|
1) Stoves & Microwaves
Use the small stove coil
(electric) instead of the large one with small/medium pots & pans, or
better yet, use the microwave instead. The small coil uses 40% less energy
than the large one. Even better, some microwaves use 75% less energy than
conventional stoves.
Source: Page-a-day
calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC adventure
#3311
2) Light Bulbs
“Replace incandescent light
bulbs with compact fluorescents. You’ll recoup their higher cost—they last
ten times longer and save up to $30 a year in electricity.” “Just one
compact fluorescent keeps half a ton of carbon dioxide out of the air over
the course of its lifetime” [WOW!] Furthermore, you can recycle these
bulbs (and not the other type) at the McIntyre recycling center in
Charlottesville. We replaced the track lights in the OASC Social Space
with compact fluorescents – which now come in a variety of normal-looking
styles – reducing the track lighting energy consumption by 80% (from 300
watts down to 60 watts), and giving a whiter, brighter, crisper light than
before!
Source 1: ‘Your Home
and Lifestyle’ magazine, January 2008, “A Bright Idea: Green lighting
options are easy, efficient, and better for the planet.”
Source 2: Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a
difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3315
3) Turned Off but Still On!
“A ‘phantom load’ is the
energy that's sapped by appliances when they're plugged in, but not on.
Plug your devices into power strips that you switch off each night to
achieve energy symbiosis.
The Benefits:
> Less bank account-leeching. In the average home, 40% of all electricity
is used to power electronics while they're turned off.***
> Less parasitic exploitation of the earth's resources. If we averted
phantom loads in all U.S. homes, we could shut down 17 power plants.
> It's easier than contracting malaria. Power strips with surge protectors
make it easy to "unplug" many appliances at once.”
Source:
www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/loads_of_parasites
***Wow, I (club Manager Matt) had a hard time believing the 40% statistic
above … but then check out the following website illustrating how much
energy – and how much of your hard-earned money – is wasted by plugged-in
appliances & electronics:
http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/008/trans008vampireenergy.html
Plasma TV-ers and gamers in particular, beware of your money flying out
the window!
This inspired me to go around the apartment and I was amazed to find how
easy it is to unplug things I rarely use / use only once per month (no
sense in leaving them plugged in!) and use power strips to shut some other
items *completely* off when I’m not using them. Give it a try!
Featured in OASC adventure
#3333
4) Tree Locations & Types Around a
House
"If spring weather has
landscaping on your mind, think about using an old farm trick to guide
your tree-planting. Plant evergreens on your house’s windy side (usually
west) and broadleaf varieties on the sunny side (normally south). That
way, you’re catching sun in the winter and shade in summer, and you’re
screened from harsh winds year round. ... Strategic tree planting can
reduce your home heating and cooling costs by one-fourth.” Wow!
This will lower your energy bills, and lessen impact on our diminishing
fossil fuel supply.
Source: Page-a-day
calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC adventure
#3380
5) Hot Water Heater
It’s warming up, and the pipes
in your house / apartment are not so cold anymore. When you take a shower,
do you use some cold water mixed in with the hot? Why have the thermostat
set hotter than you need? One way to save energy and money is to turn down
the thermostat on your hot water heater, to just the right level so the
hot water temperature is your ideal showers / baths. This will reduce use
of our depleting fossil fuels, and save you money on your energy bills.
Hot water heaters have one or two simple panels on them, which you
unscrew, remove the insulation behind the panel (be sure to put it back
when done!), and typically there is a simple, well-marked screw to turn
the water temperature controller up or down. For just a few minutes of
your time, you can save yourself some $$ while helping to save the planet.
Featured in OASC
adventure #3379
6) Junk Mail Prevention
Junk
mail is not only annoying, but also bad for the environment: it wastes
natural resources and energy in creation, delivery, and disposal. “Credit
card companies and banks often sell customer names and personal
information to direct marketers; it’s one of the reasons your mailbox is
constantly stuffed with junk. Call your credit providers and tell them you
don’t want your information sold; it will cut down on the amount of
unwanted mail you receive and toss.”
