Mom Goes Green

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…

Mother Nature has been furious lately. It’s been cold, blustery, snowy and frightful all around the country.  Even southern states canceled school because of a quarter inch of the white stuff!

The downside (aside from the obvious) is that it’s giving all global-warming/climate change naysayers fuel and ammo for saying that “it” doesn’t exist.  I will leave that portion of the conversation out of this post and it will have to suffice to say that climate change creates the EXTREMES!… whether it be sweltering or freezing, blizzards or severe drought… THAT is the effect it creates.

Anyhow, it’s also fairly likely that furnaces are being cranked up all around the country as well. That in turn means extra energy consumption which snowballs into a lot of extra pollution too.

So, keep these tips in mind for keeping warm… while staying green:

• Actually USE storm windows – make the time to install that extra layer of glass and it’s like you have triple panes. It can increase energy efficiency by up to 45%!
• Adjust the thermostat – just one degree lower in the winter can save 3% on your usage.  That adds up!
• Arrange furniture away from heating ducts and exterior walls – it allows for better circulation of heat.
• Check out tax credits to help fund needed improvements.  See what’s available here.
• Close the damper on your fireplace – leaving it open is equivalent to leaving a 48 inch window wide open in your home all winter long!  This can amount to hundreds of dollars in heat loss in a season.  Also consider glass doors on your fireplace as opposed to screens.
• Cover floors – hardwood and ceramic look fantastic but they actually cool a room.  Add area rugs, even if only temporarily.
• Do the “feel test” – feel around windows and doors.  If you feel the cold coming in, the heat is also going out.  Buy some weather stripping and put a rolled towel at the bottom of drafty doors.
• Give your furnace a “check-up” – just like anything else, they sometimes need a little fine-tuning to run most efficiently.
• Give ventilation fans some time off – a kitchen or bathroom vent fan can expel enough warm air to fill a whole house in only ONE hour!
• Heat only the rooms you use – shut the door, close and seal the vent and stop heating vacant rooms.
• Insulate, insulate, insulate – if you can afford one improvement, add insulation.  The heat that escapes due to lacking or improperly installed insulation is outrageous! (This one qualifies for tax credits too!)
• Open blinds and curtains in the daytime and close them at night – the sunlight can help warm our home and covering windows in the evening can help insulate them.
• Properly seal ducts – statistics say that up to 30% of heat can be lost through improperly sealed duct work!
• Replace your air filter and clean vents and ducts – too much build-up prevents the heat from even reaching your rooms.
• Reverse ceiling fans – heat rises, so run them on low in reverse and bring the warm air that rises back down to where it’s needed.
• Turn down the thermostat when you’re away from home for an extended period or during overnight hours – if you have a programmable thermostat, put it to work.

So “fight the freezies” and “battle the brrrr”, but just make sure to “check the checklist” to keep it green. And if all else fails to keep you toasty enough, grab your favorite sweater and snuggle up! (A bottle of nice organic wine does wonders too!)

The lights ARE going out on incandescents… would Thomas Edison be sad?  Maybe, because lightbulbs haven’t changed much since he invented them(!) but now his invention is being banned in the European Union as of September 1.  The US will follow, with a phase out beginning in 2012 and complete elimination by 2014.

Can you imagine the energy savings and the reduction in carbon emissions?  Good news for the environment!

CFLs are currently the best option available for those who want to make the switch.  And surely you’ve heard about the mercury they contain and this makes some consumers a little uneasy.  But did you also know that today they actually contain 20% less than mercury than those manufactured two years ago?  Yep, it’s true!  The amount contained would actually fit on half the head of a pin!  (Old mercury thermometers contained 150-500 percent more!) And since most of it becomes bound to the inside of the bulb as it’s used, the dangers aren’t as great as it appears.  Just don’t break it!

