New favorite toy

http://makedo.com.au/

Great new toys! And teaches kids to reuse things.

Earth Day

It is earth day and I am feeling guilty for not keeping up on this. It was cute today, my son went out to pick up garbage (in the cold rain) and came back in terribly disappointed that there wasn't any trash to pick up in our neighborhood. We tried to explain that that was a good thing. I am not sure he felt the same.

On WPR Today

An awesome new book is out. It is a great reference book to know which companies are being responsible and where our money will be used wisely not just as $$$$.

Reuse and ReStore

So, we ripped out a closet in our office to make way for something that fits our needs more - and so we can turn off all those vamp power sucking peripherals more easily. Anyway, we stumbled onto Habitat for Humanities ReStore. They take building donations, even closets parts. Yeah for not having to but steel in the landfill and yeah for someone being able to use what I cannot.

A new fun thing

Where have I been? Well, everywhere. Doesn't matter, I am back. Now that school is back in it is time to think about the waste created by Lunch. Schools throw out ridiculous amounts of unnecessary garbage every day. Here are some new fun ways to reduce the waste that daily school lunches produce. For more info go to www.wastefreelunch.org -

http://citizenpip.com/

http://www.kidskonserve.com/

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

Saving Plastic

These look really quite useful and cool. Think of all the plastic we waste simply to carry our veggies around in the store and home. Lame! So here is a solution - even better than my mesh bags (I swear I am paying a few oz extra on my tomatos, but it is better than using plastic). Check these Produce Bags out at www. EcoBags.com

A Greener Christmas

So, still looking for those Christmas/Holiday cards? Well, both Amazon and Target are carrying some more reasonably priced recycled paper cards and holiday papers! Yeah! They have been way up there the past few years. Paper source had some too - but they were a tad pricey!

http://www.target.com/Natural-Wreath-Holiday-Cards/dp/B002RLKSRU/sr=1-6/qid=1260244317/ref=sr_1_6/192-1456708-5865307?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Anatural%20christmas&page=1

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=recycled+christmas+cards&x=0&y=0&sprefix=recycled+chr

One ther tip - watch the labels - I gave up my clear plastic labels this year for handwriting on the addresses on my envelopes this year . . . . my hand still hurts!

Breaking Down

So our dishwasher finally stopped functioning well. It has never been great, but now it was functioning more like a food spreader than a dishwasher. One morning I woke up to a messy coating of chocolate pound cake on all the dishes. It took two more cycles to get it all clean. What a waste of water, gas and electricity! I had even scraped the bowl that I put in the dishwasher.

Anyway, after much searching I found a dishwasher that will use less water, less gas, less energy and even clean the dishes too!!! In my research I found a division of consumer reports that uses environmental criteria. It might be helpful next time something breaks at your home. - http://www.greenerchoices.org/ You can also go look at the energy star ratings at energystar.gov

Lastly a tip - the newer dishwashers handle scraped dishes - they do not need to be rinsed. This habit change saves an average of 20 gallons per dishwasher load. On average this is 6,500 gallons per year. I save more than 7,000 per year with not scraping. Scrape those veggies etc. into a composter - decrease your garbage and get free fertilizer for your garden. For more tips on dishwasher efficiency http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=dishwasher&page=GettingMostValue

I Have a New Idol

http://noimpactproject.org/

He went without toilet paper . . . now that is serious stuff.

Used

So this morning I went to sell back my kids clothing to a used clothing store. While I am waiting for my check, I peruse and get some great deals for my kids. If there are great gently used things I love it. Getting something used means I am not purchasing another new thing, which that uses natural resources, just so my kids can wear it for a limited amount of time. Anyway, back to my story. So I went on a Monday, and going through your clothing takes forever on Mondays. Since I wasn't able to find everything at the used store, went off to a sale at Gap to supplement. While I was in the store, another mom couldn't find something she wanted for her child. I suggested that she look at the used clothing store. Well this was a bad idea - she would have none of that. She looked at me like I had grown three horns. "Oh, . . . but they don't have the latest styles." Her sentiment was obvious that she had no intention of ever putting her one year old child in anything used. I think she felt very bad for my poor children who would be dressed in, "gasp," something someone else had previously worn. I was a bit steamed. I went back to the used store - challenged my current thinking of my own snootiness and bought 2 pairs of dress shoes for my daughter. They were not perfect, but I polished them up and now they look brand new.

This encounter made me ponder a bit. Beyond the tad bit of snootiness, this attitude is a prime example of some of the flawed thought processes that have caused the current mess we are in. A large portion of our population doesn't want to reuse things. The pervasive feeling is that reusing is only for students, people with lower-incomes or hippies. The moment you have a "real" income you should stop these lesser ways. Not so -this thinking is upside down and backwards. We should take pride in reusing things. We should be thrilled if we didn't add waste or use up resources every time we need something.

Willing to try? - Try ebay, swaps with friends, yard sales, second hand stores and the list could go on! Oh and the best part - when you are done with it - pass it around again!