Source: Page-a-day
calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
My (club Manager Matt's) junk mail load is low; here’s
ONE WAY TO DO IT:
> *Every* time I give out my address for anything at all, I always tell
them to please “put me on your do not contact list” and “do not share my
contact information with any other entity.”
> For the junk mail I do receive, often times it has a
postage-already-paid business reply envelope in it. I take their form from
the junk mailing, make sure my address is on it (if not, I cut it out of
the envelope and insert it) and then write over the form in red the two
sentences above. They get to pay the postage :)
> If no reply envelope, I call the phone number of the catalog, offer etc.
and say the two lines quoted above.
The real key is to say these lines every time you give out your address –
to the power company, phone company, online purchases, catalogs, etc. You
can start by calling them each time you get a desired mail piece, to let
them know you don’t want your contact info shared.
A few more words from the Living Green calendar: “Do
your part: go to
www.optoutprescreen.com or call the toll-free number 1-888-5optout to
have the national credit bureaus remove your name from the lists they
offer lenders.” I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for it. There also
are other resources online that you can subscribe to and they’ll take care
of slimming down your junk mail load.
Featured in OASC adventure
#3381
7) Harvesting Rain Water
We’ve
been getting lots of rain lately … that’s free water from heaven! You can
harvest that rain water, collect it and use it to water your garden, wash
your car, etc. If you have a house, you can attach the gutter running from
your roof right into a rain barrel, which stores the water for your next
use.
Using rain water is an energy-free, stream-friendly way
to water your garden. The usual alternative, using water from a faucet,
not only costs you money, but also has negative environmental effects –
fossil fuels are burned and greenhouse gases are released to power the
pump which provides your faucet’s water pressure, ditto the same for
energy used to purify the water sent to your house (not to mention the use
of chemicals), and diverting water from a stream to a dam to your house
deprives stream-dwelling insects, fish, and animals from the water and
seasonal flow rates they need to survive. By harvesting and using rain
water, you’re completely bypassing all of these issues and more.
Nonprofit org Rivanna Conservation Society sells rain
barrels, see
www.rivannariver.org/barrel.html or surf around for possible better
deals, or make your own!
Cheaper option: make your own! The City of Cville is
going to hold a clinic and I think you come away with one for just $35!
Contact the City of Cville or OASC Leader Jay Z.
Interesting note: in some dry climates including some
parts of the Caribbean, standard practice is houses are built on top of
huge rainwater collection tanks, and that water is used for showers and
all household water needs!
Featured in OASC adventure
#3406
8) Washing Machines
“About 90% of the energy [and hence your money!] used for washing clothes
is for heating the water. There are two ways to reduce the amount of
energy used for washing clothes—use less water and use cooler water.
Unless you're dealing with oily stains, the warm or cold water setting on
your machine will generally do a good job of cleaning your clothes.
Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut a load's
energy use in half.” Or use cold water and save 90% of the energy and
energy bill expenditure! There are special detergents out there such as
Tide Cold Water* for this purpose. Note: as for bed sheets, neither cold
nor warm water will kill bed bugs, so you either need to use hot water, or
I would think using bleach* with cold water would work too.
Source for the quoted
material above:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/laundry.html
*Using eco-friendly detergents is best.
Better yet: think about whether you “really need every
article of clothing washed every time it’s worn. For socks and underwear,
the answer is (definitely) yes; pants and skirts may be okay for a second
or even a third wearing. With a little thought, you may be able to do the
laundry less often, saving water, detergent, and energy.”
Source: Page-a-day
calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3409
9) Lawn Care
If
you were a fish, would you want to breathe, drink and eat fertilizers and
pesticides?
Unfortunately, some of what we spray our lawns with
will wash into our local streams and rivers. Many of the problems in the
unhealthy water in the Chesapeake Bay are caused by over-fertilizing
(fertilizer runs off into the rivers and bay, the fertilizer causes algae
to grow in the water, the algae blocks sunlight critical to the natural
grasses in the riverbeds, and organisms which decompose dead grasses and
algae use oxygen in the water to do so, creating “dead zones” of water
with little to no dissolved oxygen for the fishies).
