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Hi Austin,

 

Well, it’s been quite a week. Fear. Hope. Anxiety. Laughter. Stress. Confinement.

 

It’s all there, swirling around in our busy minds.

 

What’s uplifting us and keeping us focused is seeing the overwhelming desire from Austinites to serve our local community. Everyone is so genuinely looking for ways to make a positive impact, which is something we’ve been helping people do for more than a decade. Seeing the outpouring of generosity and goodwill from our community has inspired us to do even more.

 

So here’s what we’re up to…

 

1. We’re launching The Austin Common website early.

When we first came to you with this idea nearly a year ago, we said that the entire reason for our rebrand/ relaunch was to serve the community better. Well, we can’t think of a time when the community needs our well-researched, community-based, and actionable information more than now, so here it is.

 

Introducing The Austin Common, the local news site designed to help you be informed and make a difference.

 

PS – We are launching the website and newsletter (which will now be called The Weekly Common) a few weeks earlier than expected, which means it’s still very much in beta mode, so please be patient with the occasional glitch and help us improve things by pointing out anything that doesn’t work/ could be better by emailing us at info@theaustincommon.com

 

PPS – An extreme amount of gratitude goes out to Kourtney Elaine, who was the visual designer for the new website and is helping to make local news more engaging, relevant, and even a little fun.

2. We’re offering open access to our online membership club while social distancing is in place.

 

If you’ve been keeping up with our announcements, you know that we’ve also been working on launching two individual membership clubs – The Common Club and the Common Good Professional Network.

 

We also weren’t planning on launching these quite yet, but given our collective need for support, guidance, and community, we decided we couldn’t wait any longer. For the time being, we’ll have one club that everyone can join, committed to one goal – creating a Guide To Community Resiliency, together.

 

The standard price for our individual membership clubs is $120/ a year, but given the urgent need for this kind of digital community, we’ll be waiving our usual membership fee for anyone who wants to join. However, if you are able to contribute financially, we ask that you please do. Like so many others, we have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and after 16 years of community service, are finding ourselves wondering how we’ll be able to survive.

 

When you sign up, you’ll gain access to our private Slack Channel and Facebook Group where you’ll be able to:

• Engage in important conversations around building community resiliency, with a special focus on topics like – urban gardening & food preservation, policy, resource management, climate change, equity, lessons learned from history/ other times of crisis

• Share your own stories of personal and community resilience, as well as gain inspiration by listening to others

• Learn from fellow Austinites and share your own unique skills of resilience – gardening, creative reuse, harvesting and saving seeds, etc.

• Listen in to video interviews (conducted by Austin Common staff) with community activists, historians, and policy makers who have insights to share on how we can get through this crisis now and become more resilient in the future.

• Regular action items that you can take from home to help yourself and others through these uncertain times

 

Our goal is that by the end of this crisis, we’ll have created a powerful resource (and community behind it) that we can share with our fellow Austinites and cities around the world so that we can be stronger in the face of an uncertain future.

Join us. 

3. We’re using our platform to allow local businesses and nonprofits to share the best ways we can all support/interact with them during these difficult times.

One of the foundations of The Austin Common is to support local businesses, government departments, and nonprofits who are doing good – for their customers, employees, community, and the planet. Normally, we do that through our partnership program, in which these organizations pay an annual fee (which helps support our work) and in exchange, get promotional support from us.

 

While social distancing is in place, we will promote these exceptional local organizations, but we won’t require payment for the service. 

 

So, if you’re a local business or nonprofit who needs support, is hosting virtual events, or has other announcements to share, fill out this form and let us know how we can help. We’ll then share that info with our large readership base of over 10,000 Austinites.

 

Of course, if your organization is in a position to sign up now, we’d love to get you started with the full benefits of partnership. Just send us an email at info@theaustincommon.com if you’re interested.

 

PS – If you frequently posted on AustinEcoNetwork.com, you should still be able to login to the new site. However, if you’re having trouble, just fill out the form above and we’ll be sure to add your virtual events/ announcements for you. Also, keep an eye on your inbox because we’ll be sending video instructions on how to use the new website soon.

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How Are We Responding?

Some of us are still in denial. I see people at the store without gloves. Going for groceries but not considering the people who may have spread germs on the packages. Hanging out with people who have hung out with people, etc.

Some of us are in panic mode. Hoarding. Buying guns. Spreading rumors. Getting political. 

