by Eric Zuerndorfer
CHINATOWN – Ying Na Yu decides it has been long enough. It finally is time to replace the light bulb in the kitchen of her apartment—the light bulb that has been out for a week. Yu’s four family members and housemates have been nagging her to let them eat in the light. On Friday afternoon, she walks down Tremont Street to get a light bulb from Warren Elect and Hardware Supply. She strolls up and down the aisles until she finds the right section. Once she finds the correct wattage, she can choose the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs or the energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Without much thought, Yu reaches for the cheaper incandescent bulb.
“When the money is tight, I’m going to go for the least expensive product, not necessarily the most cost-effective in the long run,” said Yu, a 43-year-old Chinatown resident living at Oak Terrace, an affordable housing apartment complex built by the Asian Community Development Corporation.
Many Chinatown residents and business owners like Yu have been slow to catch on to the environmentally conscious thinking that has become popular. They often cannot afford to “go green” like other communities.
Restaurant owners are reluctant to change their services and equipment, which have been constant and handed down from past generations.
“Why would I buy a more energy efficient stove when it’s just going to cost more?” said Lam Duong, co-owner of the restaurant Xinh Xinh. “I don’t think we’d get more business because we’re saving energy.”
Some say Chinatown does not even have the opportunity to become more environmentally conscious because of the low average income for most residents.
“I’m not sure there are as many opportunities to ‘go green’ as you might expect,” said Christopher Rogacz, English editor for the Sampan. “Because of the economic condition of most people in Chinatown, I would guess that the average resident has a smaller carbon footprint than does someone of median income.”
Some Chinatown organizations are actively trying to help make the community more environmentally aware. ACDC is constructing new environmentally friendly buildings.
The Metropolitan, a high rise on Oak Street consisting of a mix of affordable and market rate units, was built by ACDC and received a silver LEED award. The Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System is a national award for the design, construction and operation of high performance green building given out by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“There is currently not a lot of green housing available in Chinatown, so [ACDC is] making an effort to start building them.” said Michael Chen, the comprehensive home ownership program manager at ACDC.
ACDC is also developing Parcel 24 on Hudson Street and has said they are aiming for another LEED award.
With the exception of a few efforts from organizations such as ACDC, Chinatown remains a community putting forth little effort to become more environmentally conscious.
“Because Chinatown has so many old buildings and not a lot of money to retrofit them, it will be a while before it’s ‘green,” Rogacz said.