GREEN LIGHT ON...

Eric Hilfer, Director of Software Engineering

Conservation and low-impact living has always made sense to me.

I have always felt very close to the natural world, and when I was growing up I spent lots of time outside looking at bugs and wildlife whenever I could.

When our town started a glass recycling program in 1971, I spent time every week separating our glass by color and using a screw driver to twist off the little metal rings that the screw caps left behind in those days.

In my daily life, I try to find ways to minimize my impact on resources and to promote sustainable practices. Here are some of the choices we make at home:

	I commute by bicycle and public transportation as much as possible — the commute from Acton to Watertown takes a bit longer, but is MUCH more relaxing
	We have a solar hot water heater on our house. During the summer, we hardly use any oil at all!
	Buy organic produce to support organic farming practices, which actually enrich the land instead of depleting it the way chemical farming does
	We recycle most of our packaging, and compost all of our food waste — the amount we actually throw out is amazingly small!
	We grow vegetables and herbs in our garden, and use the compost as natural fertilizer and potting soil
	We do organic lawn care and use moisture-retaining mulch so that we use less water around the yard
	We use non-toxic pest management as much as possible, and set up gardens to attract toads and bats to the yard to naturally control insects
	We use personal care products that contain few harmful chemicals — this reduces our own exposure and supports businesses that develop healthy products
	We have large shade trees that help keep the house cool, and use ceiling fans inside, so that we rarely need to use air conditioning
	We have changed our lighting over to use energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, and we're looking forward to the even more efficient LED bulbs that are coming in the future

I'm very excited that the idea of living more gently on the Earth is moving from the fringe into the mainstream. I'm very proud that Tom Snyder Productions and Scholastic are supporting this movement toward green living!

Eric uses a solar panel to heat his hot water

Eric's compost is a natural fertilizer