Save Some Dough

Here is a great infographic (created by Infographic World) on how to save some money at home in a few simple steps. Most of them are good for the planet, too!





Personal Finances from Quicken

What I did on my summer vacation...

Well, it wasn't as much of a vacation as a really sweet internship. Two of my previous posts have talked about my work this summer, and this article from the Environmental Defense Fund summarizes the work that all of the fellows did. Collectively, it's a lot! $650 million in energy savings, 440,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually, and annual energy use savings equal to that of 38,000 typical American homes. Historically, the Climate Corps program has seen about 89% of its recommendations implemented, so we can expect most of these projects to actually happen. It's nice to get some good news once in a while...

Catalyzing Change: Sustainability In A Southern Town - Part II

Here's the second part of my 3-part series for the Environmental Defense Fund's Energy Exchange blog, based on my work this summer:

If there’s one thing I’ve learned while working in the environmental arena, it is that change does not happen in a vacuum. We need to actively involve as many people in the organization as possible. Generating buy-in for workplace sustainability can be challenging, but with a few key strategies, we can start winning people over.

In my last post, I outlined seven core steps to catalyzing change within an organization, and talked about how the Town of Cary has implemented the first step. Those seven steps are:

1. Make it official.
2. Identify the changers.
3. Change is not binary.
4. Operate in parallel.
5. The Rule of 7.
6. Market internally and externally.
7. Celebrate successes.

Steps two through four are about how to initiate change. Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks:

#2: Identify The Changers

The changers are the people who are excited about sustainability. They have ideas, enthusiasm, and momentum. If the organization has many departments, finding changers in various parts of the organization will promote sustainability in each department. Through these changers, you can develop relationships with different individuals and departments on their terms. The initial focus should be on why sustainability is important, and what the benefits of pursuing it are.

One project I am working on focuses on energy efficiency improvements for the Town’s fire stations. The Fire Chief gave me a list of changers from each of the seven Cary Fire Stations who were chosen based on an interest in energy and environmental issues. Having someone at each station who is excited by sustainability has been exceedingly helpful in building buy-in.

#3: Change Is Not Binary

Sustainability is not simply green or not. There are many facets of sustainability, all of which are steps in the right direction. It is important to tackle only as many projects as your organization can handle. Start small, minimize risk, and pick the low-hanging fruit. You don’t need to be generating all of your power from solar panels by tomorrow in order to be sustainable.

Energy efficiency is a great way to get started. Many projects involve low-to-no cost, such as turning down temperatures on hot water heaters and enforcing thermostat temperature set points. Other projects have short payback periods, like upgrading exit signs to LEDs. Still more projects, like preventative maintenance of HVAC systems, have co-benefits including improved occupant comfort and better indoor air quality.

#4: Operate in Parallel

Because the route to a sustainable organization is ongoing and ever-evolving, we should use many simultaneous tools to catalyze change. These include comprehensive strategic plans, various investment structures, capital projects, maintenance programs, and more.

One important consideration here is the impact of these projects on the facilities and maintenance staff. The Town chooses to operate in parallel not only in pursuing projects, but also with how to implement these projects so that their facilities team does not get overwhelmed. Namely, they choose their in-house projects wisely, and hire contractors for the rest.

These three steps are an important part of initiating change within an organization. The next three steps are all about how to communicate this change effectively and efficiently. Check back soon for more on the remaining three steps!

This post reflects the personal opinions of Kealy Devoy, and does not reflect the positions, strategies, or opinions of the Town of Cary.

EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) trains graduate students to identify energy efficiency savings in colleges, universities, local governments and houses of worship. The program focuses on partnerships with minority serving institutions and diverse communities. Apply as a CCPS fellow, read our blog posts and follow us onTwitter to get regular updates about this program.

Catalyzing Change: Sustainability In A Southern Town

What did I do this summer? Fun stuff! Read on for more...this is all from the Environmental Defense Fund's Energy Exchange blog, through my work with the Climate Corps Public Sector Program.

