Green Tomorrow

1) Heating: Using less heat is easier than you think. Invest in a nice warm sweater & cozy blanket and lower you’re a heat a little. Right before you go to sleep turn the heat off half way, you will sleep better and your pocket book will thank you. Keep the heat off in your basement, attic & any room that you are not in. Anytime you leave the house lower your heat, you may feel a chill when you return, but your house will warm up fast. Installing double pain window & properly sealing all door frames & windows will help too.

2) Lighting: Keep your curtains & blinds open all day and try to have as little lights on as possible. Change all your bulbs to lower watts were possible and use fluorescent bulbs, they use way less energy then traditional incandescent bulbs and they also last considerably longer. Install dimmer switches in as many rooms possible. Use lamps with settings from low to high. In the evening when you are relaxing trying using candles when you are watching your favorite show, you will enjoy the atmosphere.

3) Water: The most obvious way to save water is to shorten the lengths of a shower and decrease the amount of hot baths. A lovely hot bath is something that may be hard to cut down on, but you can save simply by filling the tub 15% less. Or shorten your shower by 3-5 minutes. Add this up over a year and it makes a world of difference. Another easy step is to install a water officiate low flow shower head. Installing a hot water timer will help too. Conserve the water by insulating the water heater and pipes; it will make a major impact.

4) Waste: Use cloth grocery bags whenever you shop for food, clothing etc. Buying in bulk can save in packaging waste. Start a composting program in your yard. Add all organic waste and your garden will love you for it, plus it will look brilliant too! Eat more food that is not stored in containers like fruits & vegetables, your body & mind will run smoother too. Put as little as possible down the toilet, avoid putting tissues and additional waste, an amazing amount of water is used for every flush.

5) Insulation: Losing heat because of poor insulation is a major way to waste energy. Make sure all your rooms floors, walls and roof are insulated properly. If you find areas in your home that need more insulation call in a professional to help, or install fiberglass bats yourself.

6) Appliances: When purchasing new appliances look for Energy Star models. These are of the best quality and available everywhere. And these types of appliances will pay themselves off in the long run. Try not to over stuff your freezer and work hard at keeping your fridge closed when you are browsing for food.

7) Computers: Turn down the brightness on your monitor, and remember to turn off your computer when you are not using it. Shut down other equipment, such as scanners, shredders and printers. Set all household computers to ’sleep mode’ after a few minutes of non use.

Dishwashers: Don’t worry about over cleaning your dishes before putting them in the machine, save water and let the dishwasher do the work. Wait till the dishwasher is full before you turn it on and use the shortest wash cycle whenever possible. Air dry dishes rather than using your dishwashers drying cycle.

9) Laundry: Wash and rinse clothes in cold water whenever possible and investing in a detergent designed for cold water washes. Presoak heavily soiled garments rather than putting them through the heavy load setting. Go easy on detergent. To much detergent only makes the machine work harder and it is hard on your clothes. Don’t overload the dryer. Use your outdoor clothing line whenever you can to air dry clothes, comforters & bedding and towels.

10) Solar Energy: Solar Homes are an excellent way save energy. This technology not only reduces our utility bills but also is environmentally friendly. Using a combination of solar energy together with weatherization and insulation are the best ways to make home energy savings.

11) Cooking: Inefficient cooking habits are an energy stealer. Keep a lid on pots while boiling and simmering. Use a hand-held blender over a food processor and a toaster instead of the electric oven as much as possible. Plan ahead; take food out of the freezer to allow defrosting time. Use the light in your oven to check to see if your food is cooked, try to avoid opening the oven.

12) Air Conditioning: Use a fan placed in a proper spot to work with the window rather than an air conditioning machine. Open both your front and back door to create the perfect breeze. Keep blinds and drapes closed on warm days. Make sure your outdoor air conditioning unit has a clean filter.

13) Cleaning Products: Use vinegar and water instead of harsh disinfectants that give off noxious fumes. Select natural cleaning products with ingredients like baking soda. Avoid using of aerosol sprays and don’t use air fresheners. These products almost always contain harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and other toxic ingredients.

14) Home Energy Audit: This is a great way to find out what you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your home. There are now some very accurate and intelligent equipment to help evaluate your home.

