Following are some facets of Stan Walerczyk’s life.
This example is more ‘drive the talk’. It is now a two hybrid car family. During Labor Day weekend of 1999 the first batch of Toyota Priuses hybrid cars were delivered to the States for sale. This date was eagerly awaited since Stan paid his deposit the previous March. The average gas mileage is about 45 and the exhaust is cleaner than typical Los Angeles air. He considers it the best car that he has ever had, except for the new Prius that he got in late 2004, so his wife could also have one. By the time another car is needed, hopefully Toyota and/or another manufacturer will have plug-in hybrids that can run on bio-diesel or ethanol 85.
There are double dug beds for both summer and winter organic gardens. He collects grass clippings and fall leaves from the neighbors for his compost pile. Rainwater from the house roof gutters is piped into tanks for the garden and five fruit trees. Shower water and kitchen rinse water are diverted to non-edible outside plants.
His solar oven, which can get up to 400 degrees F, is a great way to cook food on hot summer days without having to heat up the kitchen. When Stan was looking for a solar oven close to 20 years ago, he called the owner of Sun Oven, and had a great conversation. The owner was retired and was focusing on several solar oven technologies that various third world people could use to cook food without having to burn wood, charcoal or coal. In some areas of the world, people have to walk almost all day to retrieve firewood. Profits from the U.S. model helped subsidize the third world efforts. www.sunoven.com
Except for incandescents in the refrigerator and oven, most of the lights in the house are CFLs, cold cathode CFLs, LEDs, and T8s.
He and his wife have been vegetarian for decades. If anybody wants information detailing the significant less natural resources required for a vegetarian diet compared to eating meat, there are many books and websites on this.
When they had their house re-roofed a few years ago, several skylights were put in, and a roof jack was installed for a potential photovoltaic (PV) system. (But since their electric bills are so low and they are planning to move to Maui in 3 – 5 years, they will probably not get a PV system installed on their existing house.)
But Stan got a mini-PV system for his 55th birthday from two close professional buddies. The PV cells can charge iPods, cell phones, digital cameras, etc. Photo was taken on Summer Solstice when solar noon is 1:09 daylight savings time in Walnut Creek.
Ultimate sustainability may be considered spirituality. Stan has been practicing Kundalina Maha Yoga since the 70s. Each morning usually starts with prayers and meditation from 6 to 7 and then work begins at 7. Yes, this is typical 7 days a week. If you are interested in Yoga, Stan highly recommends ‘THIS HOUSE IS ON FIRE – The Life of Shri Dyhanyogi’ as told by Shri Anandi Ma. If you cannot find this book in a bookstore, check out www.dyc.org.
July 1, 2007 version
Revised: July 09, 2007