Mom Goes Green

So, we did it!  We made our first major energy efficiency investment by purchasing new windows for our home… and despite having spent some cash, I’m actually very excited.

Home heating can account for approximately 27% of our carbon footprint and 25% of a  home’s heat escapes through windows… pretty significant, I’d say.  Our installation technician told us that he’s had customers that literally saved half on their home heating bill after installing new windows.  Sure, the windows that had to be replaced were probably a disaster(!) but I’m excited to see what kind of savings are in store for us.  It’s hard to forget that heating bill of $533 not so long ago.

We always put the most productive heating and cooling tips in place, (for my best home cooling tips click here or my best home heating tips click here) but I believe this is the final significant step of putting it all into place. The windows are Energy Star, Argon-filled, Double Glazed Low E glass and although those are a lot of fancy-schmancy terms, their combined definition is “efficiency!”

With the tax credit we’ll receive and projected annual heating and cooling savings, I’ve figured that the windows should pay for themselves in about five years.   In addition, we purchased from a local owned and operated manufacturer so a minimal footprint was created to get those windows as well. I’m feeling mighty green today!

So, have you ever made a major replacement to “conserve”? What was the result? I’d love to know!

Ahh… laundry day.  It’s looming in the MGG household and it happens to be one of my least favorite of mom-duties. (I’m fine with the washing/drying part but I deeply dislike the putting-away part!)

Anyhow, I digress… so, today I just want to share one little tidbit about how to be a bit more energy efficient with the duty, aside from the long list of ways to green your laundry that I’ve shared in the past.

• Fact:  The average American household spends $150 in energy consumption each year to simply dry their laundry.
• Fact: ONE SIMPLE way to avoid 30% excess usage of energy – CLEAN YOUR LINT TRAP!

Yes, that’s it! That pesky, yet necessary, lint trap can actually dramatically increase the energy usage of your dryer.  The screen should be checked and cleaned after every load.

You should also occasionally “deep clean” the screen, the trap and the tubing.  Scrub the screen with a soft brush, mild soap and water (because there is build-up, I assure you, even if you’ve removed the fuzzy!).  Use your vacuum cleaner extension tool or long skinny brush to give a good cleaning inside the trap area.  And don’t forget the vent tube… remove it from the back of the dryer and clean out any lint or obstruction.  After you’ve done this, run the dryer on air fluff for about 10 minutes to clear out anything that remains.

You’ll be amazed at the decrease in drying time after you’ve done this simple task… and you will use less energy as a result.  Now, I’ll make you a deal… I’ll do the “task” if you do my laundry!

Some people find comfort in ironing… I happen not to be one of those people. But who hasn’t pulled something out of a closet or drawer and thought “okay, if I wear this ‘as is’, someone will think I slept in it!”

Well, electric irons happen to use an extraordinary amount of energy to power, but I have a simple way to never plug-in an electric iron again… all you need is a simple sprayer bottle filled with water.

Depending on the garment or item all you need to do is the following:

• Place the item on top of a flat surface, mist each side with water, smooth with your hands and give it about 15 minutes to dry. You can also hang the item and do the exact same.  On the fly, I’ve actually done this while WEARING the item!
• For really stubborn wrinkles, saturate the area with water a bit more than a simple mist, smooth with your hands and give a bit more time to dry… and voila, goodbye wrinkles!
• (For items that must be dry cleaned, remember these tips, but this will safely work even for dry cleaned items that get some wrinkles!)

Sure, it won’t save the planet, but truly, give it a try… it WILL save energy and you, too, may never plug-in another electric iron again!

Sometimes it’s easy to get so consumed with planning and preparing for a vacation that we forget about the home we’re leaving behind.

Before you leave, your house needs some special attention so it doesn’t continue to over-consume in your absence.  When you think about everything that’s drawing energy on a daily basis (and the things that an empty house doesn’t need), it’s time for a checklist.

