Learning About Home Ownership - My First Home

The first home I owned was in Somerville, MA, a single family with nine rooms, two bathrooms, an enclosed porch and a small side yard.  It had a tiny parking spot in the back, just the right size for the motorcycle we used to drive. Though it was a medium sized house it was a bit large for me and Al. We did a lot of work on it ourselves and hired contractors to do what we couldn't do without professional help. I had never considered buying a house before Al suggested doing this but I had enough for a down payment from a small inheritance.  We bought before prices skyrocketed and our downpayment was fairly large compared to the price we paid.

It was a very strange experience suddenly becoming a home owner. We had several tenants living in the house who had been there for many years under the former landlord. We agreed to allow them to stay until the end of their old lease. It meant we had to wait six months before we could actually move into our new home.

When we finally moved in our artist tenants left behind a huge amount of their belongings. One had built a darkroom with black plastic hung all over one end of the basement.  Another one was a potter and had left a wheel. Eventually most of the things of value were removed by their respective owners and I was grateful they didn't expect us to deal with all this.  I couldn't just throw it out, it was all very expensive tools. Thankfully they eventually did come and take all of it away.

At the time we bought it, our 'new' house was about 80 years old. We started assessing what improvements it was going to need.  Insulation was the main one. When we bought it It was early spring and the exterior walls were like ice when you put your hand on them. We had insulation blown in from the inside because we had aesbestos shingling. It would have cost too much to take off the shingles. Though it was messy drilling through the walls from inside we just spackled and repainted at the end and it was fine.

The attic also needed insulation and we had a leaky skylight up there as well.  We pulled out what seemed like miles of old copper gas piping and realized that the whole house had originally been lit by gas at the turn of the 20th century. The gas pipes had old electric wires threaded through them which we learned was what was done in the 20s and 30s when you converted your lighting from gas to electricity. The electricity was brought in on the same path to the light fixtures where the gas had been coming out. There were no electrical boxes either.  The wires just came straight through the gas pipes and hooked right up to the light fixture. It looked pretty scary. We marvelled that houses didn't all burn down with this kind of wiring system in place.

Living in a house where you are doing major repairs and rehab to the whole place is extremely difficult. We had nowhere to go to get away from the work we were doing and it wore us out. This went on for over three years and we were not even done by then. I continued on alone for another three years to make more improvements and still  the necessary work was never complete. We scraped peeling junk off all the upstairs ceilings and painted them. Painted all the rooms. I replaced a lot of broken ropes in the sashes. Had a cap installed on top of the chimney. Tried to get a leak fixed in the roof but after three unsuccessful tries gave up on that. Got the driveway repaved an had an old sewer basin taken out that wasn't doing anything under the cement in the back yard. Put in a new kitchen floor, back door and a small sauna. Had the gas stove moved out of the corner of the kitchen. Built a small patio in back. Replaced a set of wooden stairs up to the second story porch.
What was left to do: get a new roof. New heating system. More insulation upstairs. New windows. Update the bathrooms. Refinish the floors. Reconfigure some of the spaces upstairs and downstairs.
Looking back I would have been better off ignoring all the cosmetic stuff and staying focused on the structural and energy efficiency stuff.  'll never know how much money I put into the place but if I owned it now it would take at least 40K just to make it energy efficient and liveable. 

The Materials Economy

Urban Gardening and composting

TRY URBAN GARDENING 

 The woman in this video shows how she has done it.  The practice of living well with less can result in better quality of life while you eliminate the excess that does not contribute to your lifestyle and health.  Factory farmed foods are not very nourishing and may be genetically modified, tainted with pesticides and artificial fertilizers.

  

BACKYARD AND FARM COMPOSTING IN THE CITY

 The first time I ever saw a composting pile was in a neighbor's yard. It was about 20 feet long and 12 feet wide. They had a vegetable garden that could feed a family of 8  year round with the help of that compost pile!  In winter the pile was so warm snow never remained on top of it. This is New England with many below-zero days throughout January and February.  I never knew how it stayed that warm until I got my own composting bin in my backyard.