For the most part, though, I see people giving each other plenty of room on the sidewalk. Wearing gloves to the grocery store. Isolating themselves physically, but not socially. Yes, please, more of that. 

So Where Are We Really?

We have started to shift the trajectory, but the outcomes are still unclear. As of March 10, we were only testing 10-25 people for a region that includes twenty counties. We were saying we only had a few cases, but in reality, we likely had more. But as of March 17, this changed. City and county officials heard from community groups that people in the community were not practicing social distancing, that they needed more specific instructions, and a clear statement that community transmission was likely already happening, even though we had not tested for it. One coalition made a list of demands, and hundreds of Travis County Physicians reinforced these statements. The very next day, as a city we changed our strategy to severely limit social interaction. This was the right thing to do.

Why was this so important? Because before that point, Texas’ trajectory was mimicking that of Italy, Spain and France. These countries, whose outcomes are now quite bad, each delayed extreme measures until the 19th day after the increase in cases moved from a latent phase to an exponential one. (This is the point where the curve goes from flat to curving upwards.) Our first day in exponential phase was about March 6, when we moved from 3 cases to 5. Twelve days later, Austin has stopped the action. And hopefully, those 7 extra days will make a world of difference. (By contrast to Italy, China implemented a shutdown the day after entering the exponential phase. As a result, they flattened their curve.)

What Does That Mean For Us All Now?

We should ALL practice EXTREME SOCIAL DISTANCING. NOW is the time for extreme measures. Not one day later. Now. My grandparents’ generation knew and talked about Typhoid Mary, a chef, who was asymptomatic and infected 58 people, including 3 who died. That’s our reality. The youngest of us have the least symptoms. Just because you feel good doesn’t mean you are safe to be around. Choices you make now could protect or kill someone you love. If we are to protect our elders and avoid overwhelming hospitals, we MUST act now.

Most important to understand when considering the need for social distancing now is the potential for overwhelming ICUs as currently undiagnosed infected cases progress to more severe symptoms within 2-3 weeks. Based on nationwide averages, there are 46 ventilators/100,000 people (with only 19.7 being full-feature vs. less than full-feature models). That translates to a rough total of 13,000 ventilators in Texas. At a 16 percent ICU rate (as experienced in Italy), we would max out our ventilators by sometime in April if we don’t flatten the curve.

What Should You, Specifically, Do?

Stay home if you can. Isolate. Do not hang out with anyone that does not live with you. If you have to go in public, wear gloves and/or do not touch public surfaces, and stay 6 feet away from anyone who does not live in your house. When you get home with your purchase, treat them as contaminated. Use a bleach solution or other known viral disinfectant to disinfect the surface before you put them away. And wash your hands. Clean doorknobs, keys, wallets, credit cards, phones, steering wheels and laptops. If you get delivery, don’t open the door until they leave and wipe the surface down. To the greatest extent possible, do not rely on the elderly for childcare. This kind of extreme behavior may help us avoid the realities Italy, Spain, and France are facing. I don’t say this in isolation. 

A Surprisingly Functional Community

But I want to talk about what is happening behind the scene with your community leaders. Community leaders are self-organizing in coalitions, working in partnership with the city and county to address the ways in which we can build the most equitable and resilient community possible. 

Community organizers, religious leaders, medical professionals, university educators and community advocates are working together with City Council, the Equity Office and the Travis County Commissioner’s Court to coordinate a two-way channel for communication. Our goal? To make Austin as equitable and resilient as possible through cross-sector communication. 

Here’s what we (and by we, I mean several self-organized groups) have accomplished:

• Working with the city on announcements that answer the community’s questions
• Providing feedback for processes and systems that are not working
• Spreading the word about important status updates
• Organizing religious leaders to discuss ways to support our spiritual health
• Beginning to create a one-stop website for community outreach
• Creating PSA’s and videos to support people in making informed choices
• Strategizing ways to leverage community engagement for the best outcomes
• Exploring strategies to crowd-source solutions to our growing health crisis

From my view, the collaboration is beautiful. And all the work the city has done to forward anti-racist trainings at all levels of government are paying off. I can hear all of us planning and thinking with equity in mind. We are evaluating systems against the lived experience in the community, and building communication channels to ensure that this continues. This work is by no means perfect, but it is happening. And it’s inspiring.

Does this mean we are #AustinStrong? I hope not. I hate these kinds of cliches. Austin’s history has included a legacy of racist policies and inequitable systems. This is our opportunity to move forward in a new model. And it is actually happening. But it will not happen on its own, and the work cannot be reduced to some nice narrative to brag about. It’s real, living work that requires all of our participation. 

