She was inspired by her aunt to be an activist

Editor’s note: Bainbridge Island City Councilmembers talk a lot about climate change, but do they practice what they preach? You can decide as you read their stories. This is the last in a series of six. The mayor did not respond to repeated requests to participate.

Kirsten Hytopoulos was inspired to be an activist by her aunt, Erika Shriner.

Just Google Shriner’s name, and you’ll find out why. She was a featured speaker on revenue-neutral carbon tax proposal Initiative 732. She started Coal-Free Bainbridge after learning of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal program. Shriner was part of a BI Climate and Energy Forum. She talked of plastic packaging being a threat to the environment. She encouraged raising awareness of racial issues. And that’s just a snapshot.

Shriner “has long been my hero on climate action. She has long walked the walk on not only climate but on a wide range of environmental issues, and while I don’t think there are many who can truly walk in her footsteps I’m going to keep trying to follow the example that she has set for me, my kids and our community,” Hytopolous said.

She said, however, her aunt says she inspired her. “My activism on animals” while involved with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as a teen. Hytopoulos lived with Shriner for part of high school in Southern California and then college as an art student at Cal State Long Beach. It inspired her own activism.

“I’ve been an activist at heart my whole life… I later became active on the issue of toxic products in our food, homes and the environment and ultimately climate change ” around 24 years ago.

She was so concerned about the treatment of farm animals that she became a vegetarian. “I was horrified as a kid.” She participated in demonstrations, including putting PETA cards in fur coats in stores.

Shriner went on to excel in climate change activism, and Hytopoulos is following in her footsteps. She said up and down the family tree people can “make a difference and expand your impact.”

She bought her first electric lawnmower in 1997 when they didn’t run on batteries. You had to plug them in with an extension cord. It “was quite a commitment as I had a really big lawn – acreage really.” Hytopoulos even took buying light bulbs seriously, purchasing compact fluorescent lamps. I was “paying a lot of money I couldn’t really afford as far back as my college years for pretty marginal bulbs. I’m sure thankful for LEDs,” she said.

Hytopoulos has participated in many climate demonstrations—the highlight being the People’s Climate March in New York City in 2014. “There were so many people from all over the place. It felt amazing, all the energy.” It was also special because her son Ethan was there, along with Shriner. “We made signs together.”

She’s also been a member of the environmental Sierra Club since the early 1990s, and since 2020 has been the BI City Council liaison to the city’s climate change advisory committee.

Hytopoulos has been very active at home lowering her carbon footprint. She has driven a fully electric car for 10 years and participated in Puget Sound Energy’s Green Power program for about the same period. Customers pay more for electricity that comes from renewable resources like wind and solar in that program.

She’s had a heat pump water heater for seven years, but had to get rid of her heat pump dryer because: “We just couldn’t get our clothes dry. It might have worked for a single person or retired couple, but it just couldn’t keep up with me and three kids.”

Hytopoulos had a ductless heat pump system that increases efficiency and provides cooling in hot weather installed last year. While a great investment, she had to take out a loan, which meant sacrificing other improvements, like updating a popcorn ceiling, the kitchen and baths.

She’s gotten rid of all of her lawn, except the grass right of way, which she doesn’t water. Her yard tools are all electric—trimmer, blower, chainsaw and mower. She said she’s diligent about keeping food waste out of the trash can as organic waste in landfills is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. She uses home compostable garbage bags and sorts her “waste down to recycling levels far beyond what can be recycled at the curb.” She avoids plastic and disposable products whenever possible, opting for ceramic, glass and metal reusables.

She hopes to do more in the future, replacing the last four original windows in her 1977 house and adding more insulation in the attic. “I’d love to install solar panels, but my house, like so many on the island, is not a good candidate.” Hytopoulos also plans to install a drip system in the garden to “reduce our draw on our fragile groundwater system.”

Along with serving on the council now, Hytopoulos did years ago too. In between terms she served on boards for the Marge Williams Center and Helpline House and was a volunteer mediator at the Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County. She also helped organize parents at Commodore Options to keep the programs intact.

Now that she’s back on council, she doesn’t have time for other community work as she’s a single mom with a full-time law practice and three children, twins Ethan and Theo, both 21 and daughter Sophie, 18, who just graduated from Bainbridge High School. However, she donates monthly to Housing Resources Bainbridge “in the hope that I can make some difference there in the critical need for affordable housing.”

Hytopoulos said her children have “always been pulled into things” growing up. Sophie was on billboards across the state during the carbon tax effort. Ethan testified before the state Public Utility Commission. And Theo has been involved with union workers.

“They’re clearly drawn to activism to help get stuff done,” their mom said.