Fluffy Toilet Paper Worse than Hummers!

This morning I had this link from my father-in-law in my in-box. Thanks Rick!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,502444,00.html (summary)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/science/earth/26charmin.html?_r=1&hp (full story)


So, toilet paper, yes we are talking about toilet paper. Something we use for a few moments to dispose of excriment is seriously harming our forests.


We switched a couple of years ago. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to, but I like trees better than toilet paper :) This is what we use.

http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/top+rated/bath+tissue+-+2+ply+-12+rolls-.do?search=basic&keyword=toilet+paper&sortby=bestSellers&page=1

Marcal - a paper company will be coming out with a recyled paper toilet paper around earthday with an even better price point.

Soft & Scrub Recipe

1 2/3 c baking soda
1/2 c liquid soap (colorless, natural fragrances I use seventh generation dish soap)
1/2 c water - filter lasts longer
2T vinegar
5-10 drops of tea tree oil (I use it for antimicrobial properties - smell first)

Stir with a fork until no lumps. May foam some in the process.

In Defense of the Lowly Rag

Ah, the paper towel. They are convenient, but they have become a bit of an addiction in U.S. kitchens. More than 90% of US households use paper towels, creating 3,000 tons of waste each day or 1,095,000 tons every year in our dumps. Paper towels are made from trees. Cutting down trees leads to deforestation. Deforestation not only decreases our CO2-consuming forests and animal habitats, but also lets off large amounts of CO2 when the land is burned and then is exposed soil.

What to do?
Next time your paper towels run out- don't replace them. Use your rag pile instead. Put those rags on the counter where your paper towels usually reside. Put your paper towels under your sink. This will help you change your habits associated with messes. If it is water or milk grab a rag. If it is cat vomit, maybe get out the smallest amount of paper towels necessary to clean up the gross stuff and use a rag for the second pass. Remember that rags are made to get dirty. You may need a few more crummy rags around your house. (old stained clothing) While washing rags does take some energy, if you incorporate them into your regular laundry loads it should not create a high energy burden.

Our choice: I still buy Bounty, but I buy the smart-size kind and I use rags whenever possible. This had considerably reduced our paper towel consumption. We barely used a Sam's package of 12 last year. I used to buy a pack every six weeks or so.

What do you do if you can't kick the paper towel habit? Here are some recycled paper towel options adapted from http://www.idealbite.com/ Fair warning- trying to use all recycled paper towels is pricey.

1. Look for towels that boast no less than a 40% post-consumer waste content and don’t use a whole lot of packaging.


2. Choose unbleached paper towels first, process chlorine-free (PCF) second, and elemental chlorine-free (ECF) third.


3. Seek items having the largest amount of product (higher square footage).
   Seventh Generation- 100% post-consumer recycled paper towels ($7.95/4 rolls).


4. Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value and Planet – 100% recycled (80% by consumers), PCF, and available at a store near you.

What are the benefits of using recycled paper towels instead of regular?

1. If every household in the US replaced one roll of non-recycled paper towels with a roll of 100% recycled paper towels, we would save 864,000 trees and 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space.


2. For every ton of 100% recycled paper that is bought, about 4000kWh of energy and 7,000 gallons of water are saved. It also avoids releasing 60 lbs of pollutants into the air.


3. Roll towels combined with controlled-use dispensers save paper by 25 to 35%, and require less packaging than stand-alone rolls or folded towels.

Good luck and pull out those rags!

Dryer What???

So, appliances make our lives easier, but they do take up more energy than doing it the old fashioned way. What to do? Well, few tidbits - keep your appliances clean and also keep the filters clean. Example, if your dryer is trying to dry with 10 loads of lint on the filter you will be waiting longer for your clothing! Speaking of dryers - one of my favorite tips is a dryerball. A what you say? A dryerball.

Now before I start, here is my eco-disclaimer. Some in the enviornmental crowd don't appreciate dryerballs much. Dryerballs are made of PVC, and this is not the best for the environment. Indeed the production and disposal of these has an impact on the world, but in the environmental reduction there are choices, choices, choices. In these situations, you have to decide which way of reduction is going to work for your lifestyle. We all can't move off-grid in Alaska. While I might like to think I could, I am probably not going to make the most energy effiency choice - hang drying clothing for a family of four. So, I am going to reduce my electricity consumption of clothes drying by having an effienct dryer and using dryerballs.