I was surprised to learn that I could compost  coffee grinds, shredded newspaper, vegetable and fruit scraps, eggshells, just about anything that was not meat or fat could go into it.

Within a few weeks and with just a little dampening as needed all the contents would become rich fragrant dirt that we could put into our front garden. We used no insecticides or herbicides on our grass so that and leaves and grass clippings and garden waste could also be composted in our bin. We never had to buy any fertilizers or loam for the garden as we were returning so much to the earth through composting that we had more than we could use ourselves.  I learned through my experience with our compost pile that the warmth produced in it is the result of the bacteria that break down the matter you toss into it. The heat is a sign that all is well with the composting process.

Where I live now, we don't do our composting in the backyard as it is an urban area where there are rodents that are attracted to food scraps. Instead, we collect food scraps in large plastic buckets and every few days we bring these to a local food store that takes them to a farm for composting. This way we're preventing a lot of compostable materials from being thrown into a landfill where it would not get used for growing more food. Living well with less is more!

WORM COMPOSTING

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Vermicomposting is a system for turning food waste into potting soil with the help of worms.

What do I need? 

An aerated container

Bedding such as shredded newspaper

Moisture and proper temperature

Small amount of soil

Redworms (Eisenia fetida)

What do I do?

Bury your organic kitchen waste in the worm bin. Bacteria and other organisms break it down and worms eat the food waste, bedding, and bacteria. They turn it all into humus--nutrient-rich food for growing healthy plants

Doesn't it smell?

Odor is minimal if you don't overload the system. Worms in a 16"x19"x12" bin can process 2-3 pounds of garbage a week. Capacity of a 20" x 24" x 12" bin is up to 5 pounds of garbage a week.

How long before I have worm castings to feed my plants?

Plan on about six months from the time you set up your bin. You will bury garbage every week. As the worms process the garbage and bedding, the contents of the bin will turn dark brown. You can then harvest the vermicompost (compost produced through the action of worms) in a variety of ways to use on your plants and in your garden.

Do I have to keep buying new worms?

If you treat them right they will reproduce. You will find cocoons in your bin from which baby worms will hatch. After several months, you may have twice as many worms. You can use them to go fishing, or help a neighbor set up a bin, or just leave them in your bin. Overpopulation will not be a problem.

Do people really DO this?

Worm composting is becoming more and more popular. It is the only way to recycle on-site, in your own home. You place food waste in your worm bin. The worms turn it into plant food. You use the plant food to grow vegetables in your garden, or attractive flowers to delight your senses. If you compost your garbage with worms, you help the environment.

COMPOST YOUR FALL LEAVES

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Composting allows decomposed materials to be reused as a nutritious supplement for your garden, lawn, and house plants. A variety of materials may be used for composting, including leaves, grass, weeds, and some kitchen scraps. Autumn settling in and the leaves filling your yard is a perfect time to begin composting. Composting provides a useful and environmentally conscious alternative to bagging up your leaves and sending them away as waste. Once you begin the process, it can become a part of your annual seasonal routine.

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BenefitsMany people chose to either burn leaf piles, which happens to be illegal in some states, or bag them up to be hauled away. These choices do not have environmental or economic benefits. However, the leaves you take from your yard and compost this fall can help beautify your yard in future seasons by enriching your soil. This is an attractive alternative to polluting the air, risking a fire, or contributing to landfill crowding. Composting also provides a cost effective means of yard beautification. Help the environment and your budget by recycling your leaves.

