This is where the panels will be placed on our property.

We are taking the plunge and going solar! It took us a long time to make the decision but, we finally signed the paperwork and are moving forward with it. We decided to go with a ground mounted array, which will be owned and maintained by SolarCity. We will pay them a lump sum up front and then nothing else for our electricity for the next twenty years. If anything goes wrong with the panels they will take care of it. The one downside is that if our power goes out, we do not get the benefit of having solar power. The panels will be feeding into the grid, so our electricity won’t be directly from the panels, and we won’t be able to use it when the power lines are down. It would be nice if it was an option to use the solar panels as a backup if the main power lines are down. If they had some kind of switch that turned the flow of electricity off to the grid in the event of a power outage, and turned it on for our house. Alas, that is not so!

The SolarCity truck on the day of our site audit.

The first step in the process was to sign the papers with the sales rep. Then they sent out site auditors who came and spent four hours checking out the house and the property to make sure that the site and the house really would work with the panels. We passed the site audit and they marked off certain trees that needed to come down in order for the panels to get adequate sunlight. They also marked off where the array is going to go on our property. We then had the trees removed and cleared in the area where the array will be. We are now waiting for them to come back and photograph the area and take new solar readings. Then hopefully they will begin construction in the early spring. We are hoping that the panels will be in by March or April at the latest, so that we can take full advantage of the long (hopefully sunny) days in the spring leading up to the summer solstice.

Once the panels are in place, they should cover 100% of our electricity usage. If we go over the amount that they can cover, then we have to pay a per kilowatt amount, but we are pretty confident that we will be able to stay within the allotted amount. Stay tuned for more as we continue in the process to go solar!

We had been using the basement to store a lot of outdoor gear, craft supplies, photo albums, ect… and realized that we would not be able to use it for this if we made it into a living space. So we had to figure out where those items would go, but again we wanted to find a way to utilize our existing spaces. The attic was an unused space, but had only a little square in the ceiling to access it, so we decided to add a pull-down stair case, reinforce the beams and put in a plywood floor. The work was done throughout March, April and into May of 2011. When it was completed we had not changed the footprint of the house, but we had gained a family room, which doubles as a guest room, a 3/4 bath, a utility sink area,  and storage in the attic.

The basement family room

The deck with the awning retracted.

Our downstairs can feel very cramped at times and we have this wonderful large deck off the back, but in the summer it gets too hot to use. We thought about putting on a screened-in porch, but that would be resource intensive and costly. So we found that a low impact/low cost way to go about that would be to buy a retractable awning. It is not the most attractive option, but it is economical and versatile. We have it up all summer when it provides shade for the deck and the

kitchen, and in the winter we can put it away and get the passive solar heating in the kitchen. We also now have more living space utilizing the existing deck because of the awning.

The kids at the bike rack

When we arrived at school there were bikes already on the bike rack – so exciting for us because their other school had an empty bike rack all year round. There were many other kids and some adults putting their bikes in the racks. We said goodbye to the kids and then Aaron and I parted ways at the entrance to the school. As I was riding home I passed all the kids walking together and it just gave me the best feeling inside to see all those kids and parents supporting walking to school. I know they had a few other walk to school days throughout the year, so that it is not just one isolated event. Even though I have been walking my kids to school in all kinds of weather for the last four years in Haverhill, there were only a handful of others who also walked their children. It felt very good to be a part of this new community that values getting children out and exercising and reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Check out all the bikes!

1. It only took a few days to unpack all the boxes, and put the things where they should go.The boxes made the house feel so crammed that we had to just unpack and put stuff away as fast as possible.

2. It forces you to be very organized and creative about where things will go. Even though I had purged a lot of stuff before moving, I have already made three more trips to the Salvation Army with more items that don’t have anywhere to go here. Because we don’t have any storage other than the basement, which is also our laundry room, workout room, playroom, and tool room, we cannot hold onto stuff that we “might” use later.

3. It does not take very long to vacuum it. With only one bathroom it is very quick to clean that too.

4. We are spending a lot more time outside where there is more space to move around! The kids are outside more to be in the backyard playing croquet, basketball, street hockey, soccer, 500, tag, football, ect…

5. It does not take that long to paint the rooms because they are not very big.

6. The kids are learning to share more and spending more time together in their tiny room. They do bicker a little more, but they also seem to be even closer friends than before.

7. It will cost less to heat in the winter and will use less energy. One bathroom means less water is being used.

Of course there are disadvantages too but they seem a little petty…

1. We have to get rid of some stuff that I would like to keep and has sentimental value.

2. I cannot put up all of our photos and pictures that I like.

3. The kids do seem a little crammed into their room with all of their Legos, but I just cannot bring myself to make them get rid of any of the Legos.

4. At some point, although it has not happened yet, there will be an issue over the bathroom use. Especially when the boys get old enough to want to sit on the toilet with their computer or a magazine and hang out there for twenty minutes.