I, in fact, just had my first CFL burnout.  It certainly didn’t last six years, but I’m sure it reached its “hour” maximum!  It’s now sealed in a container and awaiting drop off at Home Depot.  You might remember that they accept CFLs for proper disposal and that is key.  Landfills are the last place CFLs belong because of the mercury, so please, please be sure they are properly disposed.

Now might also be a good time to remind you what to do if they (gasp!) DO break.  It sounds frightening, but there are some simple guidelines to follow:

• Open a window, and walk away for 15 minutes.
• Put on disposable gloves.
• Sweep up the remnants with an old rag or a stiff paper and put everything in a sealable container, preferably glass.
• Wipe down and thoroughly clean the entire area.
• Drop all of these materials (in the sealed container) at a Home Depot or hazardous waste site.

Yes, it sounds like a bit much, but better to err on the side of caution… or better yet, just take precautions so it doesn’t get broken!  (This makes me think back to an incident in elementary school, when my friend dropped an old mercury thermometer. We didn’t touch it and I really don’t remember the teacher having a major freak-out, but maybe she should have!  I certainly don’t remember a hazmat team on site either… boy, have times changed! And maybe that’s why I’m a “half-bubble off level”!)

CFLs aren’t the permanent solution either. On the horizon?  LEDs… light emitting diodes, if you didn’t know!  They’re already being introduced in Japan and are even more energy efficient, so eventually the “mercury-factor“ won’t be a factor at all.

In the meanwhile, switch a bulb… take precautions and care… dispose of them properly… and thank Mr. Edison, but it’s time to move on…

Well, last month my laptop died.  (RIP dear XPS, my beloved refurbished computer!) Not a pleasant experience if I want to keep this blog going, so I’ve resorted to borrowing my husband’s laptop in the meanwhile (and it’s not easy when he needs to keep borrowing it back!).

So he has finally said it’s time for Mom Goes Green to get a new computer of my very own.  Enter dilemma:  laptop vs. desktop.

I did my research, because I also want to make the greenest choice, and here is what I found:

• Laptops use considerably less energy than desktop computers.  In some cases, the savings are somewhere between 50-80% less, depending on the model.  Energy savings = environmental choice. (winner: laptop)
• Laptops have batteries, so they can actually utilize their own stored energy for use. (winner:  laptop)
• Laptops are considerable smaller than desktops therefore, when it comes time for disposal, there is less electronic “waste” and fewer parts to be recycled. (winner:  laptop)
• The parts contained within laptops are harder to recycle and refurbish than desktop computer parts.  (winner: desktop)
• Desktops typically last longer than laptops since laptops are more fragile and the mobility-factor often means a greater likelihood of damage and a shorter life.  Laptops are also more expensive to repair (e.g. $500 bucks to fix mine… augh!) and are therefore more likely to get discarded more frequently. (winner: desktop)
• The toxic materials in desktops are much less than those in laptops (due to the batteries and other materials contained within the computer) so laptop disposal means more polluting toxins. (winner: desktop)

So there you have it.  As I see it, it’s a wash.  Choose what suits your needs.  There is no real environmental choice (unless you “go computer-less!”… something that’s unlikely for any of us!).

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.
• 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.
• Clear out as much food as possible in your refrigerator and freezer.  Less content means less to cool.

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

At the start of every summer, as the temperature rises, my husband and I seem to have the same discussion… when to turn on the air conditioning!

This is never an easy discussion (okay! read: argument!) as this is the man who wears shorts and t-shirts around the house when it is 19 degrees outside in the dead of winter.

I prefer the open windows and doors, and want to breathe the fresh air.  To this my husband responds “Babe, it ceases to be fresh as soon as it’s 86 degrees with 70% humidity!”  Well, it’s still fresh but I guess it does cease to be RE-freshing!

