The true obstacles to “green” solutions (a minor rant)

Ah, the glamorous life of an eco-entrepreneur. Today, I argued with my shipper, DSV Air & Sea via email about a $200 storage fee I incurred because they claim they didn’t received by bank-issued check in time. Yet a dated cancelled check suggests they are wrong. Apparently I must eat this one. As well as the substantial time to handle it.
Last night, PayPal informed me that a customer, who definitely received her order, got a successful chargeback on her card. Cost to me: $30 + $20 “fee” + cost of goods + time lost. PayPal’s surprisingly cogent customer service guy says this is what credit card consumer protection looks like.
And I spent Tuesday researching and writing text for a special permit for my customer to install two EcoFlush urine-diverting toilets I sold at cost. Six hours gone. And the customer suggested I should pick up the cost of the permit, $343.

At conferences, I hear academics rant about how we need to implement X solution and Y practice. Then I go home and encounter the hurdles to actual implementation, which are mostly about regulations, liability, market education, time and money. It’s those of us who try to make them real by making them available and installing them who are in the trenches and getting no grants, profits, or glory.

Jean

12 Jul 2011

Here is the number 1 problem I encounter myself as an end-user who wants to do the right thing but has limited time and mental capacity is figuring out what the green solutions are and whether each one makes sense for me personally. My solar water story illustrates this.

I bought a fixer house that needed its roof replaced and was looking at the possibilities for how to make use of my roof. Having been an apartment/dorm dweller since age 4, it was my first time thinking of such issues and so I looked for the greenest GC I could find to help guide me through them. Solar was an obvious option and my GC gave me the good advice to consult Sungevity about it. Sungevity determined that my roof was too shaded but that Solar water could work. So I went back to my GC with that information and he consulted with a solar water installer who wrote up a contract for a roughly $8,000 system heating an 80 gallon tank. It felt off both in terms of price and capacity. But when I tried to ask about this, all I got from my GC and the solar water installer were the selling points about buying the system before solar water heater prices went up and insuring against future hikes in energy prices. Fortunately I found out about the Build-it-Green hotline in time and asked them about solar water. The first question they asked was my monthly gas & electric bill which is currently $27 per month. They suggested that solar water would not be cost effective for me and told me about simple cost effective things I could do to conserve water. Thumbs up to Build-it-Green!

Now I am still scratching my head about things like what sort of grey water and rainwater catchment systems might
make sense for me and whether hydraulic lime stucco and green countertops are worth the cost. Guess I’ll have to get back on the phone with Build-it-Green, but what about the questions I don’t even know to ask? Shouldn’t there be more of an ethic among green providers to become better at diagnosing which green solutions make sense for the given circumstances and not encouraging the ones that don’t?

This Post Has 2 Comments

Jean
12 Jul 2011

Here is the number 1 problem I encounter myself as an end-user who wants to do the right thing but has limited time and mental capacity is figuring out what the green solutions are and whether each one makes sense for me personally. My solar water story illustrates this.

I bought a fixer house that needed its roof replaced and was looking at the possibilities for how to make use of my roof. Having been an apartment/dorm dweller since age 4, it was my first time thinking of such issues and so I looked for the greenest GC I could find to help guide me through them. Solar was an obvious option and my GC gave me the good advice to consult Sungevity about it. Sungevity determined that my roof was too shaded but that Solar water could work. So I went back to my GC with that information and he consulted with a solar water installer who wrote up a contract for a roughly $8,000 system heating an 80 gallon tank. It felt off both in terms of price and capacity. But when I tried to ask about this, all I got from my GC and the solar water installer were the selling points about buying the system before solar water heater prices went up and insuring against future hikes in energy prices. Fortunately I found out about the Build-it-Green hotline in time and asked them about solar water. The first question they asked was my monthly gas & electric bill which is currently $27 per month. They suggested that solar water would not be cost effective for me and told me about simple cost effective things I could do to conserve water. Thumbs up to Build-it-Green!

Now I am still scratching my head about things like what sort of grey water and rainwater catchment systems might
make sense for me and whether hydraulic lime stucco and green countertops are worth the cost. Guess I’ll have to get back on the phone with Build-it-Green, but what about the questions I don’t even know to ask? Shouldn’t there be more of an ethic among green providers to become better at diagnosing which green solutions make sense for the given circumstances and not encouraging the ones that don’t?
carol
14 Jul 2011

@Jean Interesting points. I’d say we have to make up our own minds with the information we have and gather as much information as possible. In this case, it sounds like you wanted a solar system because it reflects your values. You already knew you had low gas bills, so it was unlikely a solar thermal system was going to have a quick payback. But I know what you mean.
The decisionmaking criteria isn’t always obvious.
Someone called Ecovita last week and wanted to know all about the composting toilets. He then said he wasn’t sure if he and his wife should just continue using a bucket or upgrade to a composting toilet—and what were my thoughts about that? I told him they had to decide if they wanted a composting toilet. I wasn’t sure what else I could tell him. Some would say he wanted to be talked into buying one, but I didn’t feel like doing that.

Blog