Walking the Walk: Investing in Sustainability

I'm an educator. The most BASIC premise of my philosophy of teaching is to be a good role model, practice what I preach, observe The Golden Rule, walk the walk, talk the talk, be a woman of action.

To that end, I want to share a few of my own humble efforts to Save The World. I have to point out that Technicians for Sustainability manifested my intention with their excellent work. Talk about walking the walk--they really do put values into action.

And yes, they include my testimonial in the rotation of compliments on their work on the homepage. I just found that when I verified the link so I could share with y'all. "It's amazing what pride and serenity I feel as I go about my daily routine, and see the results of your efforts and my investment. I have wanted to do this work for years, and it feels like a big accomplishment to finally have all of these systems in place. I am very, very pleased." Heather S., solar hot water, photovoltaic and rainwater catchment customer. Amazing how tickled I get to see my name in print, especially in unexpected sources. It's like that scene in Amelie where the discouraged writer, Hipolito, sees a quote from his work painted on the wall with his name beneath it. It puts a little hop in your step.

I have two rainwater collection cisterns made of corrugated culverts. One is 4x8 feet, and it holds approximately 650 gallons of water, and receives about 520 gallons per 1 inch of rain. Another is 5x8 feet, and holds approximately 1,000 gallons of water, receiving about 480 gallons per one inch of rainfall.

My Photovoltaic System is 3,150 watts DC with an estimated monthly production of 400KWH. My estimated monthly environmental savings include 890 pounds of CO2, 400 pounds of coal, 1.5 pounds NOx and 2.5 pounds of SO2. (For the techies, my system is, specifically, a 18 Solarworld 175 monoP model with a Xantrex GT3.0 inverter, mounted on a shingle roof with a 32° pitch.)

My solar hot water heater is a Sunearth Solaray closed loop system. This includes a 4x8-foot solar collector mounted above the garage, an 80 gallon water electric water heater with internal heat exchanger, differential controller and AC pump.

I have a Metlund electric water pumping system that brings hot water to my master bathroom (furthest from the water heater) by pulling water from the hot water tank and returning ambient house temperature water back to the hot water tank. I push a button, wait a few minutes while the small motor under my sink whirs away, then I step right into a warm shower. Not a single gallon gets poured down the drain while I wait for the water to heat up. The kids enjoy pushing buttons, especially for a good cause. The pump was installed with grace by The Solar Store, where I also obtained a solar oven.

I have two Gerber 1.6 gpf (gallons per flush!) dual flush toilets, which use air to help move waste along the way to the septic tank. My timing may not have been very good for installing those last year at the peak of potty training my youngest, because they are LOUD and he's still afraid to flush the toilet in his bathroom. "Let's do it together," he says, and then he shudders and jumps and asserts, "I'm brave!" when the deed is done.

My children enjoy taking their showers out on the patio with my solar shower, a device that I unearthed from my camping box. The novelty hasn't yet worn off, and the 4 gallons of water gives my patio-side mint collection a good watering every evening.

So this is some of what I do at home to Live in Syn(tropy).

Cheers,
Heather