What's the Trend?

Don't worry - no style advice. I did, however, find this new cool function in my utility company's website. Perhaps I don't have enough to do . . . . Anyway, you can graph the last 24 months of your electricity and gas usage in various ways. Obviously the graphs I made are above. The blue shows our over all usage - first in gas and then in electric. The darker overlays are the heating and cooling days.

I am pretty happy with our results. Our gas consumption is holding steady and did not completely spike last year with the bitter cold weather. The only things on our gas bill are the range (not oven), the water heater and furnace. We don't have tons of room to improve on beyond replacing these appliances or not cooking or heating our home. That said, we will still be looking though! The electricity appears to be trending downward even in the face of the bitter weather last winter! That is a great sign for the improvements/sealing we have done on our home. The trends are going the right way- Yeah!

Mom On Fire

So today I was listening in my car to WPR - to the dismay of my children. My dad used to torture us in the same way -I guess it wore off. Anyway, they were talking to one of the guru's in the organic lawn care business about the terrible effects of lawn care products on our children, grandchildren, dogs, and yes even adults. These effects have be known for quite some time, but the lawn care business is a powerful and well-funded lobby. I was so frustrated and fired up after listening, I considered streaking with my hair on fire just so I could talk about the dangers of pesticides etc. on the news. Alas, my friends and family are safe from humiliation - I didn't have the guts, the body or a babysitter. I could go on and on and on and on - but I won't.

There is a new documentary coming out on the dangers of pesticide. It is called "A Chemical Reaction." I am putting a link to the trailer. Take a minute and watch - it is far better than me streaking. And hey, did you know that Canada is outlawing weed killers/pesticides and Home Depot Canada pulled the bags off the shelves as being too dangerous . . . . hmmm

http://www.pfzmedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=59

July Comparisons

Here are the July energy comparisons:

Electricity
888 kWh - July 2009
1309 kWh - July 2008

Gas
17 therms - July 2009
12 therms - July 2008

We were away for a week and and a weekend during last July. So, I am going to figure the 5 therm difference is that last year we weren't taking showers, washing dishes, laundry etc. and this year we did. Beyond that blip, the electricity is still trending downward. Hopefully, next month we will get that electricity back into the 700 kWh range.

Singing in the Rain!

Yep, that has been me when it rains, because our new rain barrel is filling up! I can use the stored contents for future watering, window cleaning, auto cleaning and more! It also functions as an education diversion as our five-year-old runs out to check the level after it rains! He gets so excited when the level has increased. Me too!

Why do you care as your hose is right there? Well here are some reasons from Sustainable Neenah's rain barrel project. Rain barrels:

• Lower household water bills and who can't use that?
• Reduce the amount of potable (drinkable) water used on lawns and gardens.
• Save municipal resources by reducing volume of water treated on use for plants (chemicals, electricity, storage costs). We all want to save our towns $$$ in these times.
  
• Decrease the negative impact of storm water flowing to our rivers and lakes.
• Lower the percentage of roof top rainfall as a component of urban runoff. (This is a type of water pollution.)
  
• Provide a backup source of water during times of drought or between rain showers.
• Provide naturally softened water that is better for delicate houseplants, auto cleaning and window washing.
• Provide chlorine-free water for plants, which helps maintain a healthy biotic community in the soil.
• Provide an educational tool for teaching residents, and our kids about water conservation and other sustainable practices.

Interested? You can get rain barrels at many different garden stores, online, or you can do it yourself.

P.S. Check your state laws. If you live in a dry state a.k.a. UT you may have some regulations that prevent using rain barrels on large scale. Check laws and maybe even write your state rep.

Clean Up the Laundry

Why? Your clothes smell clean, right? I am sure they do, but regular laundry detergent is made out of oil, has harsh solvents, synthetic fragrances (with molecules very similar to hormones), and one of my biggest gripes - are not concentrated so you are paying more for the shipping and packaging of WATER. Here are a few more tidbits on laundry detergent from Ideal Bite:

• Oil (not mind) control. If every U.S. household replaces one box of 48-ounce, petroleum-based powder laundry detergent with a vegetable-based one, we'll save enough oil to heat and cool 5,300 homes for a year.


• Less irritation. Fragrances and harsh solvents such as ammonia in some conventional detergents can trigger allergies and asthma, and cause skin irritation.


• Joining a cult of fresh fragrances. You'll wanna take a nice, long whiff.


• Not losing concentration. All our fave liquid options are concentrated, so their production and transport uses less energy and packaging.

I use Seventh Generation - but there are lots of earth friendly and more people friendly options of laundry detergent out there!

Timing is Everything

So many of us have clocks, timers, routers, servers, ovens, TVs, cable boxes, DVRs, DVDs, CD players and many other appliances burn electricity even when we turn them "off". This wasted standby power drain is a.k.a as the phantom load, vampire load or leaking energy. LBNL estimated that this load was approximately 5-6% of the total residential energy cost - that costs the U.S. over 3 Billion (yep, that is with a B) a year. That is a lot of wasted cash in these times, and a lot of wasted energy. Here is how you start to get rid of the phantom load.

