Friday, August 22, 2014

Notes from our Conversation on the Environment


What, if anything can we as individuals do about the environment?

We had our first community conversation this week in Lincoln.  We were a small group, all from Lincoln but we were fortunate to have a representative from http://greeninglincoln.org join us.  They are a fabulous local resource. We had a lively and interesting conversation and it was a lot of fun!  For the most part we tried to keep focused on our main topic and really just sort of list out ideas of ways we can have an impact.  Here is what we came up with: 

·      Drive the speed limit.  One of our members said that driving the speed limit or less has a major impact on gas consumption.   According to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.jsp by observing the speed limit we will use 33% less gas at highway speeds and 5% less around  town.  That's like saving about $0.10 to $0.35 per gallon.  At 15 gallons of gas a week that would be a savings of $78 to $273 a year.

·      MassSave – having them in to conduct a free energy audit can save loads of money.  One person just had them in last month and got two new water saving shower-heads and 20 or so energy efficient light bulbs for free.  In addition, through MassSave she was able to get her entire house insulated at a fraction of the cost due to a government supplement.
o   From the MASSSave website “ Each incandescent bulb you replace with an ENERGY STAR certified light bulb will save you about $10 in energy costs each year.
§  10$*20bulbs=$200/year in savings just on light bulbs.
§  Rebates available at MassSave sight: http://www.masssave.com/residential/mass-energy-rebate
§  You could qualify (and we did) for an instant insulation incentive worth 75% up to $2,000 on the cost of approved insulation improvements.

·      One person has barely needed to use oil to heat her house for the last two years since she installed a pellet stove.  Easy to use, clean, green and inexpensive, great combination!

·      One person has so many trees he does not require air conditioning in his house!

·      While it is great that Lincoln’s sidewalks are bike friendly, it would be wonderful if we had them all along 117.  There are a couple places where they are missing.  It would also be nice to have bike lanes in and between Lincoln and Waltham.

·      The town of Lincoln has an Infra-Red camera that Lincolnites can use for free.  Using this camera we can identify air leaks around windows etc.

·      Lincoln also has a Kill-A-Watt meter we can use.  Using this tool we can measure how much energy our various electrical devices, appliances etc use and, well, I guess we could consult our friend the internet to determine if the results are within a normal range.

·      One person is considering finishing her driveway and is considering using some kind of permeable material instead of the usual blacktop material.  This would allow water to permeate the surface in addition to draining off the sides.

·      One of us (me) has been using an electric lawnmower with great success for years.  Gas mowers are unregulated and have been determined to be a major carbon contributor.
o   I use a Neuton http://www.neutonpower.com.  Any problems, call them up, they send the part right away, easy to replace.  Super easy to use.

·      All of us are walkers and grateful to live in such a walk-able town.  Would be nice to have some more ‘destinations’ such as little mini parks or benches strategically located that we could walk to and meet and chat with a friend.

·      Lincoln has received a grant to fund changing the street lights to LEDs.

·      Solar energy, lots to talk about there.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could spread that program out.  Lincoln has received grants to fund solar power at the landfill and at the police and firestation.  There are some ongoing conversations among the Green Lincoln people about how to expand Lincoln’s Solar power.

Our next Community Conversation will be 7 pm August 26 at the Waltham Public Library.  The topic will be “How can we both remove the stigma and address the unmet mental health needs of so many among us?”  Hope more than three of us show up this time!!!

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