our home electricity is supplied in large part by our solar panels.

I do a lot of cooking from scratch--onion skins in garbage almost every day. And coffee grounds every day. I'm lucky that my garage where my cute little composting pail resides is only 50 steps from my kitchen. So I have a small cup at my sink for organic waste and I empty it every day or more often. It's just one more form of consciousness in a world that needs it.

When faced with a huge repair bill on my 2011 Prius (the cost of living in the wilds of Sudbury, home to voracious mice!) I had to buy a new (used) car just before Thanksgiving 2020. Having had a Prius since my first in 2004, I quickly settled on a 2018 Prius Prime, eager to have an electric option. It was possible to charge it via the basic 110v outlet on my front porch, though with increasing difficulty as winter arrived. I became increasingly less willing to drag the charger cord over mounds of snow, or in heavy rain, as the weather worsened. And it took 8 hours to fully charge. After researching available options, I had a JuiceBox (240v charger) installed in my garage and am loving it, getting a full charge in a mere 2 hours! While the EV range is not very impressive, it is sufficient for local errands and trips. Now I charge my Prius almost every night. Over the first seven months, I only went to a gas station twice since. So much fun watching my mpg rise to 344 mpg! Amortized over the decade I expect to keep this car, the JuiceBox charger (plus installation) will more than pay for itself. I highly recommend the Prius Prime to anyone who's considering buying a car.

When we were on the verge of relocating to MA from PA a few years ago, my wife needed to replace her old car. At that time a pure EV was not a satisfactory option, because we'd be renting an apartment without a charging station nearby. 

A Prius hybrid was a strong consideration, as I loved my Prius-v hybrid.

But Toyota had just introduced a new Plug-in version of the Prius, the Prius Prime, which gets 25 to 30 miles per charge on electricity, before seemlessly switching over to gas. This versatility seemed perfect for our situation.

What really made the decision to purchase the Prime easy was the federal tax credit of about $4500 for this "electric vehicle". Factoring in this credit, the net price of the Prius Prime was just about the same as a similarly equipped standard Prius!!!

During our 1st year in MA we ran the new Prius Prime almost exclusively on gasoline, and it gave super gas mileage, over 50 mpg, just like a standard Prius.

Upon purchasing a townhouse a year later, we were finally able to plug it in on a regular basis.

No new charging equipment was needed. Using the preexisting 110v outlet in the garage, the car charges fully in just 5 hours. Every morning we're set to drive at least 25 miles on electricity. Since it only takes 5 hours to fully re-charge, some days we can drive as far as 50 miles on electricity, taking one trip in the morning, then after a recharge a second trip in the afternoon or evening.

In summary, except when we do a local errand over 15 miles away from home or go on a road trip, this car is running almost exclusively on electricity.  It only rarely stops at a gas station. And since the range on a full tank of gas is well over 400 miles, there is absolutely no range anxiety ever, even if we go some place with no access to a charger. 

Finally, since our home is supplied with 100% renewable electricity through Winchester's community aggregation plan, most of the time we are driving fossil-free! 

When Satra and I heard about the great DriveGreen deal that the Green Energy Consumers Alliance had made with Marlboro Nissan, we wasted no time. Concerned about climate change, we had wanted to replace our old car with an electric vehicle, and this deal made it a no-brainer. We walked into the dealership, put that deal on the table (bypassing all the sales pressure), and signed. Once we had picked up our LEAF we boasted about it and the DriveGreen program to all our friends and relatives. A week later, Satra's sister soon surprised us with her own DriveGreen LEAF from Milford Nissan! Here's a family photograph of us and our clean electric cars, taken on a day in February when temperatures reached 70F. How appropriate! Fast forward to August and we wanted to take a trip to NYC. We have another car that takes gas, but chose to take the LEAF anyway. Officially it has a range of 120 miles, but in summer and if you drive in a certain way (mainly, not above 65 mph), you can tack on another 20 miles. We planned it so we stopped at two fast chargers on the way to NYC. Handy apps show you the closest one and even whether it is in use or not. Each charge to full took a mere 20 (twenty!) minutes, during which we had lunch and a coffee break. On the way back we charged just once - ourselves too, with dinner in the whackiest Chinese restaurant east of the 90. And it was free - the charging, not the dinner. With some planning, some efficient driving, and just a little bit of extra time, it was no hardship at all! And range anxiety? What's that? Kaat Vander Straeten in Wayland

We love our yard, full of flowers, shrubs, fruit trees, and other trees. Andrew and Mike and the rest of the team at Green Abundance by Design are fabulous!

our home is heated by geothermal energy and we have solar panels as well

I was considering buying a hybrid or electric car when my sister, Ellen, told me about an electric car/bike demo day she was organizing in Wayland. It was a great opportunity to go drive several electric cars at one and talk to the owners about their experiences. For me, the Nissan Leaf was the best fit and thanks to Green Energy Consumers, who had pre-negotiated a leasing deal, I was able to just lease the car for 3 years with no negotiating of price. My biggest roadblock to leasing an electric car was the need to drive to Vermont to see my daughters and the electric cars can drive 250 miles max. but really they don't go that far typically if you turn on anything like the AC/HEAT. When I told my brother-in-law, John about this barrier, he shared that there is a community of people dedicated to green transportation who "share" vehicles". He offered to swap cars with me for the few times a year that our Prius wasn't available, and I needed to drive to Vermont. Problem solved! I love sharing cars and helping each other achieve our environmental goals. John convinced me that we should buy a car for "most" of our needs and not the few times a year with a different need. I had a 220V outlet installed in my garage (cost about $200) and the dealer gave it to me gratis to seal the deal) so the car charges twice as fast. I don't think I will keep it at the end of the lease as I don't like some features and I would like an electric car that can make it comfortably to Vermont, which means about 300 miles for me. I am confident that by 2021 we will have those choices.

