People often get a little iffy when they hear terms like ‘suburban sustainability,’ or ‘ecological footprint.’
“I appreciate the planet and all, but I’ve got enough on my plate without having to take three-credit course on the environment in order to do the right thing.”
Sound familiar?
This blog— “Save Some Green”— aims to take all the mumbo jumbo out of the equation. Each week, I’ll present a few tips or easy to implement ideas with the dual goal of saving you money on your bills and conserving natural resources. I’ll try to leave as much science mumbo jumbo out as possible.
The first installment: three easy changes to daily habits.
Try and implement them overtime. Obviously you’re not going to reach 100 percent tomorrow, but the key is to snowball as you become more accustomed to the changes.
1. Cut back on your water usage:
The biggest culprit in most people’s water usage is their morning routine. Reduce your water usage by taking quicker showers (putting on a four minute song is one way of keeping track) and shutting the sink off while brushing your teeth and between razor strokes while shaving. In terms of appliances, only do full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine, and place a water-filled jar in the tank of your toilet (a pickle jar works well) in order to displace water. This saves that much water every time you flush, without sacrificing any cleanliness.
2. Take the caps off of your disposable plastic bottles before recycling.
Hopefully you already recycle. If not, get a bin and start. If so, make sure you remove the caps before tossing bottles in the bin.
This is for three reasons: easier sorting, the bottles not being crushed properly in recycling centers, and because the plastic is of a different variety and can contaminate other kinds when melted down. Simply remove the cap and toss it into the recycle bin separately.
3. Better yet, invest in a water bottle and a filtering water jug.
Ideally, you don’t want to use disposable bottles at all. Not only because they can end up in the garbage, but because the chemicals used to create them and the energy used to transport them are damaging to the environment. Water bottles can be found just about anywhere. You can find environmentally friendly water bottles for under $15 and water filters for under $40. This means an investment of $50 can take the place of buying water bottles for an entire year.
Check back next week for more tips.
I don't see what #2 has to do with saving water, although it is good advice.
So, anybody that resides in your home, with you, whether they be a family member, a close friend, an aquaintance, a boarder, roommate, etc. ... is going to jack up your bills even more than you ever imagined, IF you do NOT charge them for whatever time and change in the utlity bills - as long as they reside in your home. .............. lol
Thanks for the comment. Do you have this knowledge from somewhere though, or is it just an intuitive thing? My research shows that many older model toilets use 3.5+ gallons per flush in a wasteful manner. I've also been using a jar for well over year and have yet to see any loss of cleanliness? You're right, tip #2 doesn't have much to do with water usage, but it came to mind anyway.
If you get your water from North Penn Water Authority you are getting 80% of your water from the Delaware River. Down stream from where they are drilling in the Marcellus Shale to get gas out. This process has already contaminated the water supply in numerious locations and gas bubbles are already coming up in the Susquahanna River. Will the Delaware will be next? There is a great film about water called "FLOW" For the love of water. Here is a link to the trailer and the movie. Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGd9D4J0lag Movie - http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/flow-for-love-of-water/
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/21/experts-find-30-trillion-tons-of-toxic-liquid-injected-into-earth-poisons-ground-water/
But back to saving water and energy. I built a solar hot water heater for my house almost a year ago now and I can truthfully say I turned off my electric water heater June 26, 2011. Right now the tank is 146 degrees. Enough hot water to last almost a week with no sun.
Hot enough to cover all our hot water for almost a week. I'm very happy with it. It's covering almost 100% of my hot water needs. This type of system is not that hard to build. Basically all you need is three things. The Collectors and a place to put them. Usually on the roof but you can put them in the yard if you have the exposure. Two panels are usually enough. A Storage or Exchange tank to store the water. And a Controller to turn the pump on and off. The system will cost a few dollars but I figured out I'm getting about an 8% return on the money it cost to build it.
The water companies start panicking when we have a few 'dry' months. We're banned from using hosepipes, etc, etc. Then it rains solidly for another few months. Panic over. For most of us, the only *real* concern is price. And boy is water overpriced here. All we should really be paying for is storage, purification and transportation yet I'm being charged around £500 a year. While the water companies are raking in millions in profit. Sorry for the rant, but the whole 'conserving' water thing does get my back up. Especially when I live in rain soaked England. Oh well, if you do want to save money by reducing your water usage, there's lots of helpful tips here http://www.stormclad.co.uk/blog/top-tips-for-reducing-water-usage-in-the-home/ with a few that you might not have thought of. Still sucks though that in the 21st Century we're being told to not flush the toilet and take three minute showers.