15) Garage: Make sure that your garage door is properly sealed, many people seal with polystyrene but if you choose to use polyurethane foam it provides twice the insulation, this will reduce heating costs by keeping your garage and adjacent rooms warmer in the winter. Also ensure that the garage door has been properly installed to maximize your energy savings. When choosing the type of garage door your going to install in your home, try to stay away from the traditional wood door, as homeowners tend to need these replaced every 4-5 years. Aluminum and Steel are far better choices, as they would only need replacement 2-3 times a lifetime. Keep in mind also that aluminum is recyclable and some steel door manufactures actually build their doors using 25% recycled steel. There is always the choice of installing solar panels as well.

16) Environmentally Friendly Home Upgrades: There are so many ways to spruce up the home, at the same time you can do your part in keeping our environment healthy. One thing that many people aren’t aware of are the counter tops you can get now, they are made of completely recycled paper and water based resin, another choice is one made of paper and cement, thus the production wouldn’t require any quarrying that damages the land. One of the most common updates in a home is the flooring, a very good choice if you are taking the environment into consideration would be cork flooring, this looks great, reduces noise, helps to keep your home free from allergens, is water resistant, and is surprisingly tough.

17) Recycling For Anybody: Do you think that recycling takes too much effort? Would you like to recycle but aren’t quite sure how? Do you feel that you’re just one person, how much difference can you make? Well we can help you. It may surprise to know that by recycling some items such as cardboard, newspapers, office paper, yard trimmings, beverage containers, tin cans, etc… can save the average city can divert 150,000 tonnes from our landfills every year.

18) Commuting: Obviously we can’t all bike or walk to work; however, there are other small ways we can all do our part. Start by walking or bike riding to the grocery store to pick up those few things that we’re always running out to purchase. Carpooling has become very popular in the last 5-10 years but there are still many people who maybe don’t know who to ask, ask around at work or in your community, you’ll be rewarded by getting home sooner as well if you live in a city with an HOV lane. If you do live quite far from the office, maybe telecommuting is an option for you, more and more companies are becoming very open about this idea as it saves them significant amounts of money.

19) Smart Purchases: If there is an item you’re in the market for, try buying used when possible, there are many online communities that offer buying/selling, and this saves a great amount of items ending up in our landfills. When purchasing a gift for somebody try using your imagination when it comes to wrapping the gift. If it’s a baking set for example, wrap it up in new dish towels.

20) Weekly Shopping: The best thing you can do for yourself and the environment is to buy locally, any eggs, fruits, vegetables, even your flowers, and plants can be purchased from your local farms. This is great in 2 ways, you are getting the freshest foods for you and your family, normally you save money while doing this, and the second is by shopping locally you are saving energy by reducing fossil fuels, which are used to transport goods across the country, not to mention globally.

21) Healthy For The Body And Environment: Some of you may find this shocking but by choosing to prepare one vegetarian meal per week, you will greatly help the environment. Industrial Meat Production requires a lot of energy and creates noxious waste problems. The proliferation of factory farms is very damaging to the environment; also the global nature of the industry creates conditions that promote the spread of diseases such as avian flu, which could potentially cost our society billions. With so many websites and cookbooks available even the most carnivores are bound to find a taste bud pleasing recipe.

22) Plastic Bags: For those who still use plastic bags, let’s keep this in mind. Cloth bags cost maybe $1 per bag, so why buy a bag if I get them for free? Well for one reason we must remember that some stores are charging us for our plastic bags anyways, not to mention there are some stores out there now that offer a discount if you bring your own bag. One cloth bag can replace thousands of plastic bags over its lifetime, just try and figure out how many plastic bags come into your home a week, a month, a year! The number is probably astonishing. We don’t even know for sure how long it takes for a plastic bag to biodegrade because the “respirometry tests” done on newspapers and banana peels, etc…to determine how long it takes for these materials to biodegrade don’t work on plastic, most guesses are between 500 and 1000 years.

23) Composting: Composting is an easy and convenient way to help the environment, while at the same reducing the amount of waste within each household. What composting does is, revives dead soil by providing nutrient content and moisture to soil that normally you would not use for plants. This in turn makes a very healthy plant food for your garden. Another benefit is the fact that it almost eliminates the need for artificial fertilizer, helping the environment and your monthly budget.