Looking at this month's natural gas bill I get the feeling that I have failed miserably in my Green efforts. It has been a colder than normal Autumn and Winter here in the mountains, and I should appreciate that our energy usage isn't worse. Fortunately, with budget billing, our utility day of reckoning won't come until next Fall. So, I need to remember to control what I can. If the utility bills seem to be larger than we hoped, it makes me feel just a little better that I am controlling those areas that I can: recycling and creating less waste.
Then there are those pesky light bulbs. Last year I tried to install smaller fluorescent lights in all the outdoor light sockets, only to break the larger ones, contributing to the waste pile, and contaminated waste at that. At Christmas, I ended up replacing all those lights anyway, changing from red and green back to white, so i finally accomplished that goal. It was just a matter of timing.
I'm not telling the family I'm going to try to make up for the extra gas consumed during the below-zero cold spells by knocking off a degree on the thermostat, and delaying the start time during of higher heating temperatures. I'm keeping sweaters strategically placed around the house for those who may feel a 'temporary' chill.
'Gee, I'm not cold. Here, put on a sweater until you get over it.'
Jan 21, 2010
Dec 9, 2009
Lighting Up for Christmas
A year ago I was thrilled to find LED Christmas lights at clearance prices. This year I am getting a warm feeling at just how little energy these little guys use. So little, in fact, that you would be foolish to add a lamp timer to a string of these bulbs. It uses less power to keep them on all the time!
I hung a string of 20 LED Christmas lights in the kitchen and the package tells me the entire string uses about 2.4 watts of electricity. The typical household lamp timer uses 3 watts. Leaving the bulbs plugged in all the time without a timer uses less power!
Have you considered how many timers are running in your house, especially during the holidays? I'm not suggesting you leave on more lights all the time, but a 9 watt compact fluorescent light that you remember to turn on and off at odd times, would use, say, 12 hours of electricity, or 108 watt hours per day. That lamp with a timer that turns on for just 6 hours every day, would use 120 watt hours per day. Savings with a timer work for larger bulbs.
The new energy saver: the wall switch!
I hung a string of 20 LED Christmas lights in the kitchen and the package tells me the entire string uses about 2.4 watts of electricity. The typical household lamp timer uses 3 watts. Leaving the bulbs plugged in all the time without a timer uses less power!
Have you considered how many timers are running in your house, especially during the holidays? I'm not suggesting you leave on more lights all the time, but a 9 watt compact fluorescent light that you remember to turn on and off at odd times, would use, say, 12 hours of electricity, or 108 watt hours per day. That lamp with a timer that turns on for just 6 hours every day, would use 120 watt hours per day. Savings with a timer work for larger bulbs.
The new energy saver: the wall switch!
Nov 5, 2009
Can You Precycle?
Precycling, which is either buying products in bulk or in recycled or environmentally-friendly containers, has eluded me. I am looking at my recycle bin on the curb (well, we don't really have curbs), and ponder how I can eliminate any one type of container by buying differently.
We don't buy water at the store. If we buy large quantities, it just means a larger box. We just need to badger manufacturers to offer better packages, especially those plastic blisters than can only be opened by a locksmith with a chainsaw.
My preference would be to buy refurbished things that have packaging dealt with only once, either by me or the previous owner. But that doesn't address food containers. Could I ever confine myself to the farmer's market, and use my own bags? Yea, right.
We don't buy water at the store. If we buy large quantities, it just means a larger box. We just need to badger manufacturers to offer better packages, especially those plastic blisters than can only be opened by a locksmith with a chainsaw.
My preference would be to buy refurbished things that have packaging dealt with only once, either by me or the previous owner. But that doesn't address food containers. Could I ever confine myself to the farmer's market, and use my own bags? Yea, right.
Oct 21, 2009
It's Hard to Travel Green
Do you lose you green-ness when you travel? I know that for some of us who do all the right things for the environment at home, it’s hard to do it while traveling. I’m not taking about the letting the kids jump on the bed kind of irreverence, I’m talking about the total inability to conserve in ways in which we have become accustomed. I just don’t like to find rooms without water saving showerheads, compact fluorescent lights or even thermostats.
I admit that leaving that noisy under-the-window fan on all night could be wasteful, but it’s the only way to drown out the noisy TV in the room next door. It just doesn’t need to be on the “cold” (or “hot”) setting. But even that isn’t a sure thing, “cool” isn’t always an option.
With such simple energy savings offering the owners so much potential money savings, I would expect it would have been done by innkeepers years ago. But if they don’t consider it important, then we just can’t worry about it. It’s time to relax and resign ourselves to old wasting ways knowing we’ll be back to doing our part soon enough. I turn off the light when I leave the room, and only use as much water as I need. And no, rinsing the soap off in the pool isn’t cool.
I admit that leaving that noisy under-the-window fan on all night could be wasteful, but it’s the only way to drown out the noisy TV in the room next door. It just doesn’t need to be on the “cold” (or “hot”) setting. But even that isn’t a sure thing, “cool” isn’t always an option.
With such simple energy savings offering the owners so much potential money savings, I would expect it would have been done by innkeepers years ago. But if they don’t consider it important, then we just can’t worry about it. It’s time to relax and resign ourselves to old wasting ways knowing we’ll be back to doing our part soon enough. I turn off the light when I leave the room, and only use as much water as I need. And no, rinsing the soap off in the pool isn’t cool.
Oct 15, 2009
Friends of Mom
I don't mind helping others promote their Green activities and Green Irene asked to post her offers to help homeowners go green, especially the opportunity to work with a Local consultant.
