Climate Column: How to conserve resources, add beauty to your home
Neighbors share the easy home upgrades they have made to cool their resource use.
The Argus Courier has asked our Campaign Director, Natasha Juliana, to write a monthly climate column for the newspaper. Here is the December installment:
NATASHA JULIANA
COOL PETALUMA
January 26, 2023
Cool Petaluma trained its first cohort of leaders exactly one year ago. They enthusiastically rallied their neighbors and together went on to take actions that reduce their resource consumption while improving their lives.
Why is this important? We all realize that individual actions done privately won't move the needle. But take those individual actions and do them collectively and publicly, now we can create a wave of change. So, let’s amplify the work of individuals by sharing their experiences. Here are two inspiring stories to kickstart the new year.
Carol Larson was one of the first people to step up to lead her block on this new journey back in January of 2022. Larson has lived in the same home in the Cherry Valley neighborhood for 48 years. One of the things she loves about her block is the nice mix of longtime residents and young families. Not only did she work to bring her neighbors together, but as she made improvements in her own home, she could now share the results with her community.
“After September's killer heatwave, we old folks decided we could no longer count on the coastal AC,” explained Larson. As a side note - extreme heat generally results in the highest death rate among weather-related hazards and as the planet continues to warm, it is smart to start planning for hotter days, not only for comfort, but safety. Because her gas furnace was only eight years old, she didn’t toss it out, but instead supplemented it with a new electric heat pump, which will very efficiently deliver both heating and cooling.
“I had NO idea how it would affect our PG&E bill, but decided to go with it anyway,” said Larson. “Well what do you know, it lowered the bill considerably! It was already low as we have solar panels, but November’s bill (when we had those below freezing nights) was a grand total of $43.79!” The permit for the new system required an energy assessment of the home which came back with good news. The only additional recommendations were to add new weatherstripping around exterior doors and replace the old water heater, making this the perfect time to plan for an uber-efficient heat pump water heater. Larson is thrilled with the results and excited to share her positive experience with others.
Over in the Oak Hill Neighborhood, team leader Mary Lindsay has been happily watching her rain tanks fill and overflow this winter. Lindsay initially picked up Daily Acts’ materials about grey water systems and rainwater collection systems at the Cool Petaluma Local Resource Expo held at Lagunitas last spring. She wasn't up for a DIY project, so she hired a local installer. First, they put in a grey water system, which delivers laundry water to thirsty backyard trees. Then, they installed the rainwater collection system, with Lindsay receiving a 50-cent-per-gallon rebate for the tanks through a Sonoma County Program. Last, but not least, they dug a rain garden, a planted depression in the soil which allows water to be absorbed on site, preventing it from becoming polluted and erosive stormwater runoff.
Lindsay was surprised by the results. “It’s amazing the volume of water that can be collected from the roof! The two 530-gallon tanks filled well before these recent storms.” She’s right. A 1,000 square foot roof can collect 600 gallons of water with every inch of rainfall! “Now, with each new downpour, the overflow from the tanks flows into our rain garden where it slowly seeps into the ground instead of running into the storm drains,” observed Lindsay. “And, it looks pretty too!”
Both these stories are great illustrations of how conserving resources can simultaneously add comfort and beauty into our lives.
If you are ready to jump in and create more comfort and beauty in your life, check out the Cool Petaluma website for information on upcoming team leader trainings as we launch new cohorts in February and March.
Natasha Juliana is the Campaign Director for Cool Petaluma. She can be reached at natashaj@coolpetaluma.org For information on how to get involved, visit coolpetaluma.org