From Kansas City Star
The steps can be simple or very complex, but the returns are just great, these families say.
Local architect Kirk Gastinger and his wife, Joan, are passionate about the environment.
So are Don Reck, director of the Kansas City Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and his wife, Kathy Stillson-Reck.
Both families have incorporated environmentally beneficial steps in their lives through the years. And they have found that their investments in the environment have also helped their pocketbooks — though the payoffs often may be long term and hard to measure.
"There are lots of examples emerging locally, nationally and internationally how the economy and environment are mutually compatible objectives," said Tom Jacobs, environmental program director for the Mid-America Regional Council.
The Gastingers, for example, live in a passive solar house they built in 1989, after having lived in one they built in 1981.
"We had been exploring how to do that," said Kirk Gastinger, who is a principal at Gastinger Walker Harden Architects in Kansas City. "Luckily, architects get to build their own homes, and it becomes a laboratory in our profession. It takes time to see if it works."
The passive solar design allows for better use of the sun for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. The Gastingers also use a type of wood-burning radiant fireplace, called a Russian fireplace, during winter. The fireplaces can be expensive to install; Gastinger said the units are at least "about the same as putting in a furnace."
The Russian fireplace in the Gastinger home is centrally located and radiates in all directions. It reduces the amount of natural gas they consume and helps shave about $150 off their winter gas bill.
"One thing I do is research and keep track of costs as I incorporate each of these things at home," Gastinger said. "The payback is reasonable in the long term, and it is very comfortable."
The Recks were able to reduce their water use by about 30 percent after installing low-flow toilets and showerheads. Switching to compact fluorescent bulbs alone has helped reduce their level-payment electric bills by 20 percent. After installing an energy-efficient furnace and cooling system, their electric bill has been reduced by an additional 25 percent and their gas bill by 35 percent.
The Gastingers and Recks are among a growing number of consumers who have "gone green" by trying to lessen their dependence on natural resources.
Advocates say the movement is picking up steam, especially in light of $70-a-barrel oil prices.
Jamie Frazier, president and chief executive of Bridging the Gap, a local group that promotes environmental awareness, said more people are taking action for a variety of reasons.
"Sixty percent to 65 percent of those alive now will be alive in 2050," he said. "People look at their children, and they are concerned about their children and their children's children."
And they are taking responsibility in small and big ways.
Gastinger has been an advocate of the importance of environmental stewardship since the first Earth Day in 1970.
"It was all about conservation and what we are doing about our resources," he said.
Gastinger's advice to others looking to adapt environmentally friendly concepts into their homes: "Don't do it all at once. Research it and work it into your life."
One of the simplest steps you can take is to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, said Joan Gastinger.
They cost more than incandescent bulbs, but they last eight to 10 times longer, use about 75 percent less energy and produce about 90 percent less heat per bulb.
The Gastingers replaced all the incandescent bulbs in their home with compact fluorescent ones, and they are still glowing more than two years later.
Use energy-efficient appliances if possible, such as a front-loading clothes washer. Gastinger, who has done the research, said some top-loading washers use as much as 30 gallons of water a load. Some front-loaders, on the other hand, use 11 gallons for a full-size load. And with some washers, the spin cycle rids the clothes of so much water that you can significantly cut down on your dryer use.
Simply adding plants indoors is an environmentally friendly move that won't tax your budget. Plants emit oxygen that people need to breathe while absorbing the carbon dioxide that people exhale. Plants also absorb toxins in the air.
Then take a look at your yard.
The Gastingers and Recks landscape with native plants that tolerate the area's weather patterns. That results in less water use and less gas for mowing, which means less pollution. And landscaping with shrubs and bushes around your house can provide insulation from the cold in the winter.
If you're on a very tight budget, said Gastinger, the first line of good energy conservation is insulation. The second is to seal all joints and cracks.
"Do that and you'll save money right away," he said.