This summer, I am working with the Town of Cary in North Carolina to identify energy efficiency improvements throughout its organization. My focus is on two projects: fire and emergency services sustainability, and energy planning. Cary’s commitment to saving energy deserves applause.

My goal is to see tangible energy efficiency improvements. Some of these changes are easily measurable: energy use reductions, dollars saved, and greenhouse gas emissions avoided. Others will be tougher to track, such as determining the number of Cary employees who are aware of sustainability initiatives.

Catalyzing change takes time, certainly more than 10 short weeks. However despite this limited time period that I have, there are many strategies that can be used to point organizations in the right direction. During the Climate Corps Public Sector training, Paula Thomas, the Sustainability Director for the City of Raleigh, gave the fellows a list of ways to become agents of change in the municipalities, churches, and universities that we are working with. Her seven core steps to catalyzing change are:

1. Make it official.
2. Identify the changers.
3. Change is not binary.
4. Operate in parallel.
5. The Rule of 7.
6. Market internally and externally.
7. Celebrate successes.

#1: Make it Official

The Town has already taken action on the first step: ‘Make it official’ with its mission statement, adopted by the Town Council in 2006. The statement upholds Cary’s sustainability goals and includes, “We will preserve and protect our environment. We will be good stewards of our finite resources.”

Making good on its word, Cary established the Environmental Advisory Board in 2008. Comprised of sustainability experts and community members, the board evaluates and recommends best practices to Cary to reduce its impact on the environment and use of natural resources.

Cary’s creation of a Sustainability Manager position last year came from the advice of the board. The Sustainability Manager, Emily Barrett, addresses energy efficiency for the entire town, not just departmentally. Emily’s work has led to the development of a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory. This type of investment is crucial to making energy efficiency improvements, since it establishes the baseline and helps identify low-hanging fruit.

The Town’s inventory is the basis for the Strategic Energy Plan that I am working on, which includes fire and emergency services sustainability and energy planning.

Paula Thomas’ seven steps are proving to be very helpful as I work with the Town to pursue sustainability in meaningful ways. Check back soon for more on the remaining six steps!

This post reflects the personal opinions of Kealy Devoy, and does not reflect the positions, strategies, or opinions of the Town of Cary.

EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) trains graduate students to identify energy efficiency savings in colleges, universities, local governments and houses of worship.  The program focuses on partnerships with minority serving institutions and diverse communities.  Apply as a CCPS fellow, read our blog posts and follow us onTwitter to get regular updates about this program.

Google's Climate Neutrality Commitment

I have to start by apologizing to Google: I am sorry that I didn't know you had a climate neutrality commitment! I'm not surprised, of course, given their philosophy and general awesomeness. Anyway, this carbon neutrality agreement hits close to home given their recent partnership with the Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative (DCOI) at Duke University. Not only am I a current graduate student at Duke, but also I was recently hired as an intern by the DCOI. Google's video and blog post explain two projects that Google has invested in, the second of which is Duke's. This is very exciting news not just for Google and Duke, but for hog farmers across the US. One project might seem small, but it's a major success. Way to go Google & Duke!

September already?

Summer flew by and suddenly it's September, and I have homework again. But what fun homework it is! The class I am most excited about (Sustainable Cities and Urban Design) has the following required texts:

Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post-Carbon World
By Patrick M. Condon (find it here)

Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature
By Douglas Farr (find it here)

Why am I so excited about this? Because my focus in school thus far has been on high-performance buildings, energy efficiency, and business management. Now I get to wrap all of that up in sustainable urban design. How do we pull together new high-performing buildings with energy efficiency upgrades for the existing buildings in a way that creates a living, walkable, truly sustainable community? How do we encourage sustainable businesses to act sustainable by joining these communities and helping them thrive? How do we make significant changes in the way that Americans live, work, and play in the next 50 years to avoid a complete climate crisis?

I don't know, but I hope I'll have some ideas by the end of this course. Either way, I'll post the most interesting stuff here. Happy new school year everyone!

