Green and greener

   I'm old enough to remember when Earth Day was first observed in 1970, but admit that I didn't seriously practice what was preached until becoming a homeowner decades later.

   Now a faithful curbside recycler, I volunteered to sort the trash following a potluck Thanksgiving dinner last fall in our church hall.

   If there's a line at the drive-thru, I'll park and walk inside.

   Most of our light fixtures have those energy-saving bulbs, although I don't think they're bright enough for reading.

   And count me among those who appreciate the roundabout that recently replaced the traffic light at a busy intersection near my house.

   Whether your motivation is saving dollars or making environmental sense, how green are you?

   … Janice L. Habuda

Comments

[Art Klein]

We get a kick out of the realization that being green can also save you money.

We were married in the early 1970’s and rented an apartment in North Buffalo wile we considered where to buy our home. We both had steady employment at about the median level for Buffalo.

Since we both worked in Buffalo we made these criteria for our home: City; near business; near bicycle access areas; near shopping and we even did a compass radial search on a map for housing we could afford that was within two miles then three miles then four miles of where I, the main breadwinner worked.

We found our place within the three-mile radius a block from Delaware Avenue. For the next thirty years I drove just three cars about five to eight thousand miles a year and mostly bicycled and walked and even cross-country skied to work. My wife care pooled and took the bus.

In 1973 after the oil crisis I hired a man to insulate our home with rock wool insulation and never paid over $90.00 a month for heating. We replaced all the windows and doors with thermal units over the years.

We have since moved further out but when we look back we enjoy the irony that we were green before it was identified as such but also we saved lots of money and I’m well over 70 years of age and I still have one strong ticker from those daily exuberant excursions by bike, foot and ski.

Be as green as you can and you will be ahead of the pack later in life.

[Achai Kamau]

I have attempted to become paperless. I rarely (if ever) print anything at home; when I receive important paper documents, I scan them into my computer and then recycle them. I communicate only via email and phone. A data backup every couple of months eases my anxiety concerning computer crashes.

I only wish we could institute paperless policies in our workplaces. The financial and environmental savings would be substantial. In my experience, we print only out of convenience, not necessity.

While I plan to never own a car, I could not afford one anyhow. I use the NFTA buses and trains every day and they have been fantastic (and a great bargain). I also bike everywhere I can.

I always pack my lunch in a Tupperware container and reuse plastic bags and water bottles. At home I use natural lighting whenever possible.

[Rust Belt Catholic]

I bike everywhere in the city; I only use my car if I'm driving out of town. It's not because I'm green, though, it's more just because I work in a sedentary profession and I need the exercise.