Recycling bandwagon
Don Reck's concern about protecting the environment evolved from community activism in the early 1980s.
Reck worked on issues such as the community's right to know about hazardous materials in neighborhoods. And he joined city leaders and groups such as Bridging the Gap, where he worked for several years, in pushing for a citywide recycling program in Kansas City.
"It took another 25 years for the curbside recycling program, but it was a result of those early efforts," he said.
Kathy Stillson-Reck said that when she went to work for Bridging the Gap in 1997, one of the first things she did was "jump on the recycling wagon."
"I learned more about the value of recycling and how simple it was for people to incorporate it into their everyday lives," she said.
The Recks recycle, they compost food waste, and they use rain barrels to catch and use runoff from their roof.
By using rain barrels, the Recks this summer were able to water their yard using only water from the rain barrels.
The Recks, like the Gastingers, also have incorporated rain gardens in their landscape. One rain barrel hooked to a downspout at the corner of the Recks' garage is linked to a soaker hose that snakes through one garden. With the turn of a spigot, they can water their yard. They have installed two rain barrels and plan several more.
"People don't think one person can make a difference, but if we all do a little, we all do a lot," Stillson-Reck said.
Bottom-lining costs
Rain barrels and rain gardens are easy enough measures to take and shouldn't cost you a fortune. In fact, they can save you money.
According to the Mid-America Regional Council, each downspout on a house can drain about 12 gallons of water a minute during a one-inch rainfall. During the summer months, it is estimated that nearly 40 percent of household water is used for lawn and garden maintenance.
Most downspouts send rainwater down driveways, sidewalks and underground pipes that lead to storm drains or sewer lines. The runoff picks up pollutants from motor oil, lawn chemicals and pet waste along the way before entering lakes and streams untreated.
But if managed properly, such as using rain barrels and rain gardens, the water that flows off rooftops or pavement can keep lawns and gardens green while lowering utility bills during the spring and summer months and reduce the pollutants that enter lakes and streams.
Don Reck said the ReStore often has rain barrels available for about $35. Kathy Stillson-Reck took a rain barrel workshop at Bridging the Gap. For about $30, she learned how to implement a rain barrel system and got a barrel.
The Recks also buy food from a local organic grower and purchase grass-fed beef from a local farmer.
"Buying produce directly from local growers cost me about $18.20 a week," Reck said. "But I seem to reduce my grocery bill by about $35 a week, so there is a net gain of $16.80 a week. I use the food I get from the growers for more meals, reducing meat dishes, and focus on the fresh vegetables for entrees."
For certain projects in and around their home, the Recks use recycled goods from the ReStore and from thrift stores.
"There is a lot more that needs to be incorporated, but we do what we can with what we have," Don Reck said.
Adding up the savings
Bridging the Gap, a local nonprofit organization that promotes environmental awareness, offers some easy ways to start a more sustainable lifestyle:
• Adjust your thermostat. By lowering your thermostat three degrees in the winter and moving it up three degrees in the summer, you can prevent the emission of almost 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
• Buy products in aluminum cans when possible. They contain an average of 50 percent recycled material.
• Using a low-flow showerhead and faucet aerators saves nearly 8,000 gallons of water and prevents more than 450 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
• Wash clothes in warm or cold water instead of hot. You'll save on your bill, and for two loads a week you'll reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 500 pounds a year
• Plant a tree. A single tree absorbs one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
• Recycle and rethink purchases. Since one-fifth of waste is from packaging, avoid buying overpackaged items, including food. Packaging also is a big part of the cost of goods, so you can save money too.
• Keep your tires properly inflated. If every car owner kept tires properly inflated, it would save 21 million barrels of oil each year.
• Recycle your motor oil. The oil you recycle is refined again and then sold as usable oil.
• Place a layer of mulch around trees and plants. This slows the evaporation of moisture and saves on your water bill.
By Victoria Sizemore Long
