Being green in Paris

I just got back from a family vacation in Paris (France, not Texas), and the weather was fantastic. We left New York City after a miserable week of rain and arrived in the City of Light to an invigorating bright sun and brilliant clear skies—save the occasional blasts of cigarette smoke we encountered strolling down the boulevards or enjoying a drink in a café.

With the temperatures in the 80s every day in what's been a record-setting April in France, the apartment we rented in the Marais could feel a bit warm in the evening. Returning home after a day of sightseeing with my wife and three kids, I would have loved to crank up the climatisation—the A/C. But as with many apartments in Paris, the charming flat in the 16th-century building where we stayed wasn't equipped with air-conditioning.

Instead of griping about the situation, we dealt with it. We kept the lights low, opened up the many windows overlooking the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, and relaxed (with glasses of red wine for me and my wife and bottles of Evian, Vittel, and Volvic for the kids). Instead of instinctively throwing on the air conditioner as we likely would have done at home, we made do without a creature comfort and consumed a few less kilowatt-hours. Sure enough, as the evening temperatures fell into the 60s, the apartment cooled down.

What's this have to do with being green? It got me to thinking that without very much effort we Americans could modify our habits a bit so that we decrease our carbon footprint.

In American cities, maybe it's time to rely more on public transportation or even carpooling. (Note to New York City-area inhabitants: Mayor Bloomberg wants to hit you with a "congestion fee" for driving into Manhattan.) Sure, Parisians drive, but they're certainly not behind the wheel of gas-guzzling SUVs. What's more, compared with the nearly two years I lived in Paris during the 1980s, this time I noticed far more bicycles on the streets. I also saw countless Smart cars in the capital. While these Lilliputian vehicles didn't fare too well in our tests, they seem the ideal car for the narrow byways of Paris, where gas costs more than $7 per gallon.

When it comes to our homes, we could raise the thermostats during the summer months or use programmable versions so the A/C kicks in right before we return and doesn't cool any empty home. And  when the time comes to buy a refrigerator or washing machine, maybe we could choose a smaller unit or at least one that's more energy efficient.

I'll descend from the soapbox now, but I think you get the idea. As much as we're waiting for government and industry to lead the way in coming up with policies and products, there are myriad ways that we can all pitch in. I know I'm going to make a stronger effort this summer.—Steven H. Saltzman