Back to the main topic - what are dryerballs? These are blue spiny critters that you throw in your dryer to reduce your dry time (up to 25%). You can find lots of them in the drug stores, but personally I like this one the best. http://www.nelliesallnatural.com/ The oval shape supposedly bounces around more fluffing and drying close more rapidly. Additionally, it is rated not to leach plastic yuckiness into my clothing when it gets hot. Nellie's dyerballs are $16 and are guaranteed to last for about 2 years. At 25% reduction of dry time, the dryerballs should save someone doing about 32 loads a month (and who with kids isn't doing more) $21/the year. Additionally, when using dryerballs you should use less softener, less dryer sheets, and have less lint in your machine (it will work better) -all saving you money and reducing consumption. The other best thing it saves time!

Crazy Crayons

Yesterday, I opened our art cabinet and was practically maimed by the things that dumped out. That was the last straw, and I went on a major de-junking spree. Of course, in my cleaning I found a ton of broken crayons in the crayon box. You know, the type of crayons that are too short to even color with any more and just make the box dirty. What do I do with these old crayon remnants? A while ago, I got a recycled earth crayon for Nate. Anyway, I googled "Crazy Crayons" and they take "donations." You aren't even required to peel the old ones. Crazy Crayons turns the old crayons into new earth shaped crayons and turns the old wrappers into fire starters! Anyway, don't toss your crayons, recycle them - maybe consider telling your school about this! http://www.crazycrayons.com/recycle_program.html

Leaky Gas!

When we were wrapping our water heater I kept smelling gas. I only smelled it right around the water heater, so I thought perhaps I had an inefficient pilot light. Long story short, I thought about it all weekend and dreamed of exploding houses, so I finally called our utility people on Monday (they come out for free). The result? They came and found two leaks. They suspect that they have been leaking since our house was built. No wonder we have been having a tough time getting our gas consumption reduced. Moral of the story - if it smells like gas have it checked out. A word of caution, be ready to spend a weekday afternoon at home for a repair person. If the utility finds a big leak they will shut off your gas and won't turn it back on until you have it fixed.

My Favorite Lightbulbs

So, let's chat about lighting. Lighting takes up to 11% of the average family's energy bill. The average American family spends $1,900/year on energy costs. Over a year, this is not chump change - it is $209. So want to cut out 75% of that 11% and only pay $52.50/year for lighting? How you say? Switch light bulbs! Incandescents (the old, rather inefficient, hot kind) are on their way out. Australia has banned them by 2009, Canada by 2012 and there is a bill proposed in CA to eliminate all incandescent bulbs by 2012. So folks we all might as well start switching now to Compact Florescent Bulbs and saving our money and energy now.

An incandescent takes usually some where between 60W and 100W to run. It lasts for somewhere between 750 and 1000 hours of burn time. CFB's on the other hand - depending upon the type use about 11W - 25W and last between 6,000 and 15,000 hours of burn time.

So what is the hold up? They cost too much up front? I have heard that one before. Well, yes indeed a $10 bulb may freak you out up front compared to the 60 cent one. However, the 60 cent one will cost you about $88 a year to run (24/7) and a CFB will cost you $22 over a year holding kWh cost equal. Even if you had to buy the light bulb, you would still see a $56.60 savings at $32.00 per year for the CFB and compared to 88.60 for the incandescent bulb. Now these numbers are assuming you ran your light bulbs all day every day. So the best way to think about it is, it will save approx two thirds or three quarters of my current lighting costs if I switch over to CFBs.

The second issue - they are ugly. Well, I agree some of those lovely spiral thingies did not really make it to the catwalk in France did they? I have found one bulb that I really like. Tad bit more pricey than the ones you find at Home Depot, but a bit more attractive on your exposed fixture. I think it has a better shape and light than a lot of CFBs. I use the 25W bulbs in the warm glow. This is what we are used to in our houses and we have decorated under the assumption of yellow lighting. Switch to natural daylight or full spectrum and you will be a little surprised at the colors you now see in your decor. I use the 20W in the smaller lamps around the home. You can get lesser wattage. My advise is to convert your lightbulbs and go one step up. http://www.realgoods.com/product/home-outdoor/lighting/bulbs/evolution+compact+fluorescent+light+bulbs.do?search=basic&keyword=11-0245&sortby=bestSellers&page=1

For recessed cans indoors I like http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_44_2107_2108

and for smaller cans http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_44_171_2388

For outdoors I like the Philips 20w PAR38 Reflector EL/A PAR38 20W - just not finding a link right now.

