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By Alison Rogers
Friday, April 25, 2008
I’m really not an eco-freak. I’m not one of those people who are dying to jump into a hybrid Cadillac Escalade, or who need my clothes to be made out of hemp, or who think cleaning products are supposed to be made of lemon juice and water.
But I still couldn’t help but be aware of Earth Day this year, April 22, if only because I live in a big apartment building and I had to take a stack of magazines about it out to the recycling bins.
Certainly one impression I got, which is a little different from previous Earth Days, is that we all are going to have to shape up and be a little more green. Not just because our favorite musicians are playing concerts asking us to while god-know-how-many kilowatts of electric lights are shining on them on stage, but because fuel prices are getting so high.
Reports have come out recently that consumers aren’t behaving as expected; that as energy prices increase, guess what, we aren’t using much less of it. Now, in a world where we don’t need penguins that might not matter, but it is going to hit us New Yorkers in a different place—in our rent bills.
Every year the Rent Stabilization Association, the group that represents landlords in New York City, asks for rent hikes for the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Last year, the group complained that its costs rose 5.1 percent, and it was granted allowable rent raises of 5.75 percent for two-year leases.
This year, the group has said that its costs rose 7.8 percent, according to an article in the New York Daily News. As a result, it is asking for allowable rent raises in the range of 10–15 percent.
Um, ouch!
The main culprit is fuel costs, which the RSA says rose 37.4 percent. The increases will go through their annual approval process, which takes place in June, but it’s clear even from the request that we’ve all got to buckle down and cut fuel consumption if we want to have any money left after the first of the month.
So if you don’t want to be Hemp Boy, what should you do? Start with these three simple tips:
Curb your air-conditioning use. A report in the Portland Tribune notes that it is more energy efficient to turn your unit off while you’re gone during the day, and turn it on when you get home, than to leave the unit running at a low level all day long. (The exception, of course, is if you have a kitty or doggie and the outside temp soars into the 90s). Think of using your A/C to take the edge off the heat—if you want an icebox, go to the movies.
Use compact fluorescent bulbs. They’re still horrifyingly ugly, but the new generation finally produces decent light—that’s what happens when big superstores start to throw their weight behind a product. Last year Popular Mechanics rate n:vision—a brand that’s sold at the Home Depot—better than incandescents. They’re still a little hinky—you can’t use them with a dimmer switch, and they like to be on for long periods of time, so consumers say they burn out if you put them in a place where you turn the lights on and off quickly, like a bathroom—but they’re so good for the environment that it’s a good deed to install even one. Move your reading chair over to the window and try to occasionally read by daylight while you’re at it.
Clean your refrigerator coils. Duh, unplug the fridge first, but you can watch a video of how to do this on YouTube. It takes about five minutes, and you will decrease your refrigerator’s energy consumption substantially. Plus your food will keep better too!
Alison Rogers is a real estate agent at DG Neary Realty in Chelsea. For help finding a green apartment, contact her at ali@dgneary.com.
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