Archive for the 'Green Tip of the Week' Category
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
Most Furniture and cleaners are full of unhealthy chemicals, the containers they come in are also damaging to the atmosphere.
Cheap and Safe Furniture Cleaners for your Home
To get that great shine along with a good scent for the wood furniture in your home,try this very simple and cheap alternative to replace the store bought cleaners:
1/4/ cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
Just mix up these ingredients in a spray bottle shake it up and you have a cheap and healthy cleaner for all those cherished pieces of wood furniture. ( a bit like making a salad dressing!)
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK:
If you are buying a new home and the hot water heater needs replacing, or if you are just thinking you might need to change your water heater in the near future. TANKLESS water heaters are the way to go – apart from saving as much as 40% in energy the other great incentive to take advantage of is the total available tax credit through 2010 of up to 30% of the cost to a maximum of $1500. So its a win win decision!
Traditional water heaters have large tanks to store and heat water, so they are continually using energy. TANKLESS water heaters produce hot water on demand, not continuously, they use electricity or gas to heat water as is needed.
Some units which will fit under your sink, the larger ones are about the size of a suitcase and can be installed on a wall inside or outside your home, taking up much less space than the traditional water heater, freeing up precious space in your home. When the demand for water ceases, the unit shuts down and uses no energy, a truly great advantage over the inefficient tank style heaters.
You will also benefit from no rust and scale build up as in the in the traditional-style tank water heater, with the new tankless heaters there is no tank to store water, so you will always experience fresh and clean hot water.
For more information on this great energy saver efficient product for your home CLICK HERE
10 Tips to Keep your San Diego Home Cool
Some tips to save energy, money and improve the quality of our lives are always useful. So now we are beginning to feel the summer heat the following suggestions might come in handy to keep your home as cool as possible during the hot summer months without running the air conditioner flat out and feeling that fear of another massive utility bill.
1. Provide shade for east and west windows. If possible avoid running heat generating appliances until late evening.
2. Keep your home closed tightly during the day. Ventilate at night naturally or with fans.
3. Plant shade trees around the house. Don’t plant trees on the South if you want to benefit from passive solar heating in the winter months.
4. If you have an older central air conditioner, consider replacing the outdoor compressor with a modern, high efficiency unit.
5. Seal all air conditioner ducts that run through unheated basements, crawl spaces and attics.
6. Maintain your air conditioners to maximize efficiency.
7. Keep the thermostat set at 78 degrees F or higher if using ceiling fans. Don’t air condition unused rooms.
8. Install white window shades or mini blinds. Mini blinds can reduce solar heat gain by 40-50 per cent.
9. Hang tightly woven screens or bamboo shades outside the window during the summer to stop 60 to 80 percent of the sun’s heat from getting to the windows.
10. Try not to use a dehumidifier at the same time your air conditioner is operating. The dehumidifier will increase the cooling load and force the air conditioner to work harder.
Have a COOL summer and if you any have any other suggestions to add to this please let us know!
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GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
Green Tip of the Week
All of our home kitchen appliances can consume a lot of energy, read on if you would like to reduce your kitchen’s energy usage and save yourself some money.
Replace old refrigerators: if you refrigerator is more than 10 years old it might be time to consider replacing it. Old refrigerators can account for up to 15 percent of a home’s energy consumption! Newer refrigerators, especially ENERGY STAR ones, consume much less energy than older ones – sometimes as little as one quarter of the energy.
Use your dishwasher: Although dishwashers are energy intensive, they also use less water than hand-washing, so if you use it wisely, running the dishwasher is a good thing. Resist the urge to pre-rinse before putting your dishes in the dishwasher – this is double-duty and also increases your water bill. Also, make sure you always run a full load- dishwashers always use the same amount of water, so the more dishes you can fit in a load, the more energy efficient it will be. As with your refrigerator, if your dishwasher is old, consider replacing it – replacing it with an ENERGYSTAR model can save $30 a year on utility costs.
One or two other tips include:
- Unplugging appliances Even when not in use, some appliances may still be consuming energy.
- Put a lid on pots and pans, it will decrease time on the burner.
- Size matters: If you are making a meal, think about using a toaster oven or the mocrowave – both consume less energy than a regular oven.