Stay tuned. More is coming. A website to organize questions, collaborations and volunteering. New coalitions forwarding systemic solutions. Emerging plans for resilience we can all embrace. In the meantime, PLEASE take extreme caution and find ways to stay connected. 

Love, 

Janis

Want to support Janis? Donate to her Patreon page today!

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“Everybody talks about voting, and voting is extremely, essentially important. The census, I would argue is more so. Because it doesn’t matter what your citizenship status is. It doesn’t matter what your age is,” said María Milner (director of equity and inclusion with the Austin Area League of Women Voters) on a recent episode of Shades of Green.

So why is this seemingly boring and bureaucratic task so important? That was the topic of the latest episode of Shades of Green (Austin’s environmental talk radio show and our radio partner). You can listen to the full podcast above (or on iTunes) and read our summary below.

So why is the census so important?

Every 10 years, the US government conducts a census in order to get an accurate count of everyone living within our borders.

The data collected from the census is then used to make lots of big decisions, including:

• Federal funding for schools, roads, buses, and healthcare services
• Political lines that are drawn for Congress, State House seats, and school board members
• Public safety and emergency preparedness

And why is the census so important for Austinites?

Local leaders are investing a lot of time, money, and energy into ensuring that everyone in Austin gets counted, because in a changing and growing city like ours, we have a lot to gain and learn by making sure everyone fills out the census.

For example, the census data could help us:

• Gain more political representation in Congress – There are a set number of seats in the US House of Representatives (435), but every 10 years, how those seats are divvied up changes based on population numbers determined via the census
• Access more federal funding
• Understand our own city better and make better policy decisions

In particular, there has been a lot of focus on ensuring that historically undercounted/ underrepresented communities are accurately counted this time around. To try and address this, the following groups have been created to lead the census effort within their own communities:

• Asian American Community Group
• Black African-American Community Group
• Children and Young Students
• Hispanic/ Latino Community Group
• Community Experiencing Homelessness

Will there be a citizenship question on the census?

As it says on the Austin/ Travis County Census website – “The 2020 Census questionnaire will NOT include a question about an individual’s citizenship status. Everyone, regardless of their immigration status, has certain basic rights.”

It is constitutionally mandated that everyone be counted in the US census. Answers are kept confidential and are used for statistical purposes only. Again, as it says on the Austin/ Travis County Census website – “Answers cannot be used for law enforcement purposes or to determine personal eligibility for government benefits. Personal information cannot be used against respondents for the purposes of immigration enforcement.”

However, that does not mean there isn’t still a lot of fear and concern about the census, especially within immigrant communities. It’s an issue that many local grassroots organizations are working to understand and address.

“It’s really having conversations with folks,” María said during the Shades of Green interview. “And having a conversation to listen, not to be heard.”

María explained that during these conversations she tries to understand what peoples’ daily hopes, dreams, and concerns are, and then show how they connect back to the census.

“This is it,” María said.  “This happens every 10 years and it’s super crucial to be part of this conversation. Because where everywhere else you might feel like you’ve not been heard, this is the moment where you can get a chance to be heard.”

Okay. So how do I participate?

1. Fill out the census! A postcard should arrive in your mailbox by mid-March. On the postcard will be a code, so that you can take the census online. (There will also be physical pop-up stations around town where you can take the census, if you’re unable to fill it out online at your house.)
2. Volunteer! Ensuring that every Austin resident fills out the census will be a massive effort and it won’t happen without everyone’s help. Volunteers are needed to help organize events in their communities, work on the website, and make digital outreach materials. You can fill out this form to get involved. 
3. Attend an upcoming census event. Census Ambassador trainings are being conducted on a regular basis for anyone committed to learning key aspects of the 2020 Census and sharing census information within their networks and organizations. The University of Texas is also hosting a Front Porch Gathering on the “Census and the Asian American Community” on Tuesday, February 18th at 6:30pm at the Asian American Resource Center.

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The holiday season is a great time to spend with loved ones, celebrate, and eat delicious food. It’s also, however, a time when waste can pile up—think, decorations, food waste, and wrapping paper. Americans produce more trash during the holiday season than at any other part of the year.

Fortunately, with some good-to-know tips and intentionality, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays while also being kind to the environment. To help you and your family reduce waste this season, we’re providing some tips on how to decorate, plan and cook food, and rethink gift giving.