DIY Disaster: Why you should ALWAYS put long hair into a ponytail

Meet Rachel

Rachel with a goat at a local farm!

She is my outdoorsy, adventurous, kitchen-master of a roommate. For Chrismakuh (the holiday that gets celebrated when a former Catholic lives with an Atheist Jew), she gave me the COOLEST PRESENT EVER: mushroom plugs. These little nubs are filled with mushroom spawn. The basic idea is to drill holes in logs, insert the plugs, seal with wax, and wait for delicious mushrooms to grow.

Yesterday Rachel and I finally sat down to inoculate our mushroom logs. I got about 25 holes drilled while Rachel went behind me inserting the mushroom plugs. My arm needed a rest, so I handed the drill off to Rachel. Just a couple rows into it Rachel let out a little scream and the drilling stopped. Rachel's long hair, which had been hanging in her face as she leaned over the log to drill holes, was stuck in the drill. Not in the drill bit, mind you, but inside the motor of the drill.

I quickly unplugged the drill. We soon discovered that her hair was completely stuck:

Rachel with her hair in the drill

In the end I had to cut her hair. Luckily, it was a relatively small portion of her hair, so you can't even tell that she's missing any. We got the hair out of the drill by taking it apart, but I think the incident blew the motor, so I'll be procuring a new drill before the mushrooms can be fully inoculated.

The lesson? ALWAYS pull long hair into a ponytail before working with any kind of power tool. Rachel was very lucky that we were working with a relatively benign tool, and no permanent harm was done. Be safe!

Things I Can Do Without

Re-Nest, a blog associated with the Apartment Therapy series, recently posted an article about living with less. After perusing the list, I realized that I already do without many of these things:

• Plastic food bags - I use reusable ones.
• Paper towels - I've successfully made the switch to dish towels, and I'll never go back!
• Microwave - the one at my house broke several weeks ago, and after the first week I stopped missing it. They always weirded me out anyway.
• Coffee maker - I've been a french press enthusiast for years. I use my electric kettle to heat water.
• Television - I've gone a year without owning one, and I can't say I miss it.
• Garbage disposal - Drain catchers are kind of a pain, but using water to dispose of waste is kind of silly.

Before I go congratulating myself, though, I stopped to think about what other luxuries I simply do not need. These are things I still use that are on the Re-Nest list:

• Plastic wrap - I know, I'm sorry, but sometimes I need to cover baked goods that don't fit in a container with a lid and I just have to. :( I wonder if tin foil is better...at least it can be reused.
• Trash bags - Seriously? The article says "Control your rubbish, no bags needed!" I compost my food waste and don't use disposables beyond the occasional piece of plastic wrap and I still have garbage. This one just isn't going to happen for me right now.
• Hair dryer - I use it a couple times a week during the winter, for a whopping total of about 30 times per year. I won't be using it again until November, so we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll ditch it!
• Dishwasher - Considering my dishwasher is only effective if the dishes that go in have NOTHING on them, I might as well not use it. Perhaps a bigger drying rack is in order...

There is one more item that I have been toying with going without for some time now, and this article might just be the inspiration I need to stop using it: the dryer. I just have to get a clothesline up in my backyard. More on this later!

What can/do you go without?

The Chicken Lady

I have officially been referred to as a "chicken lady", as has R. Perhaps I should change the name of this blog to Crazy Chicken Lady...hmm. Here's an update on our lovely ladies.

The chickens spend most afternoons out of the coop, wandering around the yard with the dogs. They eat bugs out of our compost, chase each other around, and they've even learned how to walk up the back porch stairs. Lucy discovered the dog house and decided it was a great place to build a nest and lay a little egg.

Lucy in her dog house nest!

Lucy came to get her food off of the back deck. Cheeky little bird!

Pip helping Amelia clean up the food Lucy dropped.