If you have the opportunity to rework your lawn, plant
grasses and plants that are native to this area -- they are specially
adapted to our climate, and will survive well with much less of your time,
effort and money. For advice, check out the Virginia Native Plant Society
at http://vnps.org/
Tips on how to care for your lawn to avoid contributing
to the creation of waterway "dead zones": Please see
http://www.chesapeakeclub.org/nyard.htm and
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/howyoucanhelp_bluecrabs.aspx?menuitem=19381
In addition,
> “Weedkillers: There’s no need to resort to commercial herbicides to get
rid of weeds awakened by warmer spring weather. Squirt them with lemon
juice or vinegar, or scald them with boiling water. (The toughest ones may
need two applications.”
> “Gardening without poison: many successful gardeners create beautiful
flowerbeds and productive vegetable plots without resorting to pesticides.
Their tactics for suppressing pests include releasing [native!] predator
insects, using mechanical methods like water sprays to knock off aphids
and mites, setting sticky traps for whiteflies, and more. Lots of
chemical-free solutions to pest problems are available at
www.gardensalive.com“
Source for the two
quotes above: Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a
difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3411
10) CDs
If
you share music or computer files with others by burning a CD, spend a
little extra up front and buy re-writeable CDs so your friends can re-use
them rather than having to add them to a landfill later on. If your
friends do the same, you’ll be able to re-use the CDs they give you,
eventually saving you the expense of buying more blank CDs, and saving the
planet from all of the fuels burned and materials consumed to get that new
box of CDs from raw material to you.
Idea source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3439
11) Cooling & Heating: Ceiling Fans
“Ceiling fans make a big difference in air circulation – and the cost of
heating and cooling … save up to 40 percent on the cost of
air-conditioning the room in summer. In winter, the fan can reduce heating
costs by 10 percent, moving heated air from the ceiling, where it’s
wasted, to the floor.”
Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3455
12) Watering Lawns & Gardens
Reduce your water bill and
save water for the fish!
“It’s best to water your lawn or garden before 8am or
after 6pm. Doing so at midday sacrifices as much as 30 percent of your
water to evaporation. Avoid watering on windy days, and break your
watering into short segments. Lawns absorb water better in three
10-minture spells than in one half-hour stretch.”
Better yet: “Soaker hoses enable you to apply
irrigation water directly to the roots of your plants. Their delivery
system is more efficient than sprinklers, which waste water through
evaporation, spreading the spray through the air. Soaker hoses can reduce
water waste by as much as 70 percent.”
Also great: harvest and use
rain water instead of tap water!
Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3456
13) Mowing the Lawn
"A
manual reel mower saves your share of the fuel Americans consume each year
in cutting their lawns. It provides a little workout every time you use
it, and reduces neighborhood noise pollution as well."
"54 million Americans now their lawns each weekend.
They use 800 million gallons of gasoline annually, producing 5 percent of
the nation's air pollution. With your reel mower, you can keep 80 pounds
of CO2 out of the air each year."
"Need
a compelling reason (other than air pollution) to replace that gas-powered
lawn mower with a manual model? Apart from the waste, spilled
gasoline can contaminate groundwater and pose a fire hazard. Just
how much do Americans spill in their yards each year? According to
the EPA, it's more than 17 million gallons -- the Exxon Valdez
didn't dump that much oil."
Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3513
14) Weddings
"Anyone who’s ever worked in catering or event planning can tell you that
after the partying is done, the cleaning up begins – and the rows of
garbage bags start to accumulate. Want to reduce the environmental impact
of your wedding? Send invitations on recycled paper (or via e-mail);
arrange for digital photos; wear a treasured family gown in place of a new
one; ask guests to donate to environmental causes in lieu of gifts
(especially if you already have the household goods you need); and select
a caterer who serves organic foods."
Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3519
15) Home Improvements /
Renovations
Did
you know that you can get good-quality used stuff for cheap from the
Habitat for Humanity Store? It’s a great place with all kinds of
home-improvement items (including appliances!) in their 2-floor warehouse.
