I planted this plant and butterflies are coming like crazy!

Last summer I joined Tangerini's CSA with my neighbor. Each week we got fresh produce. It was fun to visit the farm and then to enjoy eating fresh local food. I know we received a great value from the CSA.

In 2014, I had insulation added in the ceiling of my garage (which is right under my master bedroom), a crawlspace, and a wall between an unheated entry and a bedroom. In 2015, I installed spray foam in my attic. The spray foam made the most noticeable difference: my oil usage dropped 30%, the house was less drafty, and to my surprise my electric bill dropped 20% in the winter because the circulator pumps for my baseboard hot water didn't need to run as much. Spray foam is expensive and if I had it to do over, I might take one contractor's recommendation for what is called "flash-and-batt". Instead of spraying foam in multiple layers to fill the entire rafter depth, you spray one layer (~2 inches) then put batts of fiberglass or mineral wool on top of that. You still get both the air sealing benefit of the spray foam and good insulation (though not as high as all spray foam) but the flash-and-batt would have been half the cost. Also, be careful of what spray foam you use because some use a blowing agent that has a more potent global warming impact than CO2, some of them hundreds of times more impact which undoes the carbon reduction you get for many years. My contractor used a Lapolla foam which has only the same global warming potential as CO2.

Three years ago we replaced a section of our lawn with several aruncus also known as goat’s beard astilbe plants. All of the plants are thriving with little to no care. The voluminous feathery white foliage and green leaves of the aruncus in early summer are more pleasurable to look at than the lawn that it replaced. We leave the dried flowers in place over the winter to provide a delightful contrast to the white snow.

The food waste composting program at the Transfer Station is so easy to use. I love it.

What I really like about this program is that most food is accepted - not just produce. I also have a backyard composter, but the program at the transfer station takes the items I can’t put in my backyard like meat, fish, bones, eggs, dairy (no liquids) & cooked foods/baked goods. It’s great for turkey carcasses and corn cobs!

I use the pail with a special sealing lid and a kitchen scrap bucket that is available from Wills Hardware. I line the scrap bucket with biodegradable liners, also available at Wills. I keep the scrap bucket on my kitchen counter and when it is full, I transfer it to the pail in the garage. It doesn’t smell since I move it to the pail before it starts to. In the summer, I put the bags of scraps in the freezer instead of in the pail which keeps everything fresher. When I take my trash to the Transfer Station, I bring the pail and empty it in one of the barrels to the right of the tip floor/blue building. You can use whatever works for you…just don’t put anything but food and the biodegradable liners in the bins. (ex. If you bring your food scraps in a plastic bag or container, dump them out…never leave anything but food and the biodegradable liners)

I like knowing I am helping the environment by separating my food waste for this program. The food waste is picked up weekly and then turned into soil at farms OR taken to a facility where it is processed anaerobically and used for energy.

Despite buying a house that was only 16 years old and thus largely updated we called for an energy evaluation to see if they have any tips. It was terrific. The consultant changed all of our lightbulbs to LED for free. She advised us about insulation, our heating and A/C system, and air quality. She advised adding insulation, sealing drafts, and adding ventilation. We paid only $751 on a contract of $4,216. Our energy conservation has improved and we are more comfortable with improved air quality.