Posts Tagged ‘sustainable saratoga’

This post is a growing resource for how and where to more sustainably repurpose stuff in your life that no longer serves you and can serve someone else in your community.

Common items that are no longer useful to you include:
Clothes
Sporting equipment
Kitchen appliances

Please comment below on ideas and resources you have found to be helpful.

Thank you.

The Biggest Losers Win
A Sustainable Saratoga Campaign to Promote Energy Efficiency and Conservation.

(Saratoga Springs, NY)  — The local Biggest Loser Energy Challenge sponsored by Sustainable Saratoga came to a close last week as a group of Saratoga Springs neighbors representing ten households sallied forth in sub-zero weather to focus an infrared camera on their houses in the last educational activity of the contest. As participants each looked at their houses on the camera screen, tell-tale glowing lights signified heat escaping into the cold night air. The infrared camera visually demonstrated where heat losses were the greatest, and gave opposing team members ammunition for teasing owners about missed opportunities to make their homes more energy efficient.

 After the chilly outing, participants compared the final tally of their energy consumption over a six-month period to see which group had managed to cut energy use and waste by the largest percentage over the same period last year. Although both teams were happy “losers”, one group did reduce more than the other.

The participants encountered some surprises.  First, it was interesting to see energy use trends over time as there were unexpected spikes and dips in therms (gas) and kilowatts (electricity). Several people who halved their electricity usage speculated in hindsight how they did it. One had unplugged her clothes dryer and used line drying in her basement instead. Another had purchased a new refrigerator that replaced a 30 year old one, exchanged an old cable box for a new one and put the flat screen TV on a plug that could be turned off in order to prevent the significant stand-by energy these modern TVs burn, as well as the hole in our pockets.

Team member and host of the final meeting for the group, Diane Denny was very pleased with the results. “It was extremely informative to see how we all use electricity and discuss how to save energy.  In fact, as a teacher, I want to share the final results to my seventh graders and discuss how we all can do a better job of saving energy”.

The contest was intended to educate the neighbors and the general public about energy conservation and efficiency measures available through state and federal incentives.  The group kicked-off their effort with a press conference that showed typical air leaks in a home by using a blower door test. The Biggest Loser members and the press were stunned at the number of large and small air leaks the home had, many of which are easily remedied through simple weatherization measures like weather stripping, foam around outdoor faucets, and caulking air leaks.

The Public Service Commission, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and National Grid are working to help consumers to conserve energy through incentive programs and grants.  Tina Carton, the Capital Saratoga Energy $mart Coordinator an independent contractor for NYSERDA, played a key role educating the group about energy conservation throughout the six months.  She provided members with Kill A Watt® meters so we could see how much energy in real time different household devices use—hair dryers are energy hogs, for example. She gave us compact fluorescent light bulbs and power points on the many, many, many (yes many) ways we can avoid losing money on energy that we pay for, but waste. Most importantly, she gave us all information on how we can use the current incentives offered by NYSERDA and National Grid to get free or reduced price energy audits of our homes and tax breaks on insulation.

In addition to providing an excuse for neighbors to have jolly gatherings, the contest left a deep impression on the participants in terms of how much more we can all do. From large things like insulating the attic- one of the most important energy measures in a house, to smaller things like caulking and air sealing, saving energy is good for our pocketbooks, our environment and it can be a fun challenge. For energy tips and more about the contest go to http://www.sustainablesaratoga.com/initiatives/biggest-looser-energy-challenge/

Sustainable Saratoga is committed to facilitating the creation of a new path for our future. We envision a future Saratoga Springs where gardens are planted in every yard, regional farms thrive, people feel encouraged to leave their car behind, pedestrians and cyclists feel safe on the roads, where business choose to locate and our building codes and urban planning paradigms promote long term sustainability. www.sustainablesaratoga.com

Sustainable Saratoga Organizational Development News

Sustainable Saratoga has recently achieved New York State not-for profit status!  

We are on our way to obtaining a federal 501 (c) 3 status and are now accepting donations toward this 2011 goal.   

Some of Sustainable Saratoga expenses include: Website hosting and a Post Office Box

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We recently received a very  generous $500 donation from an active member, Amy Durland.

Thank you , Amy!!

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We will soon have a Pay Pal donation button on our website. In the meantime if you’d like to join in the effort to help us raise funds, you can mail a check to us at P.O. Box 3271. Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Ten families in Saratoga Springs are participating in a 6 – month energy reduction challenge.
The families recently gathered for a media event to share progress and helpful energy saving tips with our community.