The biggest news of all is that Nappy laid her first egg yesterday! At first we thought it was Lucy who wasn't laying. Then we found her in the dog house having just laid an egg. Now we know for sure that Nappy hasn't been laying, because the 4th egg was soooo tiny compared to the others. Nappy is a Silkie, which is a bantam variety. Bantams are smaller than standard chickens (hence her name, which is short for Napoleon) and thus lay much smaller eggs.

And in other news, the vegetable garden is growing! We were a little late in planting the spring plants, so we'll have to see how they do. It was almost 90 degrees yesterday, so hopefully it's not too hot for all the tiny plants. Pretty soon we'll be harvesting all our spring goodies.

What can I say? Life is good here on our little backyard farm.

Fresh Eggs for Sale!

The time has come: our eggs are officially for sale!

Last night my friends Halley and Mizey stopped by to say hello. They hadn't seen the chickens since they were just little chicks, so I proudly showed off what our girls have been up to (laying eggs, namely). Seeing that we had close to 2-dozen eggs, Mizey asked if we needed to get any off our hands. And thus our first egg sale transpired.

Halley & Mizey with fresh eggs!

Want to buy eggs? We're asking $4 per dozen or $2 per half dozen, which is what the going rate is for fresh eggs in Durham. The girls are laying around 20 eggs per week, and we do like to use them ourselves, so we won't be able to sell more than 1-1.5 dozen per week.

Note: We cannot ship eggs, so you'll need to be able to come to Durham if you want them.

A New Meaning for "Home-Cooked Meal"

Spring is here, which means eating locally is getting easier by the day. R and I have officially begun to consider ourselves "homesteaders" as we now raise our own chickens for eggs, bake our own bread, make our own yogurt, and grow our own vegetables. To celebrate this, I made a meal with more home-grown/home-made items than not.

One of my favorite bloggers, Smitten Kitchen, posted a recipe a while back for a spinach and cheese strata. When I saw the recipe, I realized that it would use many of the things we grow and make right at our house. This was the perfect recipe to celebrate our new distinction as homesteaders.

So, what was from our house? Eggs, of course. Half a loaf of white sandwich bread, made by Rachel with the assistance of the bread machine. Some cabbage collards, which are collards that grow more like a cabbage. I used some cooked leaves in place of the frozen spinach. And finally, the mixed green salad that I threw together to go with it.

Other substitutions include mozzarella cheese instead of Gruyere, just a personal preference. I will also say that I had about 3/4 cup of cheese leftover at the end because I felt like it was too much cheese--and I am the ultimate cheese lover. So maybe less...

The bottom line? It was a delicious meal, and we felt pretty good about eating it, given the severely reduced food miles. :)

Square Foot Gardening

I've been debating about how to garden in my new locale for some time (ie: since I moved in last August, in fact). Today R and I decided to embark on what is called Square Foot Gardening. Basically, you divide a raised bed garden plot into 1 sq ft parcels and plant a different veggie in each one.

Mel Bartholomew, Author and Originator of the SFG, from his website

Why a square foot garden (SFG)?

1. It's temporary. You build a little container, fill it with dirt, grow your veggies, and when you're done you just pull it all out. This is a great option for renters who don't want to (or aren't allowed to) invest the time and money into tilling up a patch of yard for a garden.
2. It's high yield. You can cram more goodies into a SFG than in a traditionally laid out garden. Efficiency is the name of the game here, and the SFG is a master.
3. It can be done on a balcony. So long as you get sufficient sun exposure for the type of plant you want to grow, you can build a unit that has a wooden bottom and put it on your porch. This is the ultimate renter's option. Why not just pots? They are small and dehydrate easily. A larger SFG unit will hold water better and be a more efficient use of soil. (No, I don't have a balcony, I'm just saying...)

You can build your own SFG, but I managed to find one on CraigsList for only $50! It's even a 2-tiered one. So, tomorrow I am off to get my 4'x8' SFG, and I can't wait! I'll post photos as I assemble everything, and impart my (limited) veggie gardening knowledge as we go through the season. I've learned most of it through my green thumb of a mother and this book: The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book. It has answered every question I've ever had about vegetable gardening. I can't live without it!