Consider some of these tips to help you reduce waste this holiday season!

Reducing Waste When Decorating

Many families opt to decorate for each holiday. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s (just to name a few) decorations going up this holiday season, it can create a potential for a massive amount of waste.

Real tree vs fake tree

Some families opt for using a real Christmas tree instead of a fake one for the holiday. This might sound odd, but using a real tree may be better for the environment than a fake tree!

Synthetic trees are often made with PVC plastics, a non-recyclable material that also creates pollution during manufacturing. Additionally, at the end of your fake tree’s life, it has to be buried in a landfill.

Experts claim that the carbon emissions associated with using real trees are a third less than carbon emissions created when using a synthetic tree.

Alternatively, Christmas trees are a crop plant that provides many benefits to the environment as they grow. When the time comes for a tree to be cut down, tree farmers will normally plant a new tree in its place to grow for the future holiday season, meaning more environmental benefits can continue.

Additionally, if you use a real tree, companies like Texas Disposal Systems will process the trees for free in recycling and composting programs. The trees will be turned into mulch, soil, and compost, all of which are new products that can be used to grow even more trees!

A vast majority of American households do use an artificial tree during the holiday season. However, if your family does want to use a fake tree to reduce the impact on greenhouse gases, the American Christmas Tree Association has found that a household would need to reuse an artificial tree for more than five years for them to have a lower environmental impact than real trees. If you and your family are going this route, make sure to purchase a durable synthetic tree that can last for years to come.

Use LED lights

LED lights do not get hot to the touch which means they’re a lot safer to use with your other decorations.   LED lights also use less energy than incandescent bulbs and are a lot more durable, which means that you can use them year after year without needing to purchase new lights.

If you have old Christmas lights, check to see if your municipality offers Christmas tree string light recycling. These programs allow recycling of dead bulbs, non-working string lights and other outdated decor. Be sure to use these offered programs – string lighting cannot go into your recycling bin! The wires cause entanglements and can damage sorting equipment at your local recycler.

Use DIY or second-hand decor

For decorations around the house, instead of going to buy new decorations, shop around at your local thrift stores. Thrift stores can have a good collection of vintage holiday decor to give more uniqueness to the decor around your house.

Shopping second-hand stores are also great for those who opt to DIY their holiday decor. It also can be a lot of fun! Get the whole family involved in hunting through a thrift shop to make something special to hang on the tree or display around the house for the holiday season.

Environmentally-Friendly Gifting

What’s the holiday season without gifts? Unfortunately, with all the gifts we give to our loved ones, lots of trash comes along with them as well.The following tips should help you cut down on the waste generated by gift giving.

Give gift experiences, not gift materials

Consider giving your loved ones gifts to events or pampering treatments instead of material objects. Anything from a nice dinner, tickets to the ballet, an upcoming game, or a great massage would make an incredible gift and a chance to make memories.

You can also make something that is consumable, such as a mason jar filled with the dry ingredients of your favorite cookie or brownie recipe. It’s a sweet treat to share and cuts down on the clutter and trash that would accumulate. If sweets aren’t a favorite for your loved ones, custom-made bath bombs, salts or soaps are a great gift to give as well!

Alternatively, you could also invest in your loved ones by giving them a monetary gift or make a donation in their honor to one of their favorite charitable organizations!

Reuse old wrapping paper or use non-traditional wrapping

Wrapping paper can be the biggest source of trash and waste during the holidays. Due to their mixed materials, most gift wrapping is not recyclable, meaning lots of garbage after unwrapping.

To help cut down on waste, save the wrapper or bags that gifts come in to reuse for future presents. Similarly, consider buying non-holiday specific wrapping paper that can be used regardless of holiday or event, or better, use a plain recyclable paper like butcher paper or newspaper.

Many have also used scarves or other beautiful fabric to wrap gifts. It adds uniqueness to the gift as well as giving the intended person an item that they can wear or use.

The holiday season can be a merry time to spend with the people we love. It will be extra sweet to know that we are doing what we can to reduce, reuse, and reassess the items we have when we’re celebrating.

Reduce Food Waste During the Holidays

Food is unquestionably the centerpiece of the holidays. It can be easy for food preparation to get out of hand and create more mess and waste than anticipated. Being mindful of how much food you and your family actually need this holiday is a great way to reduce your waste!