Prepare

Buy a composter or make your own composting bin. Build a composting bin with stakes and mesh wire or snow fencing. Do not locate your bin near other structures or combustible materials. In order for the composting process to work effectively, follow these guidelines suggested by Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension:

1. Size matters. Your leaf pile should be four to 10 feet around and three to five feet high. A correct pile size ensures proper temperature and air flow needed for composting.
2. Keep your pile moist. You will know your pile contains enough moisture if you can squeeze a few drops of water from a handful of leaves. Do not add too much water.
3. Do not compress your pile.
4. Shred the leaves prior to adding them to your pile. This helps speed up the composting process. You can shred them by raking dry leaves into a pile and them mowing them with a mulch mower.
5. Rotate the leaves in your pile. Try to move the outer layer to the center. Rotate the leaves each month in warm weather. Do not rotate the leaves as often in cool weather or the pile temperature may be disturbed. Do rotate the leaves if you smell an ammonia or other bad odor coming from the pile.

UsesYour completed product should yield a pile of compost about half the size of the original leaf pile. The composting process takes between four and nine months to complete. Your colorful fall leaves should now be a dark and crumbly material with an earthy odor. When the season changes to fall once again, use your compost as winter mulch or add it to garden soil with a tilter to help get your soil ready for your spring planting.

CommunityComposting at home is not for everyone. There may still be a way for you to contribute positively to your community by not burning leaves or sending them to a landfill. Some communities have initiated community composting centers. The finished product is available to be re-spread throughout the community. Inquire about community composting with your community officials or local recycling center. If this option is not currently available in your community, you may be able to initiate composting for your community.

Hubway Bike Share!

Boston Rolls Out Hubway Bike Share!

New Balance Hubway is Boston's bike sharing system. Launched in Boston on July 28, 2011 with 60 stations, 600 bicycles and an eye towards expanding into Boston neighborhoods and surrounding communities, New Balance Hubway provides you with an accessible and green transit option. Rent a bike near your home or office and pedal your way to the next lunch meeting, errand or shopping trip, or to visit friends and family.

Joining New Balance Hubway.... 

Joining New Balance Hubway is easy and tailored to fit your needs. Choose between an Annual, 3-Day or 24-Hour membership and access our fleet when you want it, 3 seasons a year (the system is shut down in the winter). The cost of your membership includes unlimited rides under 30 minutes and longer rides incur additional usage fees. Please review our Pricing page for additional information on membership costs and usage fees.

The City of Boston is working with Mass Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Federal Transit Administration to expand the system into more Boston neighborhoods as well as Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville .

Bottled Water the Biggest Sham Ever!

Where do I start about the nonsense of buying bottled water?
The plastic that is used to make water bottles comes from petroleum.
The energy it takes to transport bottled water dumps carbon into the air, water, land.
The cost of buying bottled water far exceeds the cost of getting water from your own tap.
The effort it takes to recycle the empty bottles whether glass or plastic is not good for the planet.
There's no common sense in buying bottled water unless there is a break in your water main and the water coming into your house is impure.
So please do not buy bottled water.  It's a waste of your money and doing it creates needless burdens on the environment.
On the off chance that you simply must buy bottled water during a disaster situation then please do recycle the containers.   

Recycle-Donate Clothing and Consume Less!

Who doesn't have a pile of clothes they never wear anymore cluttering up the closet, overflowing the dresser drawers, filling up a few boxes in the basement, or tucked away up in the attic?
Yeah, all of us do. Why do we keep them? Because we got older and fatter but we swear we're gonna lose 20 pounds; they might fit but they're out of date; they're worn out but we can't stand to part with those old jeans or band t-shirts that are like relics of our personal ancient history; our husband gave it to us on our anniversary; our wife would kill us if we threw out that ugly scarf she made for us. Sigh. Oh well, just admit it.  It's always a good thing to trawl the dark recesses of that closet about once every few years anyway and see just what is there that has not been worn in the past 5 years.
Suck it up, now, and put that pair of size 8 jeans right into that Goodwill bag, please!  They will never fit you again and you know it. Go ahead. You'll feel better once it's over, I promise. You'll get to enjoy the sense of pleasure that comes from giving something to someone else who actually needs it more than you do and will actually wear it instead of keeping it in the bottom of a drawer for the next 5 years.
You will be doing something good for the environment too, especially if you give it to a local goodwill store where someone in your neighborhood can buy it cheaply and enjoy it. That's good because that's less merchandise that has to be trucked in to the area, less pollution of the air from that truck, more work kept in your neighborhood, a boost for your local economy since someone living close by is probably employed at the goodwill store.
I trust you're getting the picture by now.

