New Yorkers are already a pretty green bunch. We use a lot of mass transit, live in tiny, energy efficient apartments and the majority of us don’t own cars — even those supposedly Earth-saving ones from Tesla. But, certainly we could all do a little better. We thought we’d channel some Portlandia, and see if we could come up with some ways we could support the local tech economy and be a little greener in the process.
Without further ado, here are three ways you can live a local, green tech lifestyle.
Eat Rooftop Veggies
New York is home to a couple companies that are using technology to assist with growing vegetables on our rooftops. After all, the concept of urban-rooftop farming is about the most Brooklyn-sounding thing ever. And, while you may disregard the entire thing as hipster nonsense, apparently it takes 435 fossil-fuel calories to fly just one five calorie strawberry from California. I’m not really a math guy, but that doesn’t sound very efficient.
Both BrightFarms (which is actually based in Midtown) and Gotham Greens are growing and selling produce in the city. Buying their produce means your food only has to travel a short distance from roof to grocery store shelf. What’s more, you’ll be eating veggies instead of meat — and we all know that eating a steak is the modern equivalent of driving a Hummer through a polar bear farm.
Share a Ride
According to the EPA, the transportation sector is responsible for about 26 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. About half of that is from cars and light-duty trucks (SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans). While many of us rely heavily on the subway to get around town, everyone hires a car from time to time, and these days there are some pretty efficient car-sharing schemes operating in the city. If you’re coming or going from a big event or the airport, Bandwagon makes it easy to find people heading in the same direction as you, and negotiate a shared ride. Via, which recently raised $70 million, will give you a shared ride in a premium vehicle to any destination below 125th Street for just $5. Want a ride to Laguardia for under $25? They've got you covered. Ya, it’s not as green as pounding the pavement, but it sure beats the driving an SUV to a palatial McMansion in New Jersey.
Smarten Up Your Home
The only industry responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation is electricity. And hey, who could blame us? That A/C feels GOOOOD. But, with a couple of easy tweaks, most of us could make some pretty sizable dents in our energy use without even noticing, and there are some New York-based startups making smart-home IoT products that make that change mindless. ThinkEco makes an extension cord you can plug into your window-A/C unit and turn it into a ‘smart-A/C’. Not only will it actually measure the amount of electricity that beast of a machine is using, it’ll automatically turn it on and off depending on the time of day, and allow you to control the unit from you phone. Radiator Labs makes a device that modernizes old-school radiator systems and turns them into smart-heating systems. That, however, isn’t really something that you can do on your own and you’ll have to get your landlord involved.
Know of a company that deserves coverage? Let us know or tweet us @builtinnewyork.