Buy less food

With Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season within weeks of each other, households are poised to have a lot of leftover food that can go to waste. Minimizing food waste starts with planning your holiday meals, taking note of who is coming over, and how much they eat. Firm guest counts will help you plan and portion food accordingly and help you with buying food items you need.

Before you buy all new recipe ingredients, take a good inventory of what is in your fridge and cupboards. Chances are that there are ingredients for part of a recipe or even enough ingredients for a whole dish already inside your house. Try to use ingredients you have on hand first before going out to get new ones.

When you do go to the grocery store, have a shopping list on hand and stick to your list. Grocery stores pull out all the stops during this season, including holiday decor, offers for items in bulk and with big sales. It can be very easy to grab items that you do not need or that nobody will eat, but sticking to your list will ensure you stay tight on your food budget.

Keep track of your leftovers and compost what you can’t eat

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, about a third of all the food produced for human consumption is thrown away or wasted. After your holiday feasts, try to use your leftover dishes in other recipes. There are a lot of creative dishes you can make with leftover turkey, such as turkey sandwiches, homemade stock, or even exotic dishes like jook soup. Ham, potatoes, nuts and other holiday staples have several forms of reuse as well in leftovers!.

Holiday leftovers should be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator and consumed within one week. If you have food that will last beyond four days, freeze your leftovers and enjoy them up to four months later.

For leftovers that can’t be eaten or reused, look into composting your food. Check with your local service provider to see if food composting is allowed or if there are certain rules around composting food scraps. If composting is an option where you live, it is a great way to use your leftover food scraps.

Use reusable dishware and cutlery

Washing so many dishes while everything else is going on during the holidays can be tedious. However, paper plates, plastic cups, and disposable cutlery all can end up in a landfill.

Due to their light material and their contact with food, those listed items are not recyclable – and if they’re made with wax or plastics, they’re not compostable either. This ends up creating trash, no matter how convenient it is to not have to do Thanksgiving dishes.

Use washable dishware and cutlery, even pull out your holiday-specific dishware if you have them. Along with looking fun and festive, using washable plates will cut down on the trash that gets sent to the dump.

The holiday season can be a merry time to spend with the people we love and it will be extra sweet to know that we are doing what we can to reduce, reuse, and reassess the items we have when we’re celebrating. For more information on how you can recycle or properly dispose of materials or food items, head to TDS’s Waste Wizard!

Please note – editorials and sponsored posts are written by guest writers to inform and educate the community on a variety of different viewpoints, as well as to share information about local eco-friendly businesses and organizations. However, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin EcoNetwork.

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Many people deep fry turkeys during the holiday season, leaving behind a lot of used cooking oil. But, what do you do with it afterwards? It can actually be dropped off for recycling!

The City of Austin’s Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center (RRDOC) collects more than 12,000 pounds of cooking oil and grease annually, as part of its household hazardous waste collection program. During and after the holidays, the center sees an influx of people dropping off oil, and it’s not just the normal quart or two. Austinites drop off a few gallons at a time after frying their turkeys.

Once collected at the RRDOC, the oil is poured into a 100-gallon tank. A vendor then picks up the tank and processes the used cooking oil into biodiesel, which is a more safe, biodegradable and clean burning transportation fuel than petroleum-based diesel.

Collecting this oil also keeps it out of water pipes, where it can solidify and develop into fatbergs that clog up Austin’s water lines, resulting in expensive repairs, foul odors and sewer overflows. Fatbergs are made of congealed fats and other non-biodegradable items like “flushable” wet wipes, and are the cause of nearly half of all septic clogs in the United States.

Recycling your cooking oil and grease is just one more way you can help the environment and the City where you live.

Please note – editorials and sponsored posts are written by guest writers to inform and educate the community on a variety of different viewpoints, as well as to share information about local eco-friendly businesses and organizations. However, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin EcoNetwork.

The post Bring your turkey full circle: recycle your cooking oil appeared first on The Austin Common.

As Thanksgiving approaches, menu planning, trips to reconnect with family and friends, and Black Friday shopping lists can be front-of-mind. We propose shifting your perspective to slow down and simplify this year. Since this is a holiday based on gratitude, why not start from a place of feeling abundant and plentiful? When we recognize everything we already have, it’s easier to think about ways to reduce our impact on the planet.