Here is a short video summary of the media event. Many thanks to Wellhome for providing the energy efficiency audit services.

Here is a simple video with some energy saving tips you can implement today.

Sustainable Saratoga is losing it!  Local ‘Biggest Loser’ energy conservation challenge is subject of Tuesday evening, September 28 meeting at Empire State College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For program information, contact:

Sustainable Saratoga Energy Efficiency and Resources Committee Chair Jeff DeWeese at

(518) 669-6301 deweesej@nycap.rr.com

For general Sustainable Saratoga information, contact:

David Levesque at (518) 320-2613 david@wordofomobile.com

View PDF of this Press Release Click Here.

September 13, 2010

Sustainable Saratoga’s monthly community-wide public meetings are back. The focus of the Tuesday, September 28^th, evening event will be Energy Efficiency in our Community.  In 2008, the per person average energy consumption for New York State residents was 207 million BTUs. Additionally, each resident was responsible for 11.1 tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases. This equates to spending $72 billion annually on energy, 51% of which leaves New York State. Representatives from the residential, commercial, and local government sectors will share information on how we can improve these numbers through energy efficiency in buildings.

Presenters include Tina Carton, Capital/Saratoga Energy$mart Coordinator for Courtney Strong Inc., a Kingston, N.Y.-based consulting firm, who will share tips on energy saving measures that will help save money and discuss incentive programs available through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).  Carton will also highlight the initial results from Sustainable Saratoga’s “Biggest Loser Challenge” – a competition to see which side of a local neighborhood can lose the most energy.  A local college representative will highlight the energy efficiency measures and savings achieved through existing commercial programs.  Christopher Kalwara, Building Efficiency Account Executive from Johnson Controls, will highlight energy saving measures recently implemented in public buildings in Saratoga Springs, which save our city about $200,000 per year.

The third monthly ‘weigh in’ of the Biggest Loser competition and energy saving demonstrations will take place Tuesday morning at one of the “Biggest Loser” participant’s homes.

After the evening’s Energy Efficiency presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with Sustainable Saratoga’s committees and hear about their plans for the upcoming year. Our committees include:

  Energy Efficiency and Resources

  Farming, Open Space, and Natural Resources

  Housing and Urban Planning

  Local Economy

  Media and Communications

  Transportation and Mobility

  Waste, Composting, and Recycling

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Please join us Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at Empire State College, 113 West Ave, Rm 143 Saratoga Springs (near the corner of West Ave & Washington – parking is behind and to the side of the building; please enter around the back of the building). Get a head start on energy savings for the upcoming heating season, and help make Saratoga Sustainable!

What is a local resilient economy? We’ll be meeting tonight with these panelists to discuss this topic at Skidmore’s Gannett Auditorium 7-9 pm. Click here for full information on the event.

James Howard Kunstler on the tragedy of suburbia

Todd Fabozzi sharing one of his poems on Urban experiences

Previous President of Capital District Local First

Congratulations and thanks to Casey Holzworth and Sioban A’Hearn for getting Saratoga’s first community garden up and running at Stonequist Apartments.

The plots will be open to all residents of the building on a first-come-first-serve basis.  Remaining plots will be open to other community members.

Please see the fact sheet for details!

Hopefully this will lead to future gardening activities in our community.  I’ve already seen two “guerrilla gardens” sprout up on vacant land this spring.   Its a good thing.

Walk, bike, ride:
A Sustainable Saratoga discussion of local transport issues

Join us Tuesday evening, May 25 at 7 p.m. at City Hall in Saratoga Springs (474 Broadway, third floor) as a panel including area experts from the Saratoga Healthy Transportation Network, the Citizens Transportation Committee of Saratoga County, the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) and involved local residents discuss their concerns and plans for improving transportation in and around Saratoga Springs.

Plenty of time will be reserved for answering questions after our panel’s individual presentations, so bring friends – and questions. Additional information on the program will be available here in mid-May: SustainableSaratoga.ning.com.

Please join us May 25!

Hi this is David Levesque one of the volunteers for the Sustainable Saratoga Task Force. Thank you for visiting and contacting us by email or phone to learn how you can be a part of creating a sustainable healthy community in Saratoga Springs.

We already have tremoundous quality of life and look forward to it only getting better from here.

If you have questions about this website or feedback please call me 518-320-2613.

With peace and harmony,

David