Taking the tasty approach
Cha family finds ways to make their
Eric and Stephanie Cha have discovered the perfect way to help their children develop an appreciation of sustainability: Cookies.
The West Linn couple has remodeled their home into a bastion of sustainability and eco-friendly living.
But the aspect that means the most to 5-year-old Natalie and 2-year-old Ethan is the oven, which is capable of some remarkable and sustainable things – like transforming frozen dough into hot delicious cookies within 11 minutes.
“It cooks really fast,” Stephanie said, “and that really helps with two young children.”
“The speed-cook oven cooks food four times as fast as a regular oven,” Eric said, “and there’s no pre-heating. We’ve been using it a lot.”
All of the Chas’ other cooking appliances are just as fast. The induction cook top has magnetic fields that heat pots and pans very fast and with the utmost efficiency. The surface doesn’t heat up, and the pan does not become hot from an element, but instead from the most direct application of energy.
“I’m a tech guy,” Eric said. “I really get into this stuff.”
“It’s always nice when you can cook food quickly,” Stephanie said. “It’s efficiency, on things like browning and warming, is a bonus.”
You really don’t need to leave the kitchen to see that the Chas are very sustainable people. Their countertops are made up of ground up granite, pieces too small to be used in regular slabs, and recycled with resin.
“There’s a lot less waste,” Eric said. “It’s zero maintenance and it’s hard and non-porous.”
Then there is the floor, which is made from cork that has been sustainably harvested – “they don’t kill the tree.”
While the kitchen is the sustainability jewel of the house, there is so much more. Such as the 400 square feet of solar panels installed by Mr. Sun Solar, which heat up an 80-gallon water tank and drastically reduces electric bills.
“We’re hooked up to the grid, so our power cost is almost zero in the summer and low cost in the winter,” Eric said.
The Chas were even sustainable with the material they disposed of. They gave the wood from the old wooden floor to a friend and other materials they donated to a rebuilding center in north Portland called Eco Salvage.
Add such features as low-flow faucets, low-energy light bulbs, and a super-efficient European dishwasher, and the Chas have a good case for being sustainable family of the year in West Linn. They just wish they could have done more.
“We did as much as we could,” Eric said. “Some things we didn’t know about at the time and there was also the cost issue on some things.”
Oddly enough, just a couple years ago Eric was not sustainability oriented at all.
“He was just part of the regular culture,” Stephanie said. “Sustainability wasn’t a big thing in the Midwest, where we grew up.”
But one day Eric read an article about Peak Oil and Climate Change and became a convert to earth-friendly living.
“It really seemed to make the most sense,” Stephanie said. Even beyond Peak Oil and Climate Change theories, “it came to make sense on its own.”
“After our eyes were opened, we saw a lot we could do, and it’s fun,” Eric said.
Adding a compost bin was one fun thing to do. Also getting STAR appliances, which save money on energy. It is also fun to get sparkling dishes when using only a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent.
Eric said, “With a little self inspection, it was easy to see that a lot of things we do as Americans are wasteful and unnecessary. We decided we could do better.”
There was also a deeply spiritual reason for adopting a sustainable style of living.
“For us, as Christians, God entrusted us with taking care of the earth,” Eric said. “If we err, we choose to err on the side of conservation.”
Of course, the bottom line is a good reason, too.
Stephanie said, “We’re convinced that energy costs will be rising.”
“Solar panels can pay you back actively,” Eric said. “And if you sell your home, they increase its values. It’s a win-win situation, especially with the tax breaks.”
Meanwhile, the Chas are slowly influencing their neighbors to take the same path.
“Not anyone else is doing a big remodeling job,” Stephanie said, “but everyone is interested in hearing about it.
“There are small things people can do and also big things, like cars. But it’s hard to turn on a dime and buy new cars.”
But Stephanie and Eric Cha have commitment, and their home is a sustainability work in progress. Future items on their agenda include transferring their lawns into gardens, rainwater conversion, and Stephanie plans to bring back a very sustainable way of drying clothes.
“A clothesline is a small thing I’ll resurrect,” she said.
Meanwhile, tech guy Eric will even be sustainable in his free time – he is tinkering with inventing an electric vehicle.
As for Natalie and Ethan, they will be sustainable, too. One cookie at a time.