A Chicken Gallery

I have been so caught up in the excitement of egg-laying that I have neglected to post photos of our lovely layers. We're reliably getting 3 eggs a day, which means nearly 2 dozen eggs per week! We think one little girl is only laying very intermittently, so hopefully we'll be at full production soon. :)

On to the good stuff, a little photo gallery of the chickens!*

Lucille Ball
(AKA Lucy)

Suzy

Amelia Earhart

Napoleon Bonaparte
(AKA Nappy)

Meandering...

What's up? Chicken butt!

Amelia in the afternoon sun

The lovely ladies

*Sorry about the lower quality pics, these were taken with my phone and the light was not great.

Foster's Market of Durham and Chapel Hill

Spring break has given me an excuse to trawl the internet for fabulous recipes. My most exciting discovery was that Foster's Market (locations in Durham and Chapel Hill) posts recipes online!

Carroty, creamy, and completely delicious!

I made this thrilling discovery while searching for an email address for Foster's. I had a slice of their carrot cake last week, which was delicious, but the cream cheese icing was the best I'd ever had. I kid you not. Best. Icing. Evah.

My plan was to email them and ask for the recipe. You never know when a nice local place like Foster's might just give you a recipe if you ask nicely and promise not to post it online. As luck would have it, Foster's puts lots of their most popular recipes online already, and the carrot cake with the heavenly cream cheese frosting were already there!

Want to make these yourself? Hop on over to the Foster's Market website. The specific recipes from today's post can be found here (carrot cake) and here (cream cheese frosting).

Sweet Smarts: Duke's Healthy Dessert Contest

Over the past several weeks, I have been baking cupcakes like a crazy person. Why? For the Sweet Smarts Dessert Contest at Duke University.

The goal of this contest was to create a "nutritious, delicious dessert" for Bon Appetit's campus dining facilities. The contest called for desserts that could be presented in single servings that are healthier than traditional desserts. Semi-finalists were chosen in three categories (vegan, fruit, luxury--contains dark chocolate, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, or mousse) based on the healthfulness of the recipe and the ability of Bon Appetit to acquire the necessary ingredients.

I was lucky enough to get a spot in the semi-finals with my "Delectable Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes," alongside "Swagger Pie" and "Loaded Cheesecake Brownies." My recipe is below, and other recipes in the competition can be found here.

I've gotten lots of questions about how I go about developing my own recipe, so I'd like to take some time to describe my process.

Testers going to town!

1. Make a mistake. I was making chocolate cake, and I didn't have enough brown sugar. I decided to use a combination of white sugar and molasses to mimic the flavor and texture of brown sugar. The result was a moist, rich cake with a deep chocolate flavor and a little boost of molasses flavor. I loved the intensity that molasses added to the cake, and decided to run with it.
2. Have a goal. Per the dessert contest's goals, I wanted to develop a dessert that was healthier than average without sacrificing flavor. The "mistake" molasses cake was a great candidate, because its intense chocolate flavor would be able to hold up to some modifications. In particular, I wanted to use at least some whole wheat flour (for increased fiber), I wanted to cut the butter (for reduced fat), and I wanted to reduce the sugar.
3. Start testing. I devoted a whole afternoon to testing recipes, and invited a bunch of friends over that night to taste test and give me some feedback. I started making changes to the recipe, like using increasing amounts of whole wheat flour (replacing the all-purpose flour), replacing half the butter with unsweetened applesauce, replacing half the sugar with molasses, and using a combination of egg whites and whole eggs instead of just whole eggs. 
4. Taste carefully. I tasted each recipe before moving on to the next one, to make more effective substitution decisions. For example, the first recipe was airy, more like a muffin than a cupcake. To increase the density of the cupcake, I upped the whole wheat flour. The resulting cupcake was the dense, rich chocolate that I was looking for.
5. Ask the audience. I took all of these cupcakes, combined with 2 different fillings and 2 versions of a ganache frosting, and let my friends have at them. Everyone got a plate, an evaluation form, and a glass of milk. At the end, there was a pretty clear winner. While it was the winner that I expected, the feedback was immensely helpful.

