Community Corner

Resident Focused on Reducing Carbon Footprint

Sue Dorward has gone through a gradual process for her family to live green lives.

She is the driving force behind her family’s green practices, and it is all about reducing their carbon footprints.

“It has been a gradual process over the years as we add a little bit at a time,” said Bridgewater resident Sue Dorward of the work she has done with her husband and two kids to keep a green home. “We have really worked to reduce our carbon footprints.”

But Dorward initial foray into going green began just after her oldest child was born and she began making baby food because she didn’t like what was offered in stores.

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“Then the stores started selling organic baby food, so we bought that,” she said. “Then the only milk he would drink happened to be organic. I started buying more organic, and the stores started selling more organic things, so it grew from there.”

And from there, Dorward said, everything just took off.

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First, Dorward said, she found out about energy audits and incentives from the New Jersey Clean Energy program.

“Our house had some definite cold spots, including the master bedroom and our finished basement,” she said. “I was tired of being cold, so I signed us up.”

“Around that same time, I was diagnosed with some health problems that make me unable to tolerate heat and cold, so I really wanted to improve our insulation and HVAC systems as much as possible,” she added.

Over the years, Dorward said, she and her family have added new methods of going green, including driving a hybrid car while her husband uses public transportation to get to work, and installing an energy detective on the electrical panel to see electricity usage.

Aside from the baby food she used to buy, Dorward said her family eats mostly organic foods, local if possible, and reuses bags and containers for shopping, drinks and lunches.

“It took me a while to remember to say, ‘no bag, please,’ when picking up an item or two at a store,” she said.

As for plants, Dorward said, she has replaced outdoor plants with native ones, and uses an organic lawn service to restore balance to the lawn without fertilizers and chemicals.

“It will take some time, but it’s already making a difference,” she said. “Our lawn survived quite well last summer in the heat, and we didn’t water it.”

In addition, Dorward said, the family composts food waste, reduces incoming mail, recycles as much as possible, uses cloth napkins, has office-style paper recycling bins on every floor and switched to less toxic ingredients for cleaning and beauty products.

“I use the Environmental Working Group’s online database, quite a bit to help me decide which products to buy,” she said.

In terms of water usage, Dorward said, her family has been able to cut its usage in half, from 80 gallons per person per day to 40.

“We have low-flow shower heads and sink aerators, and we just converted our toilets to dual-flush toilets,” she said.

Dorward said there are always new ways to maintain a green lifestyle, and all it takes is a little attention to know what to do.

“Right now, as the weather warms up, I’m aware that the southern exposure of my house could use more tree shade to help keep the house cool, and awnings over the windows,” she said. “And I’m seeing all of the damage from deer in my yard.”

“Could we put up a deer fence and encourage the native plants to grow?” she asked.

As far as putting together a plan for being green, Dorward said some of the activities are easy and some are not. It all depends on what families choose to do, she said, and the more difficult activities usually require changing a behavior.

“Some things just take a little time to get done, like the energy audit,” she said. “Other things like installing a programmable thermostat, dual-flush toilet valve, efficient lighting or switching to buying different products, those are one-time efforts.”

“Fortunately, most efficiency improvements are one-time efforts that pay for themselves over time, so I encourage people to start there,” she added.

But activities like driving less or taking shorter showers can be more difficult, Dorward said, because people believe going green requires sacrificing certain comforts and changing behaviors.

“That’s really hard and can feel like sacrificing comfort or convenience to go green, and I think that’s a big misconception,” she said. “There are so many ways that going green can feel good for the earth, your health, your kids, your pocketbook.”

For example, Dorward said, with her energy audit, she learned that instead of lowering the thermostat in winter and raising it in summer, there were other ways of saving energy that also saved her money in the long run.

And Dorward said she has gotten involved in activities around town and in the state to promote living green, first by joining the Bridgewater Township Sustainability Committee, and helping to plan the Bridgewater Environmental Fair. She also serves on the Bridgewater Resident Steering Panel for the American Cyanamid Superfund site.

“In addition, I volunteer for the New Jersey invasive Species Strike Team, which will be eradicating Japanese Angelica-tree from a section of Washington Valley Park,” she said. “And if that’s not enough, I am also a member of the Raritan Environmental action League, the environmental club at Raritan Valley Community College.”

But Dorward said there are always more things for residents to do, and she has always been specifically focused on reducing her carbon footprint.

“My foremost environmental concern is climate change, so I have focused on reducing my carbon footprint,” she said. “When I added up the numbers, after a lot of energy usage reduction at home, I found that my family’s carbon footprint was one-third from home energy use, one-third from ground transportation and one-third from air transportation.”

Just a few business trips and a vacation cost one-third of the family’s carbon footprint, Dorward said.

For those looking to reduce their carbon footprints as well, Dorward said, she would recommend having a home energy audit and associated sealing and insulation work.

From there, Dorward said, she recommends looking into a new high-efficiency HVAC system, and investigating ways of reducing travel-related emissions through traveling by train instead of air or other options.

Still, Dorward said, some people would rather focus on other issues.

“Not everyone cares about climate change,” she said. “Studies have found that people go green for lots of different reasons, some of which have little to do with the environment. Saving money, religious beliefs, health concerns, legacy for our children, national security, being trendy and anti-corporate sentiments can all be reasons to go green.”

Dorward said she recommends that people simply look into what matters to them when deciding what to focus on and what tools to use.

“Once you’ve found something that you want to work on, get data so that you can make sure you’re focusing on the big stuff,” she said. “Make changes and measure again on a regular basis so that you know what’s working and can tell when something’s going wrong.”


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