5. In the winter, when we cannot use the deck and go outside as much, it will be somewhat close quarters in the living room and dining room.

6. It requires more thought and planning to find a spot for everything.

7. We cannot have a wood stove at the moment, but we are trying to figure out how and where it could go.

For the most part we are really happy with our decision and are adjusting to the reduced square footage. I love that our yard is big enough to have a compost bin and at some point a nice sized garden.  At the moment we are using a gas powered mower, which pains me, but hopefully we will move to a “greener” mower soon.

1. paper bag

2. newspaper

3. magazine

4. egg carton

5. container with plastic lid

6. 2 liter plastic bottle

They have been using the materials all week to do different activities in the classroom. The newspaper was used for a center where they were to find certain vowels and consonant combinations in the sentences. The egg carton was used to make a math game. The numbered the wells and then used three pebbles in the box. They shake up the box and then open it. They then write down the three numbers that the pebbles are on and have to add them up. The container with the plastic lid is used to make a piggy bank, which is decorated with the magazine pages. The plastic lid has a slit cut in it for the money to go through. The paper bag is used to make a book, which they then write a story in of their choice. The plastic bottle is cut in half and soil is put in the bottom and the kids plant sunflower seeds.

His class has also been asked to bring lunches and snacks that do not create waste. So, no prepackaged foods. I don’t know how well this has been able to be enforced, but I love that it is emphasized, even if just for a week. They have been using white boards to write on in class instead of using paper and they are asked to remember their homework each night, because it is not in worksheet form this week. One night his assignment was to do something good for the earth (we walked home from school instead of using the car), another was to tell me a story he had learned in class called “The Kapok Tree”. He had another assignment where he was suppose to show one of us how to play his egg carton game, and on another night he was to read a story to us from his reading book about being a nature detective.

These activities are a wonderful way to introduce the concepts of reduce, reuse, recycle to kids. I am so grateful that both my sons had a teacher (Graham actually had two), who take the time to do these kinds of thoughtful activities in their classrooms. Thank you Mrs. Kozlowski!

Or should I say, the purging. In order to move to a smaller house we have quickly realized just how much stuff we have accumulated over the six years that we have been here. Luckily, I am a purger and get a certain amount of enjoyment from de-accessioning. We are starting to see the benefits of a smaller house from an environmental stand point as well. It is less space to heat, the house is actually insulated, and has two heating zones. There are less rooms, so we will have fewer lights on since we will most likely be congregating in the same room most of the time. Because it is smaller, we will spend more time outdoors (there is a nice deck on the house and a park across the street). It only has one bathroom so we will not be using as much water as we would with two toilets and showers will be shorter to allow everyone to get a turn! We will not be able to buy much new stuff because there is nowhere to store it, which will make us more conscientious consumers.

It is amazing how much stuff I have allowed myself to accumulate and how much of it is unnecessary. I went through our dishes and was able to cull half of them. I went through our towels and again took away half. I have gone through the kids’ toys and found many that they do not play with and gave them to people who will use them. It has forced me to really look at our clothing, books, kitchen items, and furniture with a critical eye to decide if we really need it. I have already taken two full car loads to the Salvation Army, several boxes of books to the library, and put many items on freecycle. And still I am not finished! How is it possible that we have so much stuff? And we don’t even have a huge home. So, the process continues as we move from a not so big house to a very small house….

A few weeks ago we were on our way to school, and just as we were about to cross the street, a car stopped at the crosswalk was rear-ended right in front of us. I was totally shaken by it. The crossing guard was right in the middle of the street when it happened. Luckily I had waited to step into the street, because so often cars go around each other and have a hard time stopping. I got the kids to school and spent the rest of the day high on adrenaline trying to get over the experience. My first inclination was to change my younger son over to the other school which we can walk to safely. But that did not sit well since he has been in class for two months and he has a great teacher. My other options were to try and walk a different route where there is a stop light (although I have to cross two busy streets on this route), put him on the bus, or drive him. I decided that the bus would be the safest and greenest option, although I wanted to try walking the other way to make sure. In the morning the bus takes him to school in about 5 minutes, although it feels kind of silly when we live so close. The afternoon the bus takes 30 minutes for him to get home. This seems really silly. I tried walking him the long way yesterday, and just as we are about to cross at the crosswalk, a car almost rear-ends the car waiting at the crosswalk. I couldn’t believe it! So, that is not going to work either. I put him on the bus again today, which he was very excited about, but I feel defeated. I believe in walking and that the kids should be getting the exercise and not using fossil fuels, but I cannot make them walk when it is not safe, just to prove my environmental gusto. So we are no longer walking to school in the mornings for sure. I may still try in the afternoons at times. The drivers seem to be a little less aggressive in the afternoons. It just makes me so sad that our culture is so car focused that kids cannot even walk to school safely. Sometimes I really think we are going to end up like the people in the movie Wall-E, fat and riding around in motorized chairs with TV screens on them.