{"id":564,"date":"2010-08-20T18:28:29","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T23:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?p=564"},"modified":"2010-09-29T16:22:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-29T21:22:00","slug":"part-3-10-challenge-success-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/2010\/08\/part-3-10-challenge-success-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 3: 10% Challenge Success Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Needham family begins with mouse problem, ends with big savings and a neighborhood garden.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Steven and Sarah Winig moved to Needham six years ago, the excitement of their big move was soon replaced by worries about their new home. At 50 years old, the Winigs\u2019 new house started giving them problems almost right away, and they struggled to fix some major issues \u2013 fast. \u201cThere were mice everywhere, even between the floors,\u201d Sarah Winig recalled about her first winter in Needham. \u201cThe first thing we did was to air-seal the house for mice. I closed in every hole I could find.\u201d The Winigs had fixed their mouse problem, but in the process they had also begun to make their old house more energy-efficient.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Realizing that filling the holes in their house had made a huge difference in the quality of their home insulation, the Winigs wanted to do more. \u201cThe house just guzzled oil, and it seemed like it was leaking everywhere,\u201d Winig explained. Working with MassSave, an initiative made possible my Massachusetts\u2019 primary electric utilities and energy service providers, the Winigs received a free Home Energy Assessment and began the process of reducing their home energy consumption. \u201cThey came out, did a free audit, and made recommendations. They also gave us free compact florescent bulbs which helped us make the switch easily,\u201d Winig remembered. After completing the new insulation of their home, the family noticed a significant drop in their overall oil usage. The continued positive results led them to trade in their old refrigerator for an energy-efficient alternative, and to purchase a front-load washer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While many families make these important changes to their homes and stop there, the Winigs took their new lifestyle a few steps further. \u201cA few years ago, I decided I really wanted to grow a small vegetable garden,\u201d Winig said. Today, the Winigs\u2019 garden is a popular attraction for neighborhood kids, who love trying new vegetables. <\/strong>\u201cA lot of the inspiration to do this sort of thing comes with having kids,\u201d Winig noted. \u201cYou want to show them not to waste in simple ways.\u201d In keeping with that attitude, the Winigs started making their own compost, and found they make enough to feed the neighborhood garden each year.<\/p>\n

The Winigs\u2019 story shows how a few changes can begin a lifestyle of greener habits that can benefit the surrounding community.<\/strong> Sarah Winig is hopeful that more people will do what her family has done once they see how easy and cost-effective it is. \u201cA lot of what we\u2019ve done has been an investment,\u201d she emphasized. \u201cThe nice thing is, people are becoming more aware of energy savings with the economy the way it is. People are more aware that you can save by reducing your energy consumption \u2013 that it\u2019s not detrimental to their lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Needham family begins with mouse problem, ends with big savings and a neighborhood garden. Read this and our other “10% Challenge Success Stories”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10percent","tag-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}