Things our family does to be kind to
the environment
(See house Web site at www.the-mcelroys.com )
Green roof on 600 sq ft addition installed June 05, see NBC Nightly News segment at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15223547 (installer http://www.buildinglogics.com/)
Solar hot water installed February 09 (installer http://www.solarservices.com/)
Solar photovoltaic installed March 09 (installer http://www.solarservices.com/)
Home renovation done with a green builder (John Dunn, http://www.2dinnovations.com/), local and sustainable materials, low VOC, 75+% of construction waste reused or recycled
Permeable pavers in drive to eliminate runoff to bay
IR pictures of house to identify places we have heat leaks
Energy survey of house to identify air leaks
Added insulation and blocked leaks per above surveys
Replaced leaky windows with new, energy-efficient
Energy Star appliances
Until December 2008, for several years, we bought 100% wind generated electricity from Pepco, with Dominion still as our distributor. Pepco no longer offers renewable energy in Virginia.
Arcadia handles our Dominion bills; they pay Dominion for our power, with a surcharge to buy RECs from active developing wind farms.
Drive an all-electric BMW i3 (used to drive a Prius for the last 12 years)
Carpool to work intermittently
Telecommute 2 days per week
Carpool my kids to school, and they take the bus home
Carpool to kids' activities where possible
Use fluorescent light bulbs, some LED
Use LED Christmas lights
Maximize time that we have heating and A/C turned off -- goal is 3 months in spring and 3 months in fall
Use a whole house fan and solar-powered attic fans
Don't dry clothes all the way in dryer -- hang dry after short time in dryer
Turn oven off before end of cooking time
Offset plane flights by purchasing carbon offsets (http://www.nativeenergy.com/, http://www.climatetrust.org/, http://www.terrapass.com/)
Belong to Hampton Roads Solar Tour Group; helped design their Web page and Facebook page.
3000-gal rainwater collection cistern that supplies our sprinklers for watering the lawn, dock water, hoses and downstairs toilet flush (John Dunn, http://www.2dinnovations.com/ )
Compost all food and yard waste (rotating composter http://www.composters.com/compost-tumblers.php)
Plant/landscaping with native plants (by http://www.southernbranchnursery.com/ )
Minimized lawn area
No chemical fertilizers or herbicides etc on yard or garden beds
Mulch-cut lawn instead of bagging clippings
Rake rather than use blower (goal)
Garden for growing some of our own food (small)
Buy organic where possible
Eat low on the food chain; meat only once or twice a week
Member of a CSA (community supported agriculture) to get produce from local farmers
Buy meat from Polyface Farm (sustainable farming methods, http://www.polyfacefarms.com/) – except not since they took away Virginia Beach drop-off
Don't eat shrimp (after I read Stolen Harvest by Shiva)
Started healthy snack program at my kids' school where we buy all organic whole-grain snacks, and serve fresh produce (bought from http://www.organicfooddepot.com/)
Participate in soup kitchen for homeless (donate cases of fruit, sometimes cook eggs); save holiday candy for that rather than discarding (or eating!)
Use non-petroleum, non-phosphate laundry detergent and dishwasher soap
Make own natural cleaners when possible
Grind own flour, use natural sweeteners
Prepare food fresh, rather than canned, frozen, or pre-packaged
Buy bamboo products rather than wood or plastic (many sold at Target)
Use all recycled paper products, including toilet paper, paper towel, napkins, copy paper, sticky notes (many available locally at http://www.organicfooddepot.com/, http://www.greenalternativesstore.com/ or order from http://www.treecycle.com/). We strive for 100% post-consumer recycled for everything – our copy paper is 100% post-consumer recycled, non-chlorine, and made from 100% wind energy.
Use tree-free compostable paper plates (don't use often, available locally at http://www.greenalternativesstore.com/ or order from http://www.biodegradablestore.com/)
Use recycled toothbrushes that we send back for re-recycling into plastic furniture (Preserve toothbrushes locally at http://www.greenalternativesstore.com/ or order from http://www.preserveproducts.com/)
Grocery shop (and other shopping) using cloth and string bags
Recycle all feasible materials (including yogurt containers to Green Alternatives, bottle caps to Aveda)
Save and re-use, or take to packing store, all bubble wrap and Styrofoam peanuts
Re-use plastic grocery bags
Re-use egg crates (take back to store for re-use by poultry farm)
Recycle all home appliances and electronics at e-cycle days (rather than throwing in trash)
Use rechargeable batteries (saves lots of $, http://www.realgoods.com/)
Use reusable water bottles instead of disposable plastic, see http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/
Save children's clothes/toys and offer to three other families, then take rest to second-hand clothing store
Buy some of kids' clothes from second-hand clothing store (The White Rabbit, Norfolk)
Use scrap paper where possible
Print double-sided
Recycled CD cases at http://www.sustainablegroup.net/store/cd-dvd-cases-and-sleeves/
Helped get our kidsŐ school to compost all food waste at their 2010 Field Day event; now they compost lunches year-round
Have a huge lending library and reading list of environmental books
Send environmental books to selected political leaders
Submit shareholder's resolutions every year to Dominion Resources to try and get them to use more renewable power sources
Invest in socially and environmentally conscious funds, invest in community notes, give to Heifer International, RyanŐs Well and similar groups
Kids ask for donations to charitable groups rather than birthday presents at their birthday parties
Give blood
Volunteer for elections where environmental issues are at stake
Give environmentally related lectures to various groups (Girl Scouts, NASA LaRC, garden clubs)
Clean the Bay Day – cleaning up our local waterfront!
Hosted party for Mothers Out Front, http://www.mothersoutfront.org
Work with organizations like Virginia Community Capital to do no-interest loans for organizations to install solar
2013 CCAN documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYWnhCEyKM&list=UUn1t4IxMy5XmS5D3zFpIQqg&feature=c4-overview (at 18 and 28 min) Sea of Change