In my climate action series, I’m sharing the behind-the-scenes of my choices and decisions I’ve made about food, home, and transportation/travel.
I’ve lived in 2 cities, 1 house and 3 apartments. I’ve lived with my parents (and siblings), a roommate + dog, and solo. Solo in a 1 bedroom and in a studio. Moved with friends + friends twice and hired movers twice. Each time I’ve moved (4), I've learned more about what enables my best self and what’s a bonus preference.
This post is about my apartment criteria, composting, utilities, and climate-related home living.
Apartment criteria
My criteria is through the lens of how I view what I want my home to be - a place that I both look forward to returning to and enjoy being in. Partly aesthetics and partly functional.
I imagine trudging home after a long outing. I want to look at the building and feel relieved that I’m finally home. I want the landscape to be cared for. For the trees, greenery, and flowers to look flourishing (and exist in the first place).
I need there to be a balcony, for me to have private outdoor space. To see whether my clothing choices are appropriate for the weather and regulating my body temperature. To walk around on the balcony, for a railing to lean on, a seat to perch on, and more.
(I miss my balcony being literally under a tree, when I lived along the beltline trail. I miss seeing so many dogs being walked. I miss hearing chirping birds…)
I need the building to have a ramp and elevator for my carry-on suitcase full of groceries. And to know that there are people who need it always living in the building too.
I need a laundry room in the building. I love having a hefker donation area for building residents. Seeing people around the common areas.
For my apartment searches, I look on Google Maps street view to see which buildings have balconies and ramps and where things are — bus stops for both north/south and west/east routes, a city library branch, back-up food store(s)…
And I check out the vibes/energy in person.
Green bin & composting
I’ve learned that I need to make sure the apartment building composts, to look for green bins during my apartment search.
I don’t have a green bin now. My current building uses a non-city, private contractor for garbage pickup. Things are either destined for a landfill or recycling facility. Which is.. not ideal.
While I tried a compost bucket in apartment #2, I don’t think I used the spigot properly. And, I had nowhere to put the compost but the green bin. So I stopped using it. Why bother?
Now, as I was researching compost systems for apartment #3, I think it’s again pointless since there’s nowhere realistic and recurring I can donate the compost to. (I’m not going to regularly bring my compost to a random green bin I might find near me. My climate action ideology/conviction isn’t that strong.)
Heating & cooling
I’ve learned that all my unit windows need to have a screen and ability to open. I’ve learned my balcony door needs a screen door (I like having the balcony door open during the day as much as possible).
It would be lovely to have windows that are properly insulated..
It would be lovely to control the unit temperature so it’s more similar to the outside temperature. (None of my apartments have had A/C.)
The building’s heating, on between/during fall and spring, is quite.. hot.. especially during the evening when my curtains are down. (I use blackout curtains and have doubled up regular curtains to be blackout.)
I’ve even recently (in November) woken up in the early morning sweating if I hadn’t had my tower fan on. My tower fan is my Most Valuable Purchase (MVP).
During heat waves, I used to dampen a towel and sleep on or under it since my formerly owned table fan was too noisy for me to be able to sleep with it on. During my tower fan search in apartment #2, I got a decibel testing app and tested the lowest setting of my table fan to make sure my new fan would be quieter than that. So now during heat waves I just use a higher setting on my MVP… Luckily, I have electricity 99.1% of the time.
Conveniently for me, the units I’ve lived in have all faced north. So I don’t get much direct sunlight, which helps keep my apartment temperature regulated. When there’s sun, I typically leave lights off in the main area of my studio since the windows provide enough natural light for the daytime. (My windows span the width of about 4 curtains).
I won’t get a portable A/C unit. (Though I do benefit from them when others’ have them. If any future apartments do have them, I’d keep it close to the outside temperature.) A/C units makes outside hotter and I don’t want to contribute to that.
Other household things
I use laundry detergent eco-strips. I dry all laundry on my laundry rack. I likely air dry clothes more than what’s socially acceptable. I probably shower and wash my hair less than socially acceptable too.
I use toothpaste tablets with my electric toothbrush. I use bar soap. I use reusable menstrual pads.
I keep my microwave unplugged in unless in use. (The only kitchen appliances plugged in all the time are my fridge/freezer and oven.)
I’ve gotten out of the habit of switching off my desk’s multi-outlet power strip at night (that plugs in my cell phone charger, laptop charger, monitor, and floor lamp). I can start doing that again…
I’ve switched out all my batteries to be rechargeable. And, I’ve switched to LED light bulbs (but I’m not convinced one is very energy efficient since it gets very hot after being on for a few hours at night).
Next up: transit vs car, and traveling