Is it possible to minimize your carbon footprint further when you have done everything you can think of? This was the question that Jörn and I asked ourselves after living for seven years in the green oasis we called home in Brooklyn, NY.
Renovated using every re-cycled material within the house that was salvageable, we worked with only non-toxic materials throughout. Active and passive solar techniques along with feng shui were integrated into the architectural design. The landscaping of the backyard with a pond (irrigated by rainwater collection) and a vegetable garden fertilized with breeded worms for homemade compost, created an outdoor open “room” for enjoying breakfasts and balmy summer nights.
These and other additions to the ecological, healthy balance of the re-construction of the house lead to an indoor environment that was as healthy as we could make it. The sustainable way of life was manifested in the attitude and lifestyles of the inhabitants. The tenants living in this house each enhance the environment by regarding it with a sense of responsibility and appreciation because it’s their home too.
Jörn and I did everything that we knew to do with our consciousness routine to reduce our carbon footprint, which of course included carrying our own re-usable shopping bags to the market. The car was even sold so our main means of transportation outside of NYC was a RT 100 BMW motorcycle. We used the bike for major grocery shopping and city escapes since it utilized less gas than the car. When moving about throughout Brooklyn and within the city our bicycles and the NY transportation system was our means of travel.
Minimizing our usage of paper products in our daily lives (from paper towels and toilet paper to reducing paper mail by converting to electronic documents whenever possible); limiting the length of our showers, taking baths together, cleaning only with bio-degradable cleaning products (many homemade) became the new order. Understanding that we can only control “what we do”, we felt it important to ask and answer the question honestly: are we doing all we can??The choice of moving onto a sailboat presented an interesting concept. There was a day when I would have thought that sailing meant laying back on the deck of a boat with a cool drink nearby and a watercolor palette in my lap. After the experience of sailing Long Island Sound I knew better, so I looked at what life on a sailboat would really mean. The first reality was the need to greatly reduce the amount of “things” in our lives; they would have to be reduced to only things we needed in order to live on a boat.
The pleasure of allowing water to just run over my body would have to be restricted to those rare moments when under a cool and refreshing waterfall or on the deck during rainy season in the tropics. Water on the boat is a precious commodity which must be used and rationed sparingly.
Energy consumption is also a major issue of concern, requiring that (in our case) a sailboat be completely self sufficient, providing adequate power for refrigeration; electrical outlets, lights and of course laptops and a monitor for the occasional movie watching. That’s a lot of energy that is generally taken for granted when you think of the refrigerator at home or casually turning on of lights at night.
Fortunately there are a great many books on the market discussing these very issues and relaying the countless experiences of the couples before us who decided to leave conventional lifestyles for life on the sea. I like to think of them as a rare breed of modern day time travelers and world wonderers, of which I am happy to say, we now are too.
As Jörn and I learn how to continue to live our convictions while on the water, we will discover how best to live with less. By living with less we are sure to discover what’s really important. We are bound to learn from experience and other people, more efficient ways of saving water and energy. We will come to realize what so many people enjoying this way of life have also come to understand, that this planet is truly delightful! We have a right to enjoy all its wonders, but this right comes with the responsibility of upholding the beauty. With a series of articles I want to share our experiences as we discover how to best reduce the mark we make on the planet. We must respect the earth and treat it as precious if we are to protect it from what happens when we are careless with its beauty. This is a challenge we are embracing, and so our carbon footprint reducing journey begins!
Next article: Life on a Sailboat, it is a Green Way to Go?
