.  In the future, we will either grow it ourselves, or buy locally grown and preserve it.

Preserving the broccoli.  This system will also work for other vegetables like kale and spinach.

1.  Cut the vegetable into the size you would like to have later.  I use the broccoli florets and keep the stem for broth.

2.  Blanch or steam until 75% cooked.  Don't cook it all the way because when you reheat it, the veggies will get soggy and gross.

2.  Place a single layer of broccoli on a silicone baking mat which is in turn placed on a cookie sheet. (Now I want cookies).

3.  Let it freeze completely.  I usually leave it overnight.

4.  Place in a reusable bag or container and return to the freezer.  

5.  That's it!  Just take them out of the freezer and add to whatever you are making at the last minute because remember, they are already mostly cooked.

Processing, steaming, and placing in the freezer took about 15 minutes, so this is an easy one!

In the end, we still bought out of season, but have plans for something better next year.  We still have raspberries from last summer in the freezer.  I take them out now and again to make jam or a topping for some delicious dessert.  Maybe I'll do a post on raspberries sometime.

Thoughts on Sustainable Architecture

I quit my job to pursue this most necessary ambition called sustainable architecture.  Once in a while you come to a point when the thing you are doing stops being the right thing.  William McDonough says that there is a difference between asking the question "Am I doing it right?" and "Am I doing the right thing?"  I've been asking myself the second question since I graduated from architecture school in 2012.  My thought back then was I'll learn this profession, the ins and outs, the ways of construction, and then I'll transition to the sustainable way of doing things.  This would allow me to understand conventional construction and to be able to make a case for doing things differently.  I don't know if that was the best way, but it's what I did.

Seven years in, I finally hit that point.  If you are keeping track, that was two years ago. (2021-2012 = 9 years.) Yeah, writing that out was for my benefit... despite a very good architectural education, my math is... passable.  

Anyway, a couple of years ago, I signed up for this new sustainable building standard called Passive House, and my views about how we construct buildings changed forever.  Passive House is a German standard of building developed by building scientists.  The developers understood that there are very obvious ways that buildings gain and lose heat, and those directly impact the energy use of the building and the comfort of those living inside of it.  If you can keep a building from losing heat, then theoretically you don't really have to heat it because humans, appliances, etc. are all producers of heat.  Scientists came up with all kinds of equations to calculate heat loss through the building envelope (walls, roof, floor).

There are five components of Passive House.  I'll list them and then move on, but you can find more information here.

Super-Insulated Envelope

Air-Tight Envelope

Thermal Bridge-Free Construction

High-Performance Glazing

Heat Recovery Ventilation

So I went to school; online and then to NYC where a firm was hosting a week-long class to get certified as a Passive House Consultant.  (I had previously been LEED certified, but the highest rating on that system does not require a net zero building.)  The online portion was easy enough, but the in-person class was the most difficult week I have ever had in architecture education.  This is mostly due to the fact that it was actually mechanical engineering education with LOTS of math. (My favorite, remember?)  I passed the test though, and am now a CPHC (Certified Passive House Consultant). You can see my name listed on the PHIUS (Passive House Institute US) website under Massachusetts.

Fast forward to 2020. After two years of trying to convince my architecture firm that we needed to push the envelope (pun intended),  I had reached the tipping point.  All of the projects going on around me seemed inappropriate.  Nobody was moving in a direction toward sustainability, and I felt like it was no longer "the right thing" to work on projects that didn't take the environment into consideration.  So I quit my job and figured out a way to work on more sustainable projects.  I'm currently working freelance for a couple of different architects and pursuing sustainability at all costs.  

So here are my thoughts:

I use the word appropriate quite often.  It is not appropriate to leave a place worse than I found it.  I learned that in preschool.

I don't think it is appropriate to design a structure that uses more energy than it can produce, or at the very least, more energy than absolutely necessary.  Our resources are finite, and furthermore, they are dirty.  

The building occupants have to pay for the energy a building uses for as long as the building is standing, and it is inappropriate to design something that gives them a higher cost of living or of doing business.  (Passive House, despite its name, is not limited to residential structures.)

I don't think it is appropriate to specify materials that, in the process of construction, expose the builder to harmful chemicals that will likely cause cancer later in life.

I do think it is appropriate to create shelter from the elements.  I think design has an amazing power to change the way people live their lives, or at least to help them live comfortable, healthy lives.  

I do think there is an appropriate way to create that shelter, using the sun, the environment, and the building to mutually benefit each other.

I think that by existing, I have an impact on the things around me.  As William McDonough says, design is a signal of intention.  What then, is our intention, and what kind of an impact can that have?