Here are five tips to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving that begins with a mindset focused on the plenty all around us:

Explore your local farmer’s market

There are so many beautiful fruits and vegetables grown locally! Buying local food means fewer food miles, which in turn means lower greenhouse gas emissions. Conventionally grown food travels roughly 1,500 miles from farm to plate, compared to just 50 miles for local products. And smaller, local farms typically use more sustainable farming methods like using compost as a natural fertilizer.

Ditch the disposables

With so many different dishes being served and with so many people at the table, Thanksgiving dinner can turn into a big pile of dishes. So, it’s not uncommon for regular plates, cups, napkins, and silverware to be swapped with disposables. But this is a special occasion that deserves the fine china or grandma’s heirlooms! Sure, it’ll mean a little extra time at the sink, but it’s also a time to reflect on the memories of other special dinners and events where you’ve used the extra-special plates and silver.

Grow what you throw

Every Thanksgiving, Americans throw away over 200 million pounds of uneaten turkey. That’s a lot of food being wasted. Compost your table scraps this year and turn what would be wasted into fertilizer for future food instead.

Create a holiday gift list that’s not about stuff

Instead of waiting in long lines on Black Friday or placing orders on Cyber Monday that involves lots of packaging and delivery miles traveled, consider creating a holiday gift list focused on services, experiences, or time. Treating those you love to a spa service, a dinner out, tickets to a concert, or a gift certificate to babysit may be more meaningful than stuff. Your friends and family will be touched, and the earth will be thankful as well!

Avoid the food coma and get outside

Many families like to celebrate Thanksgiving Day by watching a movie or a sports game on TV together. Try mixing it up this year and get outside for a while. Take a walk with your loved ones to a nearby park, enjoy some pre-dinner snacks on the front porch, or play frisbee or football in the crisp autumn air. Getting outside and embracing nature is a great way to give thanks to the earth!

Deep breaths everybody – Thanksgiving can be a time to slow down and truly give thanks. And embracing just a few of the above changes amounts to a much bigger impact for the planet!

Please note – editorials and sponsored posts are written by guest writers to inform and educate the community on a variety of different viewpoints, as well as to share information about local eco-friendly businesses and organizations. However, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin EcoNetwork.

The post Giving Thanks Sustainably appeared first on The Austin Common.

That’s significant, especially since Austin has a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Add onto that the fact that more than a third of our emissions currently come from transportation, and it’s clear why electrifying our city’s transportation infrastructure is a major part of Austin’s plans for tackling climate change.

So how quickly are new EVs coming online in Austin?

According to Austin Energy, about 250 new electric vehicles are hitting the road each month. From July 2018 to July 2019, our city saw a 54 percent increase in the amount of EVs on the road.

And how can we get more electric cars on the road even faster?

One way is simply to make the EV buying process easier. As we reported a year ago, buying an electric car in Austin hasn’t always been smooth sailing. A low (and varying) supply of electric vehicles at local dealerships, combined with sales staff that are still learning about the technology and customers that don’t know that much about electric vehicles themselves, all make for a difficult situation.

That’s why Austin Energy has just unveiled its new EV Buyer’s Guide, an interactive website that allows users to research electric vehicles in the Austin area and compare models that fit individual needs and budget. Not only that, but Austin Energy is also partnering with several local car dealerships to install interactive digital kiosks with additional information about electric vehicle range, charging levels, and nearby charging stations.

The new EV Chargeway Kiosk at Town North Nissan. The kiosk allows customers and sales people alike to learn more about how electric vehicles work.

So how does the guide work exactly?

Below, you’ll find highlights/screenshots of some of its most useful features. You can also explore the entire guide yourself here>>

The guide helps you…

1. Understand the current rebates and incentives offered by the City of Austin, Texas, and the federal government. This way you can know the true cost of the vehicle and compare it to gas-powered options.

screenshot from the EV Buyer’s Guide

2. Compare fuel costs for the the specific electric vehicle you’re thinking about buying with a comparable gas-powered vehicle.

screenshot from the EV Buyer’s Guide

3. Gain a deeper understanding of the money you’ll save on fuel costs by switching to an electric vehicle, which could help you decide whether or not it’s a good investment for you.

screenshot from the EV Buyer’s Guide

4. Understand the range (how far the car can travel on a single charge) of all the different electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the market. Using the guide you can compare different EV models based on their range, how long it takes them to recharge, and their environmental impact.

screenshot from the EV Buyer’s Guide

5. Find local car dealerships who are working closely with Austin Energy to improve the EV buying process. (Expect more dealerships to be added to this list as time goes on.)

screenshot from the EV Buyer’s Guide

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