The original Vision Statement of Cambridge Cohousing includes a commitment to environmentally sound practices.  To fulfill this pledge, a group of residents that call themselves Live Lightly Please (LLP) undertakes to identify ways in which the community can lessen its demands on the earth’s resources.  The following describes some of the ways in which we try to make this a reality (see also the following sections on recycling, composting, and gardening).

Recognition

On May 31, 2000, Cambridge Cohousing received an award from the City of Cambridge, Advisory Committee on Environmentally Desirable Practices for our commitment to recycling and other environmentally sound practices.   The Cambridge Cohousing community has been committed from the beginning to the concept of conservation, reuse, recycling and environmentally friendly living.   The buildings were constructed with lumber from “green” lumber companies, our siding is Hardiboard made of recycled material and, as far as possible, we avoided use of materials which incorporated petroleum products.  The buildings are well insulated, have double-glazing throughout, and, of course, we installed ground-source heat pumps for energy efficiency.   We are now trying to incorporate environmentally sound practices into everyday living, for instance by using fluorescent light bulbs, using non-toxic, non-petroleum-based cleaning products and recycled paper products, recycling as much as possible, composting waste, and gardening without toxic chemicals.

(Handbook, 2005, Bob Cowherd 2016)