Til next time, Live Well with Less!

Living in a Smaller Home

Beth 

Living in a smaller home gives me an advantage.
     For many years I lived in a 2000+sq ft home.
Since 2006 I've been living in an "efficiency" space.  How did I let go of the excess stuff and learn to notice my habits about consuming goods, not out of actual need but only for its own sake?

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of how I did this I have a secret for you....

I don't feel deprived.  Rather, I discovered a sense of greater freedom.

The secret
After I moved into this much smaller space I could eliminate about two-thirds of my belongings. Much of what I though I had to have around me had not been used in a long time. When I began giving away unused things I felt a genuine sense of relief.

Part two of my secret: Though I live in my own apartment I share beautiful,
well-kept common space in other areas of the building with several people.




"Back Garden"
Oil painting by Beth Walsh-Bolstad

Economy-size living space: More comfortable, more manageable

     Even after only six months of living in community with smaller personal space, I was more satisfied with it than I had been in a 2000sqft condo. Having less area to maintain alone, (no longer 2000 square feet of space to clean) and fewer articles to keep track of is a great burden off my mind. With less stuff to manage I gained more time to do other things and to relax a bit more.

With only what I really need and use at hand it's easier to enjoy what I have chosen to keep. After having gone through the process of paring down I notice it more when things pile up again and can plan for recycling things out that I no longer use.
     It's much easier to keep track of things too.  I used to lose my keys and my glasses all over the house in a bigger space.  After moving to the smaller space I chose a spot for keys-on a hook right next to the door. I put them there when I get home and they're always there when I leave. The same process has worked for other things as well.

Effects of Consumerist Habits on the Environment
     I've learned how much of a consumer I am. Living in a larger space I could buy things without needing to think about it. Even if I didn't need the stuff, I was buying it believing it would make my place more comfortable. It took several years to look through everything and toss what I didn't need. Now I have just what I need and that's enough!
     Because I have to stop and consider whether I really need to buy something new, I have come to notice how often I feel an urge to go shopping.  It happens when I don't even really need anything so I've grown to appreciate getting insight into those habits.  I ask what it is that drives me to live a consumer lifestyle and how following my urges to live that way can have negative effects on the planet.


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Soap Berries to Clean Laundry...yet another way to live well with less!

In October of 2011 at the "Connecting for Change" conference I discovered Soap Berries.

Beth Redmond Walsh

"SoBerry" soapberries are a dried berry that comes from a tree in India and is used in its native part of the world for various cleaning jobs. The vendor was marketing these primarily for use as a laundry detergent in the washing machine though it can be used for cleaning dishes, floors, jewelry and around the house.  I was completely fascinated, if a little doubtful of the idea of using dried berries in place of laundry detergent for cleaning my clothes.  So I bought a bag of soapberries to try them out.

Following the directions, I put four soapberries into a small cotton muslin drawstring bag, dropped it into the washing machine first where it would quickly become immersed in the wash water and tossed my clothes in. It was a little odd not to put any liquid or powdered soap into the machine with my clothes. I knew from the conversation with the vendor that soapberries are considered to be effective as a fabric softeners as well as a superior cleaning agent, so when it was time to remove the clothes I took note of the feeling of the cloth in my hands. Was it really softer than it was when it went into the machine?  After the first wash I couldn't be sure but after the next couple of washes I did notice a difference in the softness of the fabrics. What has really surprised me the most is that the clothes always come out just as clean as they would with laundry soap and there is no fragrance at all, only clean, fresh, perfume-free laundry.