Our house was heated by an oil boiler and hot-water baseboards and we did not have central air conditioning. In the hottest summer weeks, we made do with a few window air conditioners and a dehumidifier in the basement, all of which were noisy and inefficient. In Spring 2019, I obtained multiple quotes for various heat pump systems. I decided to go with a Mitsubishi mixed ducted/ductless system installed by Rodenhiser Home Services. Our electricity usage last August when we ran the new heat pump continuously for cooling was identical to the previous year when we only used the window ACs for a few weeks, showing the efficiency of our new system. We used the heat pump for heating throughout the past winter except the coldest days when our system automatically switched to our existing oil system as backup. We used less than 50 gallons of oil for heating in comparison to 750-800 gallons in previous winters. Our extra electricity cost was about the same as we would have spent on fuel oil, but we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by several metric tons, a substantial reduction. Plus, our house was more comfortable with air continuously circulating and filtered by the heat pump's indoor units. This was the first winter in memory when my nose didn't feel dry and stuffy all the time.

Our property, like many in Metrowest, has ample space for a home compost pile. For a few years, we collected kitchen food scraps in a large round bucket with solid cover. The weekly chore of emptying and cleaning the bucket was just one more chore, and we stopped doing it at some point. Last year, we purchased a smaller rectangular compost bin with a vented cover at Russell's Garden Center. The new bin fits better under our kitchen sink and doesn't get as smelly. Now we've resumed collecting food scraps and have a bunch of great compost for our vegetable garden this summer.

At our house of worship, we formed a green team and did a decarbonizing program as JCAN-MA outlined. Our congregation members with heat pumps and electric cars and solar panels described their process and how they were able to make it happen. Thank you, JCAN!

It's just a little step. I take food scraps and put them in a plastic container. Every other day I take the food scraps and wilted flowers are drop them in an inconspicuous spot in the woods. My building already has recycling and more. Every little bit helps to reduce, reuse, recycle and restore.

I am vegetarian, nearly vegan. My partner, Ed, has come along for this vegetarian ride!

We have Mass Saves come and do the energy audit and were blown away when they replaced all the lightbulbs in our home for free with LED lighting. Once you get used to it "warming up:" there is no difference and the bulbs last so much longer than the old ones. As I watch them warm up, I think about how I am helping the environment for future generations.

I have been a vegetarian since 1979 and now it's easy. Back then, no one understood why I was eating this way and no one offered vegetarian food at restaurants. Now it is so easy and I almost feel in the majority. It's easy to get enough protein from other sources and really delicious. Also, it's less expensive than buying meat!

We have been buying our produce from Ferjulians in Hudson for years. They have a great selection and their White Peaches are the MOST DELICIOUS AND SWEET PEACHES I have ever tasted. I buy large bushels and cut them up and freeze them for smoothies all year long. The people who work there are so friendly and I love knowing that my food was picked that morning. There is no need to buy any produce from the supermarket when you buy it just picked.

Recently, we had to replace our refrigerator (we had it for 30 years) and our Stove/oven. When we did this, we were stunned to hear how much more energy efficient the new appliances are. Jarvis helped us talk through the choices and trade-offs, but honestly all the choices were significantly better than our old ones, they just won't last as long.

Back in mid-20th Century, folks would walk, take a trolley, maybe drive to the market. Then suburban sprawl took over and the 'age of the automobile' arrived. People in the 'burbs were told they couldn't go marketing using anything other than a car. It was too far - too much of a hassle - not safe. Using the wizardry of the web, Google Maps and common sense, I've discovered that - even in the age of the COVID-19 - it's easy and safe to use 'personal power' to go grocery shopping. All it takes is a willingness to get out of that gasoline powered car, put a couple of saddle bags on a bike (and a bungie or two) and I'm there. A randomly selected sample of Temple Beth El members demonstrated that the median distance from home to the supermarket is less than 2 miles. Supermarkets like Market Basket, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Roche Brothers - not corner markets or convenience stores. The difference in time for me is negligible ... my one way trip is 2.4 miles. It takes me 6 minutes to drive - 10 minutes to bike. The difference in health and happiness ... priceless. And the carbon emissions = ZERO. Try it yourself. You might decide personal power works for you.

"I picked up the phone and called Senator Vaughn and talked to his aide. It was easy."

"We live in Boston now, and there is a community composting bin nearby. We are very grateful to the city of Boston"