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February 20, 2008
Winchester Star
COLUMN: It should be easy going green
By Lucy Osborne
Winchester , MA - In the four years since graduating from Winchester High School, I have had the opportunity to travel near and far and learn from the brightest professors and peers. I have matured and I have changed and I have learned that a young woman coming from the heart of suburbia not only has the ability but the responsibility to make a difference in our world. As a senior at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., I have been given endless opportunities to give back, and I can sincerely say that the most meaningful cause to me is the protection of our environment.
Institutions are reaching out to students to inspire more eco-friendly living, and I in turn am reaching out to my community to encourage change. It is our duty as citizens of planet earth to protect our home, and luckily we have the capacity to do so; all that is lacking is motivation.
I know that change must start at home and that my home, Winchester, is a community of considerate, responsible, knowledgeable and capable citizens of the world. We are in a position to modify our lifestyles in ways that will allow for the safety of generations to come.
The impacts of global warming are daunting and widespread, but the changes we can make are quite simple. There are countless ways that one can ‘go green’ and for the sake of time and space I will mention a few.
Paper cups and bottled water account for a great deal of waste and are easily replaced by reusable containers. If you cannot get through your day without a latte in hand, consider purchasing a travel mug which are inexpensive, durable and, most importantly, reusable. Some coffee shops, such as Starbucks, offer a discount if you use your own mug.
According to a study conducted by the Container Recycling Institute, it takes 1,500,000 barrels of oil per year to make bottles for the United States alone, and ninety percent of those bottles end up being dumped in landfills rather than recycled. It is extremely wasteful and ultimately counterintuitive to pay for a container of one of the world’s most abundant resources.
In 2007, I challenged myself to drinking only out of a travel mug and reusable water bottle for two weeks, and within a few days it became routine. If anyone reading this column feels that they need that Dasani bottle or Dunkin Donuts paper cup, I challenge you to try it my way for two weeks. We are lucky to have drinkable and delicious tap water in Winchester, so fill your Nalgene and drink up.
Choose to purchase local produce you not only support the farmers in our community, but you are reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere through fossil fuels during the transportation of goods. While there is not a great deal of fresh local produce in Massachusetts at this time of the year, produce such as apples, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, ginger, kale and mushrooms are currently available from bordering states such as Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. You will be buying a product of higher quality and servicing the local economies.
Whether you are traveling for leisure or you commute into the city daily for work, an easy, inexpensive and environmentally responsible choice is to take the commuter rail. Taking the 20-minute ride from Town Center to the newly renovated North Station in Boston is surely simpler than navigating traffic and trying to park downtown, and you are reducing carbon emissions at the same time.
If you must drive in the winter, a quick tip is to scrape all of the snow and ice from your vehicle in order to decrease the weight and increase fuel economy. You can also increase your car’s fuel efficiency by making sure that the air pressure in the tires remains high.
In our homes we can encourage well known and often preached solutions such as turning off the water while brushing your teeth and washing the dishes. Also taking shorter showers not only saves water but it reduces carbon dioxide emissions because it lowers the amount of energy used to heat the water.
When your computer is not in use turn off the screen saver! By putting the machine into sleep mode you reduce the energy consumption up to seventy percent and save a great deal of electricity. A computer consumes the same amount of electricity with a screen saver as it does when being actively used.
If a lower electricity bill sounds appealing, consider the problem of vampire power. This issue is as menacing as the name suggests and can also be referred to as wasted standby power. Many appliances in our home use electricity when not in use or when in standby mode. Devices such as VCRs, DVD players, coffee makers and other appliances that continually have a small light on, or the time lit up are prime examples of wasted standby power. Cell phone and iPod chargers draw energy from the outlet regardless of whether or not the electronic is hooked up to the charger
You would not leave the sink running for days simply because at some point you are going to get a glass of water, so do not leave your charger plugged in when not in use. Conserving water and electricity will not only help to save our earth but it will also save you a few bucks on your monthly bills.
One way to make a difference without changing your lifestyle is to purchase carbon offsets. Offsets are essentially donations that go to projects such as renewable energy, methane capture or reforestation which offset carbon emitted somewhere else.
This past Christmas my 17-year-old brother and I were trying to find meaningful gifts for our parents, who claim not to need anything. Our solution was to purchase carbon offsets. In the same way that you order a pair of jeans online we ordered a Home TerraPass, which offset a year of energy emissions for our house, and one Car TerraPass. In terms of carbon emissions, it is as if our mother did not drive her car for an entire year. Buying offsets is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint, and with a simple online search, one can find an abundance of organizations selling them.
It is up to us to ensure that our children and children’s children have the opportunity to picnic on the Common during the springtime, spend summers learning to sail at the Winchester Boat Club, play soccer at the Lynch School in the brisk autumn, and cross-country ski in the snowy Fells in winter.
Often, parents wish to give their children more than they had themselves, and we should be sure not to leave our descendants with an irreversible burden. We must act now so that we are known as the generations that emerged to save our planet rather than those who had the opportunity to act and did not. There are so many reasons to be proud of our community and I look forward to watching Winchester go green.
Editor’s Note:Lucy Osborne, a senior at Union College, in Schenectady, N.Y. and Winchester resident, is actively involved on campus as a part of the college’s recent sustainability efforts.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1779606040
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