Stop there first before going to Lowe’s! All proceeds benefit Habitat for
Humanity instead of a large corporation! You’ll save a lot of money! Their
website: www.cvillehabitatstore.org Location: 1221 Harris St., Cville.
Renovating your home? Don’t throw out your fixtures,
cabinetry, appliances etc! Let Habitat for Humanity take your stuff to
their store! They might even deconstruct things for you! Give ‘em a call
at 434-293-6331 and let your items become tax-write-off donations!
Featured in OASC
adventure #3523
16) Free Water-saving Kits
Get free indoor and outdoor water-saving kits! These free kits come with
water-economizing but great shower heads, faucet ends, toilet tank size
reducers, outdoor hose spray-ends, hose repair kits, and more. Pick them
up at he utility office walk-up desk in Charlottesville City Hall (near
the Pavilion on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall; just walk in and grab
two kits -- an indoor kit, and an outdoor kit). If you can't make it
downtown during business hours, before attending one of Matt Rosefsky's
adventures let him know what
you'd like and he'll be happy to oblige.
Featured in OASC
adventure #3527
17) Bottled Spring Water
"Though bottled water has been associated with healthy living since
the 1980s, there’s scant evidence that it’s healthier than what comes from
the tap in most places – and it’s certainly more costly. In fact, phalates,
which disrupt the human endocrine system, can leach from the plastic into
the water and into our bodies. From an environmental standpoint*, there’s
no doubt that our taste for premium water contributes hugely to the waste
stream. Try plain old municipal water in a reusable bottle."
*Further point about the environmental effects of
bottled spring water: think about the spring the water is coming from, and
the thousands or millions of gallons of water taken from that spring. That
water used to flow downstream, serving communities of trees, plants,
animals, insects etc. Removing all of that water from their ecosystem can
only have detrimental effects.
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3548
18) "Think Globally, Eat Locally"
"Because produce at farmers’ markets isn’t shipped hundreds, or even
thousands, of miles, less fuel is burned in getting it to your table. …
Even in Iowa, one of the nation’s foremost agricultural centers, most
fruits and vegetables are now imported. If Iowans bought just 10 percent
more of their food from in-state, they could avoid 7.9 million pounds of
carbon dioxide emissions a year.”
Here are just a few great local resources:
“Buy Fresh, Buy Local” Virginia foods database (use their search tool)
C’ville
Market
Charlottesville City Market
Charlottesville Farmers in the Park
Quotes Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3599
19) Air-cleaning House Plants
"Keep
a plant at your desk. House plants can abate rising levels of indoor air
pollution at the office. Research from NASA shows that many plants are
useful in absorbing harmful gases, cleaning the air in modern buildings. …
For a list of the ten most effective plants for removing formaldehyde,
benzene, and carbon dioxide, see
www.blankees.com/house/plants/air_cleaners.htm ."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3604
20) Solar Oven / Crock Pot
"With
a solar oven – a black box heated by the sun – you can enjoy a cookout
without burning any fuel. Just take it outside, point it toward the sun,
and let it go to work. In direct sunshine, a solar oven can reach
temperatures as high as 325 deg. F, but mostly does its job at lower
temperatures, like a crock pot. It not only saves energy – it’s also a
great way to keep your kitchen cool on a hot summer day. Learn more at
www.solarovens.org " and make your
own!
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3617
21) Refrigerator Position
"Spare just a little space around your refrigerator, and you can reduce
its operating costs significantly. Allow at least an inch of space on
either side and behind the coil to permit free flow of air. This small
adjustment can reduce your refrigerator’s energy consumption by as much as
10 percent."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3683
22) Corks
"Yemm & Hart, a company that finds innovative uses for recycled
products, is soliciting wine [including champagne] bottle corks for a
unique initiative. When the company has amassed six tons, they’ll begin
converting the corks into coasters, clipboards, and flooring. Contributors
will be eligible for discounts on the finished products. Do your part:
mail wine and champagne corks to
Wine Cork Recycling
Yemm & Hart Ltd
610 S. Chamber Drive
Fredericktown, MO 63645"
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3705
23) Dishwashers & Pre-rinsing
"Most modern dishwashers effectively clean dishes without
pre-rinsing. Just scrape off the larger leavings before you load the
washer, and you’ll save both the pre-rinse water and the energy needed to
[treat it, supply it and] heat it."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3715
24) Cloth vs. Paper for Cleanup
"The
production of paper towels is more than twice as energy-intensive as the
reuse of cloth (factoring in washing and initial production)." Changing
habits isn’t easy; see if you can switch to using rags to clean up spills,
your kitchen, your bathrooms ... your whole house! During meals and
snacks, try using cloth napkins when at home! When you use a public
bathroom, after washing your hands try exiting without drying your hands –
you’ll be amazed at how quickly they dry on their own!