I think Passive House is a good baseline for design.  Start with a building that produces the same amount of energy that it needs to consume, and that is the starting point.  Then the design is not about reduction and conservation, but about how we want to live our lives.

The above statement should be available and accessible to everyone.  It should not cost two or three times as much, because the right thing should also be the easy thing.  

If being environmentally conscious does cost a little more, we have to find a way to prioritize it.

Find It Used

I have a problem... I admit it, I can't stop looking at Craigslist!  People give away good stuff all the time and all you have to do is go pick it up.  

To be clear, we are not advocates for having lots of stuff.  Quite the opposite in fact.  We purge our apartment often.  We don't want lots of clutter, and we don't want to spend money on items we will not use all of the time.  That said, when we do need something, we are starting to realize the true value of buying used items.  

Stephanie and I are coming to see the benefits of this as we realize more and more that buying new stuff doesn't really benefit our quality of life.  What we really want is the service of some item to gain time, accuracy, or efficiency, but the item itself doesn't necessarily have intrinsic value to us.  It takes lots of resources to create something new, so we are trying to become consumers not of the latest and greatest, but of the older and useful.

The nose of a kayak my parents bought used for me (yard sale!).  The swans in the distance were neither friendly nor happy to see us.

We started our journey (before the pandemic) at Goodwill.  We were moving to our then-new apartment and purging our old ones of all the items that we had picked up over time.  This was eye opening for me because I realized all of the things I had spent money on and how few of them we actually worth keeping.  Someday I'll do a post about buying only what you need and only when you really need it... or maybe it will be part of this post, because that's a really good idea... yeah, okay, here goes.

Only buy what you need when you really need it:

This is such an important part of the whole picture.  Creating fewer items in a more global sense means that fewer resources are dedicated to the making of things.  If I can curb the need to make a cheap plastic snow shovel every winter, or fewer candles because I'm using the whole thing, or a new kitchen scale because I bought one that someone else was done with, it means that the resources to create the item are not used.  

Anyway, back to the original post... Since we were already traveling to Goodwill, we decided to take a look around.  I bought a couple of work and workout shirts, and Stephanie got a couple of pairs of pants.  We spent a total of $10.00 and did not have to buy new.  Craigslist is a whole other adventure, though.  It's like used online shopping.  There are definitely questionable items on there like a woman from Cambridge with a post for three bags of apples.  "I have four bags," she said, "but I'm keeping one of them, so you can have three."  It really is a world of amusement.  Stephanie and I draw the line at food (in case anyone we know is reading this).

Our new philosophy for buying things is as follows:

1.  I need a thing

2.  Do I really need this thing?  Let's wait a couple of days and see if there is a solution to the problem that I already own.  (This is also great for keeping to a budget.)

3.  Do I need to own this item, or can I borrow it?  The library has a host of things you can borrow including a laser measure (which I find useful), telescopes, a guitar, a knitting kit etc.  You can also borrow from a friend.

If all of the above doesn't work:

4.  Can I buy it used?  Goodwill, Savers, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Craigslist and Ebay are all places to buy used items.  (Ebay sometimes sells new stuff, so be careful.)

Sometimes this means we have to wait a little while.  The thing I need may not be available right away or not as fast as it would be from a certain giant e-retailer that shall not be named.  I know this is a difficult thing, but not having exactly what we want exactly when we want it might be a good thing sometimes.  The above process certainly cuts down on buyer's remorse.

Stephanie's wedding dress was used (bought from Rent the Runway), and my suit was used (rented from Men's Warehouse).  Photo credit Val Messer Photography.

In the end, we have bought (or obtained for free, or borrowed, or rented) clothes, a kitchen scale, books, an office chair, bobbins, tongs, a water carafe, a tent, wine glasses, silverware, Stephanie's wedding dress and shoes, my suit, a kitchen table (most of our furniture), teapot, a tennis racket, kayaks, and candle holders.  It is also interesting to note that both of our most expensive possessions (our cars) are used.  Many people buy their most expensive item--their home--used.  I think that sometimes there is a stigma about getting used items, but its not necessary.  

Of course, we do buy new things.  I just bought a new laser measure because I found that I needed one more often than Stephanie could reasonably get it from the library, and accuracy is really important.  So, we are getting better, but as always, not perfect.  

2/7/2021 Quick Update:

Stephanie and I really enjoy a blog called Frugalwoods, and "Mrs. Frugalwood" did a very nice post about the same topic.  Frugalwoods blog

She also wrote a book, which we would also recommend:  Meet the Frugalwoods