1. We live in a small apartment

a. Living in a small space minimizes the energy used for heating and cooling

b. Of the 6 sides of the cube that is our apartment, 3 are insulated by a neighbor on either side and the ground beneath us

c. When I served on the condo board I was instrumental in passing two key changes

i. Insulation was added to the attics of both buildings

ii. I enabled unit owners to replace their old windows from the 1950s and we bought new windows for this apartment, the new windows are far better at insulating the apartment, they are much more effective at blocking noise from outside, and they are fully operational so that you can escape in case of a fire

d. It's less resource-intensive and easier to clean a small place with only one bathroom (although, sharing the bathroom with four people is a challenge)

2. We don't buy superfluous stuff

a. We buy used stuff often

b. We don't throw stuff away and replace it unless it no longer works and can't be fixed

i. We wear used clothes often and wear our clothes until they are worn out

c. With a small apartment, there is little room to store stuff (this is a good thing)

3. We're a one car family

a. Our Prius gets 50 miles to the gallon on average

b. We intentionally moved close to the middle of town where we can walk or bike for most errands, I almost never drive to town

c. To get to work I walked to the commuter train to get to NYC and that train connects to the regional Amtrak service in Stamford

d. If we need a second car, I either rent one or borrow one

4. We transitioned the condominium lawns of the North and South buildings to be pesticide free when I was on the condo board

a. We were pesticide free for six years and the lawns were looking pretty good

b. We live on the busiest road for accessing the town center and I had signage on this road that indicated we were pesticide free

c. I hired a landscaper, Mow Green, that used electric mowers and leaf blowers

d. When I got off the condo board, the next board brought back the pesticides and herbicides to control the weeds (very myopic), and replaced Mow Green with a conventional landscaping company

5. We minimize the garbage we generate

a. We minimize our use of disposable products
i. For example, we don't use plastic bags as liners for our garbage cans

b. We compost our kitchen scraps (20% of the overall waste stream going to landfill is compostable)

c. We re-use plastic bread bags by washing them (very tedious) and drying them on a special bag dryer that we keep on the refrigerator

6. We almost never throw away food, we eat what we buy

7. We minimize our use of water

a. We have a device on our kitchen sink that modulates water volume

b. I take cold showers so I use very little water when I shower

c. We installed a low flush toilet

8. We minimize energy use for lighting

a. We use task lighting that we turn on only when we need to

b. We use LED bulbs for much of our lighting

c. The condo lighting in the common elements was updated to LED fixtures and bulbs (we campaigned for this and encouraged our neighbors to support this change)

9. We transitioned from heating oil to natural gas in both buildings

a. It was a close condo association vote to approve this change

b. Although I advocated for transitioning to electric heat with individual metering in each unit, I eventually supported the change to natural gas with my condo allies because the likelihood of achieving my preference was low

Some of these actions require more effort and work, but many of them have become part of our routine so that they no longer require us to conciously apply our attention to the action; they have become habits.