1. Unplug things that are not in use. Think - cell phone chargers, ipod, unnecessary radios, clocks etc. Leave your alarms and smoke detectors plugged in!


2. Beat standby mode - Turn off computers, servers,routers, monitors (at work too!), TVs, and all other electronics completely. The easiest way to do this is to have all of these items plugged into a power strip and turn it off when you are done or leaving. Honestly, I have a hard time remembering to turn all this off in the evening, so I have made two sites in our home automatic with a timed power strip. I have everything power down at 11:00 pm and turn back on at 6:00 am. The kind I got were a bit painful to program. They were $34 + shipping, but phantom loads run the average home anywhere from $40-120+ per year depending upon the size and quantity - so I think we should make back the $70 back within the year. Interested? http://www.gardeners.com/ or fish stores - I guess these are quite useful for larger aquariums. Who knew?


3. If buying new - buy low or no watt off mode appliances.


4. Consider wind up or solar instead of plug in.


5. Use voicemail - not answering machines.

Want more info?

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~recycle/ssec/download/Phantom%20Load.pdf

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Flow/leaking.htm

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Flow/leaking.htm

Cooling Down Without the Hot $Tag!

Hey, it is getting hot! But that air conditioning can suck up precious dollars and resources. What else can you do?

1. Use ceiling fans and other fans around your home. Supposedly, even if you ran a power hungry fan 12 hrs/day for 30 days it should only cost you $10 - still less than running your air for the same.

2. Close your shades, blinds and curtains in the am - especially on the east side. The sun won't be able to heat up the air in your house - air or no air.

3. Don't put a lamp or other heat generating appliance next to your thermostat. Your air will run and your house will be an ice box.

4. Switch light bulbs. Incandescents give off a lot of inefficient energy in heat. Every little bit makes a difference.

5. Service your A/C. A clean A/C cost less to run than a dirty one.

6. Plant trees and /or shrubs around your air conditioner. An A/C in the shade costs less to run. Just don't block the airflow! While you are at it - plant trees strategically to shade your home. Less heat in - less energy to cool it down. Avoid the south - so as not to block your winter solar passive heating.

7. I am not big on this one - but hey it would work - you can change to a white roof, or paint yours white. Not sure what the neighbors would think, but if you have a barn etc. This might work.

8. Humidity makes a room feel hotter. Minimize humidity creating activities in the middle of the day.

9. Upgrade your attic insulation if it is not up to par. A switch from 3 inches to 12 inches of insulation can cut you cooling costs by 10%.

10. If you are buying a new A/C make sure it is sized to your square footage and is as efficient as possible.

11. Seal your ducts in your crawl, basement etc.

Drops in the bucket!

All add up!
So what changes have you made - big or small - they all count!
Post 'em here - they might help someone else.

I'm a what?

So, we went to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair this weekend. http://www.the-mrea.org/energy_fair.php (check it out!). I was commenting to Jason that we would get to meet some real tree huggers there. Well come to find out, as my husband has informed me, I am a tree hugger. I knew I was green, but had not yet embraced the official status of "tree hugger." After pondering Jase's comment further I have decided he might be right. I mean we did go on a date to the MREA, and I was excited to learn about solatubes, flexible PV film, integrated PV building materials, net-zero homes, and the list goes on. Seriously, the coolest thing was that there were no plastic water bottles - just places to fill up the reusable one you brought. They also had composting pails, recycling bins, and garbage containers. Yep, I guess I really am a tree hugger. Here's hoping there are many more out there!

Don't Light Up!

Lighting our homes takes 10-15% of our energy costs. This does depend, of course, on how many lights you have. We have been successful in cutting our electricity consumption (see May's #s below!) and I believe part of this has come from habits do do with lighting.

1. Of course, as our moms all told us - "Turn off your lights when you leave a room!" Leaving a light burning when you are not in the room or have left for the day is costly and wasteful. Turn off those lights.

2. Use CFB or other lower consumption bulb. I posted on 2/9/09 the pros and cons of CFBs if you have questions issues etc.

3. I think this made difference for us. It is the reverse thought- do I need to turn the light on? When you walk into a room stop yourself before turning on the lights. Is there a way to illuminate this room with out turning on the lights? Can you open the shades, blinds or curtains? Alternatively, can you turn on one lamp and not the switch that turns on 5?

3. What is lit up that simply doesn't need to be? Think of all the blinking lights you see in your home at night. How many of them are essential enough to be burning through electricity all night long? Is there a way to turn them off, put them on timers or other solution?

4. Last but not least, turn off the outside lights when you go to bed! These lights are burning up considerable light just to light up our houses while 80% of the population is sleeping. If there are some lights that are for safety purposes put in the least amount of wattage necessary and consider a motion sensor - they have some that run on mini-solar panel with a battery. No coal emissions there!

Coming up next cooling costs and consumption!