Dear Mountain Mom,
I would like to tell your readers about the company I work for, Green Irene LLC. We created the Green Home Makeover for clients who wanted to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but don't want to make a hobby out of going green. The Green Home Makeover is a great first step for a homeowner to finally move their family toward a greener lifestyle. In the process we are enabling local Eco-Consultants to make a part time professional income doing something they can be proud of and empowering these Green Home Consultants to be a force of positive change in their local community.
One of the simplest and most beneficial investments the average person can make is in energy and water conservation. It takes a considerable amount of energy to deliver and treat the water we use everyday. American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year-enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for that same year. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60 watt light bulb run for 14 hours. By curbing home water use, we can decrease the release of Greenhouse Gases because water pumping, delivery and wastewater treatment consumes a significant amount of our nation's electricity. Consider the savings from the 2 Bathroom Water Conservation Kit (featured below). We sell this Kit for $133. Over 7 years the items in this kit will save you $4,277 ($3,267 in energy costs and $1,010 for 252,000 gallons of water). Something as simple as a flow restricting aerator (1.0 gallons per minute for the bathroom sink vs. standard 2.2 GPM) saves $707 in energy to heat the hot water over 7 years and 92,000 gallons of water per year. You can take a look at our Water Conservation products here: http://tinyurl.com/GreenIrene-WaterKit.
To find your local Eco-Consultant now, please visit us at http://www.GreenIrene.com
Sustainably yours,
Renee Giusti, Green Irene LLC
Dear Mountain Mom,
I would like to tell your readers about the company I work for, Green Irene LLC. We created the Green Home Makeover for clients who wanted to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but don't want to make a hobby out of going green. The Green Home Makeover is a great first step for a homeowner to finally move their family toward a greener lifestyle. In the process we are enabling local Eco-Consultants to make a part time professional income doing something they can be proud of and empowering these Green Home Consultants to be a force of positive change in their local community.
One of the simplest and most beneficial investments the average person can make is in energy and water conservation. It takes a considerable amount of energy to deliver and treat the water we use everyday. American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year-enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for that same year. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60 watt light bulb run for 14 hours. By curbing home water use, we can decrease the release of Greenhouse Gases because water pumping, delivery and wastewater treatment consumes a significant amount of our nation's electricity. Consider the savings from the 2 Bathroom Water Conservation Kit (featured below). We sell this Kit for $133. Over 7 years the items in this kit will save you $4,277 ($3,267 in energy costs and $1,010 for 252,000 gallons of water). Something as simple as a flow restricting aerator (1.0 gallons per minute for the bathroom sink vs. standard 2.2 GPM) saves $707 in energy to heat the hot water over 7 years and 92,000 gallons of water per year. You can take a look at our Water Conservation products here: http://tinyurl.com/GreenIrene-WaterKit.
To find your local Eco-Consultant now, please visit us at http://www.GreenIrene.com
Sustainably yours,
Renee Giusti, Green Irene LLC
Oct 13, 2009
What's a Coffee Lover To Do?
It was almost a year ago I was fretting about whether to include paper coffee filters on my Green List as an unnecessary contribution to landfills. It was on, then off, but now I see the bigger picture. Coffee does consume a large amount of your household resources because Americans make a lot of coffee at home. Most recently I was concerned about the amount of water required to clean out a permanent filter, and that the paper filter, together with the used grounds, could be composted in the garden. I tried to follow through on composting coffee and filters, but the paper doesn't decompose fast enough for me.
It was my new "thermal" coffee carafe I started using that eventually turned my head. I was really surprised how warm the coffee stayed without any hot base on the coffee maker. The coffee was still too hot to touch after three hours.
While coffee makers don't really use that much energy, the difference between the keep-hot maker vs. the thermal carafe is considerable, in the 1,000% plus range...and more for an all-morning coffee sipper like me. The water is a small issue when you can get big energy savings with a thermal carafe, stop consuming and disposing paper filters, and recycle the grounds in the garden. It's coffee without guilt!
It was my new "thermal" coffee carafe I started using that eventually turned my head. I was really surprised how warm the coffee stayed without any hot base on the coffee maker. The coffee was still too hot to touch after three hours.
While coffee makers don't really use that much energy, the difference between the keep-hot maker vs. the thermal carafe is considerable, in the 1,000% plus range...and more for an all-morning coffee sipper like me. The water is a small issue when you can get big energy savings with a thermal carafe, stop consuming and disposing paper filters, and recycle the grounds in the garden. It's coffee without guilt!
Oct 9, 2009
Letting the Habit Out of the Bag
It seemed like I had finally been able to maintain the habit of taking cloth bags into the grocery store until sometime this past summer. I don't know what happened but I'm guessing it was when we cleaned out the wagon for our camping trip. What is surprising is that I didn't realize it until maybe a month went by. It was OK to miss a few times, but eventually I woke up.
Because of the sheer size of the plastic bag pile, I want to keep up the cloth bag habit. The plastic bags must be recycled back to the store, and that's just another step I'm going to forget. For a time I thought I could compensate in another area until the bugs showed up in my not-so-clean recycle bag in the pantry.
What to do? I keep the cloth bags visible in the back seat, and up front if I'm going right to the store. Also, I added "BAGS!" to the shopping list. I'll try searching the Internet for a better idea. Do you have one?
Because of the sheer size of the plastic bag pile, I want to keep up the cloth bag habit. The plastic bags must be recycled back to the store, and that's just another step I'm going to forget. For a time I thought I could compensate in another area until the bugs showed up in my not-so-clean recycle bag in the pantry.
What to do? I keep the cloth bags visible in the back seat, and up front if I'm going right to the store. Also, I added "BAGS!" to the shopping list. I'll try searching the Internet for a better idea. Do you have one?
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