Content by courtesy of C.A.R
Green Tip of the Week
Try using a spritz or two of vodka to freshen up clothes in between laundry loads. You will reduce time spent on doing laundry, reduce energy, water and washing liquid, although you might spend more on Vodka!
Save Energy Time and Water on your Laundry
This is a new one to me, something I have never heard of and have never tried – but I want to pass it on to you as it seems quite novel to me!
Yes of course we all need clean clothes, but doing laundry does use a ton of resources and cuts into our free time – it seems to be all I do some evenings. Sometimes a garment doesn’t really need a full wash, this is when the vodka comes in handy. Just spritz your clothing with a little vodka, then hang it to dry in a well ventilated area. (always do a spot test first to be safe)
Vodka kills odor-causing bacteria, and does’nt not leave a scent when dry. Give it a try when you are short of time and perhaps you’ll feel good about saving some time, energy and water.
content by courtesy of the daily green.
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
May is the perfect time of the year to be thinking about
planting an edible garden, it could just be a few pots or even a 4×4 container box. You will be providing your family with fresh healthy food – the taste and flavor is always so much better than store bought produce, you might even save some dollars. San Diego has the perfect climate to grow almost anything, so why not advantage of this?
Keep it simple by planting some tomatoes, basil, and chives all together, and you have the makings of a delicious salad. Two tomato plants, three basil and two chive plants would make the perfect salad garden and would take up minimal space and little effort to maintain.
Instead of a shade tree plant a fruit bearing tree, and a berry bearing shrub instead of an ornamental one. Chiles can also make a great substitute for geraniums.
Make sure you are giving your vegetable garden plenty of full sunlight, around 6 hrs is usually a good amount, and remember to water frequently, especially when its hot.
1. A good place to start is changing over to some drought tolerant plants, this can be an ongoing process, it does’nt have to be done all at once. Replace a few plants at a time each season to make it easier on your self.
There are so many different varieties out there which are absolutely gorgeous – they will look great in any yard. Selecting plants that use less water is a win win situation, save money on your water bill and reduce your enviromental impact. There are reports out there that say irrigation is highest in the southwest region of the country due to the dry climate – so lets do something about it now! click here for some suggestions on drought tolerant plants.
2.Fix any leaking sprinklers,valves or pipes. A broken sprinkler can waste 10 gallons per minute during a watering cycle – that’s a lot of water in a 10 minute period. Perhaps you have a willing offspring that might help you – this is something my son loves to do, and he feels good knowing he is doing his part to help save the environment.
3. Mulch your plants to reduce water evaporation, this will improve the soil and reduce weeds. Your plants will begin to flourish with the extra attention.
4. Water before dawn and after dusk to reduce water loss during the warmer part of the day to evaporation and wind. This is specially important during the summer months.
5. Cut summer watering to 2 or 3 days per week for grass, and 1 to 2 days for other plants.
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
Carpooling is a great way to save gas while cutting emissions. Also save wear and tear on your vehicle, everyone wins!
San Diego Association of Goverment provides a website to help other people who work and live in the same area with similar work schedules. This site can be found at http://www.ridelink-carpool.org/
green tip of the week.
Whatever you do to “Go Green” big or small you are making a difference – there are so many ways to just do a little more:
Did you know that Staples will give you $3 off your next purchase if you bring in your empty ink cartridges to recycle. In times like these every dollar helps!
Electronics such as printers, cell phones, tv’s can all be recycled at various locations in North County San Diego. A list of these drop off points can be found at http://www.edcodisposal.com/toxic.html
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
Use organic fertilizers and composts:
These are made from recycled materials such as chicken manure, cornmeal and organic compounds. The grass will grow more evenly and will need less mowing than a lawn that has chemical fertilizers. The soil will act like a sponge requiring 70% less water. So its a win win decision – with less water and less labor you will be saving money as well.
You can even start a compost in your own backyard – recycle all of your raw vegetable and fruits, flowers, grass clippings , leaves etc. In time you will be able to use this on your lawn or flower beds.
Plant hedges as fences:
Save a few trees and plant a fast growing drought resistant hedge instead of a wood fence. The birds will appreciate it, they will have somewhere new to build their nests in springtime.