Quotes Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3722
25) Trash-free Lunch
Do
you produce trash at lunchtime? Imagine how much garbage we collectively
would prevent if no one produced lunchtime trash! Do your part: “If you
carry your lunch to work, there’s no need to produce even an ounce of
paper [or plastic] trash. Go for reusable bags or a lunch bag, pack the
individual goodies in sealable containers, [use a cloth napkin],and take
the whole works home with you at the day’s end.” A related idea: “Keeping
a washable mug on your desk can save as many as 500 disposable paper or
plastic cups a year.”
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3765
26) Funeral Burials
"We
may not like to think about it, but a funeral offers a final opportunity
to go green. Natural burials eschew the formaldehyde used in embalming and
use biodegradable containers in place of concrete vaults and metal
caskets. If you’re serious about the idea, you may want to include details
in your will. The website of the
Funeral Consumers
Alliance can provide further information. Americans bury more than
800,000 gallons of embalming fluid and 30 million board feet of hardwood
(including tropical woods) each year."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3779
27) Ink-jet vs. Laser Printers
"You’ll save energy when you opt for ink-jet rather than laser printers.
(Lasers use more energy to produce the heat and pressure that affix their
toner to the page). The difference is substantial: the ink-jet boasts an
operating energy savings of 90%."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3841
28) Automobile Air Filters
"A simple way to improve your car’s gas mileage is to maintain the
air filter. A dirty filter results in a ‘richer’ mixture of air and
gasoline, cutting into combustion efficiency. Change single-use filters
everyone 12,000 miles; if you have a washable or reusable filter, clean
off the dust and bugs at intervals recommended by the manufacturer.
Replacing a clogged filter can improve gas mileage up to 10 percent.” Same
goes for HVAC unit and other air filters – save energy and money by
keeping ‘em clean!
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3876
29) Automobiles: Extra Weight
"If
you're hauling around anything unnecessary in your car—tires or tools in
the trunk, a bag in the backseat from your last airport run, a forgotten
book under the seat—move it out. U.S. Department of Energy figures show
that an extra hundred pounds of weight in your car can sap mileage by 1 to
2 percent."
Quote Source:
Page-a-day calendar: “Living Green: 365 ways to make a difference.”
Featured in OASC
adventure #3878
30) Phone Books
"About
540 million unsolicited phonebooks arrive at American doors annually -
takes a lotta trees to make those. ... Phonebooks make for about 660,000
tons of trash every year. … Just lugging phonebooks into the house when
you know you'll never use them is a pain."
Source
"From local business listings to stock quotes, you can
get the information you're looking for with Google SMS. Simply text
message your search query to 466453 ("GOOGLE" on most devices) and
[they’ll] text message back your results” including phone number and
address. Source:
www.google.com/sms
How to end this environmental waste, lower the costs of
phone companies, and ultimately help prevent cost increases to phone
service subscribers by putting a stop to your receiving this paper waste?
Visit
http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/stop-yellow-pages/
Featured in OASC
adventure #3889
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Got other practical,
useful tips to share with others? Please email club Manager Matt
your tip quote, with source reference. Thanks! Why do I (Matt)
post these tips? Hiking the trails in our nearby mountains connected
me with their natural beauty, turned my heart and mind green, and inspired
me to live in a more eco-friendly manner so that future generations get to
enjoy the natural beauty we love.
|
