Green Renting Revolution
Ecofriendly options emerge for tenants who band together
January-February 2009
by Kari Volkmann-Carlsen
 |
Image by Peter O. Zierlein / www.peterozierlein.com
|
Read savvy tips from the alternative press on greening your rental pad.
RELATED CONTENT
The alternative press is chock-full of savvy tips for greening your rental pad. Here’s a sampling o...
Noun, singular: A pejorative term lobbed at new buildings, both residential and commercial, that ar...
Singer Al Green and poet Rainer Maria Rilke share a sense of the sublime...
Hey, all you guilt-stricken liberals. Let the water run. Throw those recyclable milk jugs in the tr...
2000 Finalists: Science and Environment...
Renters from New York to Seattle have spent years at the mercy of their landlords, rhythmically reciting mantras like “If I owned my own house, I’d definitely install solar panels.” How many days have they spent waiting to have drafty windows sealed or leaky faucets fixed—cringing as carbon footprints enlarge to gargantuan craters?
Their powerlessness might soon be history. In 2008 as the U.S. housing market crumbled, the green residential sector continued to flourish, reports TreeHugger (Aug. 26, 2008). As a result, tenants are rapidly gaining genuine leverage to make meaningful decisions about their homes. Green options associated with home ownership—like large-scale building improvements—are no longer improbabilities. But to take full advantage of their opportunities, tenants must reject traditionally passive roles and start tapping into their communities.
Opening communication with neighbors and landlords is the place to begin. “Competition among landlords is fierce,” counsels Philadelphia’s new sustainability magazine Grid (Sept. 2008). Informing your landlord that green initiatives are important to you as a consumer—and rising in importance to others—frames greening as a sensible if not essential investment. Rallying fellow tenants for eco-conscious choices, like reminding a landlord to cool off a scalding-hot water heater, builds the solidarity necessary to influence even bigger change.
Propelling those big green ideas to fruition requires substantial coordination. That’s why the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Energy Alliance is developing a “green lease” in collaboration with the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. “So many renters feel powerless,” says Amy Panek, a Kendall Foundation program officer. “We’re trying to find a way to empower them and give them options similar to those of a home owner.”