Here are a few simple (and possibly overlooked) ideas to keep your home green while you vacation:

• Turn off your air conditioning or, in the winter months, turn the heat to 55 degrees.
• Make sure ceiling fans are turned off.
• Unplug nearly everything… computers, TVs, appliances, microwaves, lamps, coffee makers, all of it!  Look at every outlet in your house and most things can be unplugged in your absence.  They WILL still consume “phantom power” even when not in use!
• Install timers on a few lights so your home still appears lived-in but they won’t glow 24-hours-a-day.
• Dial down the temperature or switch off the breaker on your water heater.
• If you clear out an overload of perishables in your refrigerator make sure it’s not too empty… you actually need some content to make it efficient.  If it’s looking a bit empty, just fill and cover a few large pitchers of water.

That’s all it takes.  A checklist and a little extra time and you can keep it green while you play away!

While my family and I have been enjoying the weekly produce from our CSA, I have also made my fair share of refrigerator snafus over the weeks.  (Note to self: an overloaded fridge will freeze mustard greens and kaboko cabbage faster than you can SAY mustard greens and kaboko cabbage!)

Besides keeping the door closed as much as possible (unlike this photo!), here are three simple ways to keep it as energy efficient as possible:

1. Keep it filled up but NOT overcrowded (yea, that freezing issue!) – if it starts to look a little empty, a few covered pitchers of water will do wonders.
2. Cover EVERYTHING – anything that is uncovered will release moisture and make the refrigerator work overtime to keep the contents cold.
3. “Give it some space” – while you might be tempted to buy the largest fridge on the planet, it truly needs about 2 inches of space on all sides for proper air circulation and you especially don’t want anything that “heats” (dishwasher, stove, oven, etc.) nearby because it again makes it work harder than it needs to.

There you have it… 1, 2, 3… may your refrigerator runneth over with healthy (unfrozen) produce!

This weekend’s weather in Cleveland was sweltering… fortunately we didn’t reach the magnitude of the forecast a few months ago but 89 degrees and tropical levels of humidity do not make for a comfortable home.

It became obvious that it was going to be a central air conditioning day (we were having family over and it wasn’t feeling very pleasant).  Well, as the story often goes… were we getting cold air? Oh, of course we weren’t.

We suffered through for a bit, and my husband even installed a new thermostat, but it was the wisdom of my father-in-law that taught us quite a lesson, and the answer came from this one simple question:

“Have you changed your filter lately?”

I’m embarrassed to say that we hadn’t… since “I don’t know when!”… so when we took a look, it was like something out of a horror film.  I can’t even imagine that air could have filtered through that thing, so it’s no wonder our house never cooled down… until we replaced it, and then we were cool and comfortable.

The reason for the story?  Because one seemingly small oversight has caused us to be horribly energy INefficient.  That dirty filter slowed the flow of air and made the system work incredibly hard and, in turn, wasted energy. I’m sure it was doing the same thing to our furnace just a few months ago too.

The rule of thumb: replace it at least every three months, or more frequently in heavy usage months.

So there’s my confession, but the calendar is marked and I can now guarantee that Mom Goes Green will NOT miss the next replacement.

Like you, I cook and prepare meals… a lot. Often “three squares” a day for the health and wellness of my family so I know we’re all getting good, nutritious food.  But I’m often amazed at the amount of plates, bowls, glasses and utensils that are left in the wake!

I’ve evaluated hand washing vs. using the dishwasher and found, overwhelmingly, that (if you have one) the dishwasher is the route to go to clean the aftermath and conserve water, but here’s my misstep… I always felt it was necessary to do a little bit of pre-rinsing before everything went into the dishwasher… boy was I wrong.

According to Consumer Reports, up to 20 GALLONS of water can be consumed to pre-rinse what goes into our dishwasher.  Ouch!… that’s not conservation!  All you need to do is scrape off everything you can and load ‘em up! The other fact I’ve learned is that we really shouldn’t pre-rinse since detergents actually work better when there IS some “food soil” left. Well, my husband is going to be VERY happy about that after tonight’s dinner mess.