Now, I put the less expensive spiral CFB's in our garage, as I don't really care what they look like out there. :)

Realize that these are my suggestions and please measure your own lightbulbs you are replacing prior to ordering something that won't work.

Last issue is the mercury. Yes, CFB do have a small amount of mercury, and this has gotten media attention. Indeed, there are about 1.0 - 4.0 mg per bulb. Because of this you should handle these bulbs carefully and put them immediately in a sealed glass jar if it breaks as the mercury is in the vapor. Additionally, you will need to recycle them when they burn out. Usually, you can recycle CFBs at your local True Value or other hardware store. If not Energy Federation sells a box where you can ship the used CFBS. Now, don't get scared off - you aren't going to be changing CFBs that often. Additionally, even with the mercury in the bulbs using CFB saves on overall mercury pollution. About half of our electricity comes from coal powered plants, which release mercury when burning coal. Use less electricity, use less coal, and thus less mercury pollution overall. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp for more information under mercury emissions.

A few notes - CFBs will expire faster if they are in areas with varing temps and are flipped on and off constantly- aka back hall. It is up to you whether you leave them on for 15 min then to reduce this impact or you just replace them if they have a shorter lifespan.

Additionally, I have seen an environmental house here that had LED lighting in various rooms. If you are doing a rehab/build it project this may be something to consider - it was great lighting and next to no wattage.

Got a lot of light bulbs? Do a few at a time :) Wait for coupons and smile at your savings :)

Tin Man

Jason has been off lots this week, so we have been getting done lots of our project. On the list for today was the hot-water jacket. A what? well it is a thermos/coffee sleeve for your water heater. There are lots of kinds out there, but the "solar guys" suggested a radiant barrier jacket for a tank type of water heater. I found the best price for a kit at http://www.energyefficientsolutions.com/rbhwhj.asp (If you order it, get an extra roll of radiant tape or be very judicious with the kit tape.) With this type of radiant barrier you have a very low emissivity value (.03) this means that properly applied only 3% of the trapped heat will radiate off. Also, the bubbles give you an added 9.5 R-value (insulation rating).

Why do we care? Well, water heaters can account for up to 20% of the average family's yearly utility cost. Tank water heaters keep water heated to the set temperature all the time, even when we are sleeping. This leads to standing losses each year. The average cost for running a regular water heater per year is $350. The average cost for standing losses is $100 per year. This wrap can save you up to 40% on these losses - so $40/year and you are buring less gas too.

Speaking of saving $$ and therms, if you want to decrease your gas bill, turn down that water heater setting! For every 10 degress you turn down that heater, you save between 3 and 5% on your gas bill. 120 degress should be fine for most families. Usually, this is midway between the low and medium settings. Another tip to save, is turn down or turn off your water heater when you are away for more than a day. There is no point in heating it if you aren't going to use it. Just remember to turn it back on or up right when you get back. If you do turn it all the way off, remember to relight your pilot when you get back. Please follow your instructions for your specific water heater for turning off the tank so you get the gas off too. No explosions please!

The New Shower Head

Did you know that a family of four people each showering five minutes a day can use about 700 gallons per week? Put in terms of every day living, that is close to a three-year drinking water supply for one person! With water supply being an issue in some parts of the country, this is really some thing to think about. If we use water-conserving shower heads and faucet aerators instead, the family of 4 can typically cut their water consumption in half - saving approx. 14,000 gallons of H2O.

So to reduce our water consumption, Jason installed the new "eco" shower head in our master bathroom today. No, it is not made out of old pop cans and a bag hooked to a tree -it's a lower-flow shower head. Now don't turn off, just because it is a lower flow does not mean it is a drizzly trickle - it feels just the same. Here's the scoop, regular shower heads flow at 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) at regular pressure standards. Our new head flows at 2.0 gpm (they go as low 1.75 gpm). So in our home this change results in a 20% reduction in water usage for the adult showers. Jason and I each take a 5 minute morning shower. The .5 gpm reduction doesn't seem like much - but over 2 showers that is 5 gallons/day, 150+/30 days, and 1,825 gallons/year. It adds up quickly. Not only are we saving water, we are also are saving the gas it would take to heat 1,825 gallons of hot water to 120 degrees. One more way to consume and pay less!