Green Tips from the E-Zine
Save gas: Combine errands or use public transportation, walk, or bike.
Consider buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. There are tax incentives for some EVs and hybrids. EVs produce 3,932 pounds of carbon equivalent per year, compared to 11,435 for gas powered vehicles (US Department of Energy). In one year driving a hybrid prevents the equivalent of 5,177 pounds of CO2e or 2,587 pounds of coal, from being burned into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Or consider installing a bidet for under 100 dollars and 20 minutes of work. 15% of deforestation comes from Big Toilet Paper production (that’s the equivalent of flushing 10 million trees every year). A bidet is cleaner, faster, cost-efficient, and environmentally sustainable.
Tips About Not Using Poisons and Sprays for Rodents and Insects
Spraying poisons directly or when wildlife consume plants or prey that have been exposed to pesticides is fatal to the wildlife that can respond to your desire to spray in the first place. A fox can eat mice and voles. Bats can eat mosquitos, and flying insects. According to the Wildlife Habitat Council a single bat can consume 6000-8000 insects a night. Birds can eat a variety of insects, mosquitoes, beetles and flies. Instead of spraying poison, put up bird and bee houses in your yard.
Tips About Washing in Cold Water
Switching to cold water for your clothes cleaning can save from 75-90% of the energy used by your washing machine. That is approximately 1,600 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. Want to save even more? Consider air drying some of your clothes. Put up a clothesline or buy a drying rack.
Tips About Laundry, Recycling, Detergent Strips or Refill Your Bottle
Laundry jugs can be recycled so long as they are 1 PET, or 2 HDPE, have been rinsed out (so they don’t contaminate the recycling process) and you have removed the cap. While recycling is good, out of 14,500 thousand tons of plastic containers, only approx. 2000 thousand tons are recycled. The rest end up in landfills or in the ocean harming marine life. As those laundry detergents are anywhere from 60-90% water, an easier solution is to use laundry detergent strips or reuse the bottle and refill it with liquid detergent available at some area grocery stores.
Why should we avoid single use plastics?
Some 85 per cent of single-use plastic bottles, containers and packaging end up in landfills or are mismanaged. Because plastic does not biodegrade, it contributes to major health impacts as microplastics infiltrate food and water sources.
Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes. (UN Environment Programme)
Tips About Avoiding Single Use Plastics
Single use plastics, that are manufactured and used only once, are pervasive in our world.
For example, most of our foods from mainstream grocery stores and other household goods, have plastic packaging that we will unwrap and throw away. Plastics in our environment are harmful and can be fatal to God’s living things and their habitats.
Humans are also threatened when we consume microplastics that occur when larger plastics break down and are in our air, soil, and water. Ingesting plastics has been linked to cancer risks, fertility problems and more.
While it may be impossible to eliminate all single use plastics, we can reduce our consumption of them. Simple strategies include bringing our own reusable mugs, glasses, and utensils when we are at events and traveling, use our own tote bags when shopping, use our own mesh produce bags to avoid using the store’s plastic produce bags.
We can also reuse our own containers at stores that sell items in bulk such as Mom’s and Sprouts. If more consumers demand this service, perhaps the more mainstream grocery stores will begin offering this option.
Another simple step is to support plastic free and bottle bill legislation to reduce the litter of plastics in our environment.
How can you reduce home energy use?
Adjust Window Treatments
During the day, let sunlight in by opening curtains, blinds and shades on the windows facing the sun to reduce heating demand. At night, keep drapes and curtains closed to reduce heat loss.
Seal Receptacles and Switch Boxes with Foam Gaskets
Seal Receptacles and Switch Boxes with Foam Gaskets — installing foam gaskets can reduce drafts and create an extra thermal barrier.
Heat Water Efficiently
Upgrading your electric water heater to a heat pump water heater can save the average household up to $330 a year. BGE offers a $500 rebate for heat pump water heater. Find out more about heat pump water heaters at BGE.com.
Switch Out Old Light Bulbs
Clean Boilers and Furnaces
Save While Washing
Remove Old Appliances
Reduce your annual energy bill by as much as $100 by unplugging and properly disposing of your unneeded refrigerators. BGE offers a $50 incentive to recycle your old refrigerator. Find out more about at bge.com or by calling 866-898-1901.
Reduce Phantom Load
Many appliances continue to draw power when they are switched off. These “phantom” loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as DVDs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. Plug devices into a power strip and switch it off when the devices are not in use.
Install a Programmable Thermostat
Programmable thermostats can reduce heating costs and energy use by decreasing temperatures at night or when your home is unoccupied.
Turn Down Your Water Heater
How can you to be better at water conservation?
Know Where it Goes and Consider your Diet
Overall, the average American uses about 2,000 gallons of water a day – about twice the global average. Our diets make up about half of our water footprint, transportation and electricity about 20 percent, home water use about 10 percent, and clothes and material goods another 10 percent. By making some simple choices, we can shrink our water footprint. One of the easiest ways to shrink your water footprint is by reducing food waste. You can reduce your further by cutting down on eating meat and dairy: making a quarter pounder requires water equivalent to 30 showers.
Install Energy and Water-Saving Shower Heads
Repair All Leaky Faucets
A faucet dripping one drip per second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water over the course of a year, enough to take 180 showers.
Consider an Efficient Washer
Measure Your Footprint
National Geographic has an interesting water footprint calculator. Calculate your water footprint at watercalculator.org.