Besides skipping the pre-rinsing and the pre-wash cycle you should also skip the heated drying cycle.  This actually saves 50% of the energy used for the load.  The better option:  OPEN the door as soon as the dishwasher shuts off. The contents are at their hottest and will evaporate the remaining water and moisture quickly, and in no time everything will be dry… and you’ve really, REALLY conserved!

So there you have it… skip a few little dishwashing steps but make one big step for conservation!

Once again the Mom Goes Green household proudly participated in Earth Hour 2010!… and the kids were no less excited than they were last year!

They eagerly stacked pillows all over the floor so we could snuggle up to read some books by flashlight and assisted Daddy in getting a fire roaring in the fireplace so we could make “S’mores”!  Undoubtedly our book was about climate change and I might have been annoyed by all of the interruption of questions, but it meant they were listening… and understood… and cared.

They knew it would be fun but they also excitedly talked about how people all over the world were switching off their lights too.  I can’t tell you how many times they asked where the lights were going off!  I’m excited to say that I can actually show them…. thanks to this fantastic collection of photos compiled by Boston.com you can show your kids that they really did participate in an incredible worldwide event.

In this presentation you can click on the photos and watch as the lights dim in these amazing places all over the world… take a look at this list:  Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Seattle, Singapore, Beijing, Moscow, Sydney, Athens, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Atlanta, Hong Kong, Oslo, Albany, Hiroshima, New York City, Abu Dhabi, Bucharest, Capetown and Cairo! When else can you imagine these cities and countries banded together in a unified cause… Earth Hour brought the world together in support of our common thread… Planet Earth!

I loved being a part of Earth Hour again this year. It “moves me”… what can I say!?  Now I’m also excited to see how many students from our daughter’s school participated.  Last week I sent home a notice with all 402 of them(!) announcing Earth Hour and, if they sign the pledge that says they participated, some of them will be randomly selected to win an eco-prize reward including BPA-free water bottles, pencils made from recycled newspapers and TerraCycle pencil bags (made from upcycled drink pouches)!

If you and your family participated, THANK YOU! If not, look and be inspired… and take a moment to enjoy the view of this spectacular event…

Have you marked your calendar?  This Saturday, March 27th, 2010, from 8:30-9:30 pm is Earth Hour!

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning off their lights for one hour as a “vote” FOR the earth, and a “vote” AGAINST global warming.  By 2009, this movement had grown to hundreds of millions of people, and even darkened the Sydney Opera House, Rome’s Colosseum, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, The Parthenon in Greece, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Las Vegas Strip and New York City’s Times Square.

Last year people from all around the world switched off their lights in a unified vote because, regardless of where you live, we all depend on the same planet! This is the perfect time to turn off the lights, discuss global warming and the importance of “being green” as a family and consider taking actions to assure that we aren’t polluting our earth and overusing resources in our everyday lives.

For more information, go to www.earthhour.org and sign-up to be “officially” counted!

Want to know what we did last year?… click here… now…

Will you “vote” with me again this year?

If you’re reading this you probably have a computer and chances are, you use it often…

Chances are also high that you often leave your computer running even when it’s not being actively used.  Most of us know about unplugging unused appliances, putting power strips to work and the energy waste of “phantom power” use, however, you might not know this little tidbit:

FACT: Computer monitors consume substantially more energy than your hard drive.

Now ask yourself how often you walk away from your computer and let it sit idle while you temporarily move onto a different task…  you’re in the middle of some information search or project and you don’t necessarily want to shut it down. I know I’ve been a major offender in this area… whether it’s running off to pick up kids at school, cook dinner, fold laundry, or some other glamorous mom duty(!).

So now that you know the little known fact, “monitor your monitor”!  Hit the button and shut it off when it’s not in use, or put your laptop in rest mode… nothing will be lost and you’ve conserved energy.

Though your “fish aquarium” screen saver can be quite entertaining, you’ll be much greener if you just let the little fishies rest for a while…