Happy taste-testers and an ever-hopeful pup.

So that's my process. Now for the recipe:

Delectable Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

An Original Recipe

Makes 26-28 cupcakes

These cupcakes are a rich, grown-up treat, with far more intense flavor than their healthy ingredients betray. The cupcake itself is light and airy, with overtones of dark chocolate, molasses, and coffee. The inside is stuffed with a dollop of gooey, sweet-tart raspberry jam, which serves as a bright contrast to the deep, dark taste of the cupcake itself. The trio of flavors is completed with a decadent dark chocolate frosting containing brewed coffee, honey, and vanilla for depth of flavor.

• 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 t instant coffee
• 1 ¼ cups boiling water
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 t baking soda
• ¼ t salt
• 8 T unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 large whole egg
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• ½-3/4 cup raspberry jam (filling)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 24 muffin cups.
2. Combine the chocolate, cocoa, and instant coffee in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Stir until chocolate is fully melted. Set aside.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. Beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat at high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add applesauce and molasses and beat until combined. Scrape down bowl as needed.
5. Add eggs and beat well. Add yogurt and vanilla and mix until combined
6. Add flour mixture and chocolate mixture alternately, ending with flour mixture. Mix until just combine.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins, about ¼ cup of batter each. Bake 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
8. For the filling: Poke hole in center of each cupcakes with the handle of a wooden spoon. Fill with about ½ teaspoon of jam. Top with dark chocolate icing (recipe below).

Dark chocolate icing

• 4 oz. dark chocolate (such as whole foods 365 brand dark chocolate chips)
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 T brewed coffee
• 1 T honey
• ¼ t vanilla

Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler until smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined. Let stand 5 minutes before icing cupcakes.

Chicken Update

It's been a while since I've put anything up here since school has been so busy, so I figured it was high time to post an update about the chickens.

First Egg Excitement!

The girls have been growing like weeds, and look like adult chickens now! Even more exciting, they started laying about 3 weeks ago, right on time at 5 months old. The first week we got about 1 egg per day, lately we've reliably been getting 2 per day, and occasionally 3 per day. Chickens can produce 1 egg every 25 hours, so eventually we should be getting 3-4 eggs per day from our 4 chickens.*

The celebration over the first egg was perhaps a tad gratuitous. What can I say? We've been waiting for this day for months! The egg was a nice tan color, and about 3/4 the size of a standard, Grade-A, large chicken egg.

It's a little tough to split an egg, but we decided to share the first one anyway. Below are a few photos of our glorious first egg, followed by a shot of this week's egg production.

Frying away!

Arranged in order of size, with the biggest up top.

*Yes, we have only 4 chickens now. Sadly, Theo turned out to be a rooster. As we are not allowed to have roosters within the city limits of Durham because of the noise, he had to go.

Semantics & Energy Policy

The State of the Union address touched on energy policy, as expected. President Obama presented a lofty goal of 80% clean energy by 2035. "Clean energy" is a convenient turn of phrase, which allows him to promote things like "clean coal" as legitimate alternatives to conventional energy. You see, clean energy is just energy that has lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional energy. How much lower? Well, there's not really a threshold. And what about the other environmental impacts of energy production, like water use? Well, clean energy doesn't cover that.

What is "clean coal"?

It's coal that is burned in such a way that emits fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This sounds great, since coal is the most abundant fossil fuel on the planet. Sadly, the only real "clean coal" technology that exists today is carbon capture and storage, which basically entails "capturing" the CO2 as the coal is burned, and storing it underground. This could be cool, except that it is completely cost prohibitive. Not only that, it takes considerable amounts of energy to accomplish.

Through some clever semantics, President Obama is avoiding our energy crisis and calling it innovation.