My soapberries after a dozen washes
and they are still going strong.

It is also important to me that this product is organic and adds no chemicals to the ground water and is free of  1,4-Dioxane which is a carcinogenic substance that is found in most commercial laundry detergents. 1,4-Dioxane is a by-product of the chemical soapmaking process, and therefore does not have to be listed as an ingredient.  This is a problem, because many people are using these laundry detergents, having no idea that they contain a carcinogen.

Four of the chemical-free soapberries can be used with great success in about 10 wash loads. Since I started using them in October 2011 I have used soapberries almost exclusively to clean my laundry. The soapberries haven't shown signs of needing to be changed yet and my clothes just keep getting clean as well as softer with each washing. Oh and I use soapberries only in cold water and they work perfectly well.

In terms of living well with less I consider soapberries to be a great addition to my arsenal of helpful cleaning products that have the least impact on the environment and delivers the best results!

Adjusting to Life at the Cambridge Zen Center

Living and practicing at the zen center is an ongoing experience of learning to work together in as many ways as we can. We learn to support each other's practice by taking care of each other's needs a few of which are cooking and sharing meals, doing house chores together, leading zen practice and instructing outside visitors who may want to learn how to do our style of meditation or other types of zen practice.

By sharing the burden of these tasks we help each other give more time to zen practice, to do our work, to go to school or study for classes or to have some free time. I had lived in my own home for many years with my own set of rules so when I first came to live at the zen center it seemed like the responsibilities would be difficult to get used to and I was right: adjusting to this new way of life was challenging. 
 As I continued over time to learn how to integrate my community responsibilities with my job, studies and private life, however, I began to experience a growing sense of belonging in my new community and a sense of satisfaction unlike any I had ever experienced before.

The Luxury of Less - Podcast with Graham Hill

Graham Hill, a serial Designpreneur, holds a degree as a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa and has also studied Product Design at Emily Carr in Vancouver. In 1995, with his cousin, he grew (and later sold) the web-developer SiteWerks to 60 people, doing work for clients such as Microsoft. In 2003 he founded both TreeHugger.com and a ceramic cup business (WeAreHappyToServeYou.com). TreeHugger later became part of Discovery’s Planet Green initiative and is where Hill currently places his efforts. http://www.futureprimitive.org/2012/01/graham-hill-the-luxury-of-less/a

Communal Life at Cambridge Zen Center

HOW LIVING WITH LESS REALLY IS MORE...

Let Us Show You How We Do It!

Working together to care for our temple is an effective way to live well with less.Life in a zen center revolves around practice. It's what holds the sangha together whether we are bowing, sitting, chanting or do walking practice. Acting together helps us to recognize in real ways that we are not separate, small 'I's but parts of a greater whole that sustains us and all the other beings on the planet.

WORK PRACTICE

Each Saturday morning we gather together to do two hours of work practice.  Our temple is a large building consisting of four connected townhouses with a front and back yard and a parking lot. We live here and take care of it because it is not only our home but it is where we welcome the public to learn about the dharma and practice with us.  Working together is a part of the practice that helps us learn how to get along with each other, how to perform new tasks, and gives us a chance to get to know more about the place where we live and to take ownership of it.

You're invited to visit with us at the Cambridge Zen Center!

We welcome friends old and new to join us on Saturday mornings at 7:30 AM for a delicious home cooked breakfast  at the zen center and then to help with small projects, do some gardening or yard work, go food shopping, tidying up in the house or helping out in the office. It's a great way to get to know us, learn about our practice and about life at the zen center.

SIMPLE LIVING/SHARED LIVING

Since 2006 I have been living in community at a Buddhist zen center. I had owned and resided in my own home for about 25 years.  When I first began to live here I felt I was living in a more constrained way.  It was true that I had given up the amount of private space I could live in for a very small room. But I quickly found that I liked this smaller space because it took no time to take care of it. I kept less in it because the more I brought in the more clutter, and the more distraction I had to deal with.   I quickly realized that I preferred to have less property to care for; I liked the shared living spaces because everyone helps to care for it.  We share all the things that anyone could need for everyday life. Each person doesn't need to buy their own mop for the bathroom or a vacuum cleaner for their room. One or two vaccum cleaners can be shared and maintained by the whole group. It keeps expenses down. You have less personal property but you actually have much more because you share a lot of things you wouldn't necessarily want to have to buy.  We also share the cost of utilities as we do the cost of food.  You may even be able to borrow a fellow community member's vehicle if needed instead of having to rent one.  My first room at the zen center was as simple as it gets: a 10 ft x 10 ft guest room in the third floor of an old townhouse.  I brought only what I needed to stay there and go to work every day for a few weeks so the atmosphere of the room remained uncluttered, simple and calming. The room had it's own basic furnishings, a bed, lamp, closet, a fan and a small dresser. It was surprisingly sufficient for someone used to living in a 1200 square foot space with a few extra rooms and a basement I used for storage.

The sparsity of furnishings in the room allowed me to see exactly what the room itself was like: the sunlight pouring in down the walls and on the floor, the texture of the two hundred year old floorboards.
I noticed the sounds of the room itself, the way sound would echo a little even in this tiny space. Nothing was there to absorb vibrations except the bed, sheets, blanket and pillow.
My little empty room was the perfect retreat after a long day at work. I was a retail clerk then and had to deal with an endless flow of objects as I rang up purchases and answer questions all day long.  That sparse room allowed my mind to settle down quickly, I could lay down on the bed and leave the day, the endless nquestions and the stream of 'things' behind me.   I had no radio, TV, computer, landline or cell phone in my room and no nagging urge to watch or listen to something.  I could simply rest my mind and body.

Since our main house living space consists of four connected townhouses we enjoy several common areas that we share including a computer room, a tv room, a laundry area, a small library, a large kitchen, dining area and two reception areas where we can receive and entertain guests.  While our private rooms are relatively small the amount of space we can share is quite large and nicely appointed.

Why I would mention zen practice in the context of living well with less is this: zen practice has an essential component of paying attention with all your senses. By doing this, by being with things, a situation, another person and paying careful attention I find it allows me to experience more of the world around me and within myself so that I can see that everything I need is here. I don't have to keep grasping desperately for more and more and more.

After some experience with this way of living I began to question the idea that owning all types of personal property is essential to some sort of 'good life'. By experiencing the sharing of work, expenses, tools, food and all the other necessities of life within a community of people that takes care of each other I continually see that living well with less is quite often the outcome of sharing with others what can easily be shared and enjoyed much more together.

SHARING MEALS

Another lovely aspect of communal living is sharing meals and cooking.  We share food costs and shop for our food twice a week.  Up to 20 or so of us take turns cooking and cleaning up after meals each week.   It saves us quite a bit of money on food and  since we take turns, each person doesn't need to cook and clean up every day. That frees up a good deal of time for practice and to do other things.

Fresh vegetables ready to be cooked for a retreat meal

Though we can eat whatever we want outside the house, since our home is also a temple, our meals at home are all vegetarian.  Our vegetarian diet helps us to reduce the impact our dietary needs impose on the soil and water while still enjoying delicious and nutrient packed meals.

Good Morning!

Preparing Lunch

Marinated tofu ready for baking

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE AND COMPOSTING

As the need arises we may compost up to four 5 gallon buckets of  food scraps weekly at a local collection center and we single-stream recycle everything the city will pick up.  We have a small garden plot in our large backyard where we grow several herbs, some lettuce and some root vegetables. Our backyard garden provides those who enjoy gardening with opportunities to plant, weed and otherwise maintain it.  For the past several years we have also maintained a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership with a local farm and pick up a generous box of organically grown produce weekly for about half the year during the harvesting season.

Fresh Dressing