Just like heating your house in the winter and whether you do or don’t choose to crank the AC, there are ways to keep your house cooler, stop some of the cool air loss and use less energy in the process:

• Close blinds or curtains in various windows throughout the day to prevent the sun shining in.  If it’s coming in, so is the heat.
• Use ceiling fans. They circulate the cool air and don’t use a lot of energy.
• Program your thermostat.  No need to keep it blasting in the evening or when you aren’t even home.
• When it’s cool outside at night, shut off the air, open the windows and take advantage.
• 74 degrees is all you need.  This is a bearable temperature, and if you can tolerate it higher, do it!  Each degree saves 3-4% on your cooling expenses.
• Don’t worry about unused rooms.  Close the windows, doors and vents in these rooms, and block the bottom of the door if they aren’t frequently occupied.
• Run appliances at night.  This includes dryers & dish washers that give off heat. Avoid using your oven… give it a rest and grill instead!  And if you do use the stovetop, be sure to use the exhaust fan to take away the heat.
• Turn off unneeded lights, TVs, computers, etc. when you aren’t using them.  They all generate heat too.
• Keep heat generating appliances away from the thermostat (TVs, lamps, etc.).  They’ll make the thermostat think it’s hotter than it really is.
• Don’t chop down trees that shade your house.  They simply keep a house cooler.  And even plant strategically.  Shaded AC units run more efficiently, but just be sure not to block the airflow.

I do try to take my own advice.  It’s not always easy (living with my husband who compensates by turning up the ceiling fans to “jet speed”) but it’s a compromise we always seem to manage when it all “boils down”!

My recent posts have been pretty serious… toxic mattresses, plastics overload, rainforests, genetically modified food, polluted oceans… today I’m just going to make a confession…

I am The Great Public Lights Caper!

Yes, you heard it correctly…. I take a crazy and unusual pleasure in turning out public lights!  I absolutely can’t stand walking into a public restroom and realizing they are illuminated for absolutely no one.  You know exactly what I’m talking about.  Whether it’s a single restroom or a restroom with a dozen stalls, we’ve all walked in to see extraordinary amounts of lights blazing… and the room empty.

So what do I do?  When I leave, I turn them off.   I’ve “hit” libraries, museums, movie theaters, restaurants, small retailers and mega-stores.  I’ve even been known to shut down an entire Target restroom if I find a switch handy near the door.  Although, chances are someone in these heavily trafficked restrooms will walk-in meager minutes after I leave and turn them on again, I always feel compelled to shut them off.

I suppose I’m hoping it will have a trickle down effect.  Maybe the person that walks in after me will think they’re supposed to turn them off after THEY leave and a chain reaction will occur.  It reminds me of that old Faberge Shampoo commercial “… and they told two friends… and so on, and so on, and so on…”.

Maybe I’m just a bit crazy (yes, that’s likely!), but can you imagine the energy that would be saved if these lights were on only when they were needed.  I do, however, love walking into restrooms that have motion sensors so the lights only come on when someone enters.  Now THAT’S thinkin’!

But for now, I will continue to be The Great Public Lights Caper and hope that a little bit of my insanity catches on!  (What will YOU do the next time you leave a public restroom?… hmm, maybe you’ll think about this post, won’t you?!?)

I’ve never been someone who loses sleep over “keeping up with the Joneses”… or “The Greens”, for that matter!  I’ve made that perfectly clear when I admitted that I have gnarly trees in my yard (that I refuse to cut down) and how my lawn is not nearly as pristine as the one next door since we’ve stopped chemically fertilizing and weed killing and refuse to clear our backyard of trees so the lawn can be greener!

But what if you WERE compared to your neighbors?  What if your utility company said you “weren’t being as green as your neighbors”?  What if you got a letter, with a frowning face, that said you were being wasteful?  GASP!  Who me?

As crazy as that sounds, it’s actually happening.  Utility companies in some cities, including Sacramento, CA, and Austin, MN, are sending homeowners assessments of their energy consumption that compare them to neighbors with like-sized homes and energy supplies.  If you rank lower than average, you get a “smiley face”… if not, a big “frowny face!”  And amazingly, it’s working.  They are actually seeing a reduction in energy use by those who receive a dreaded negative rating!

I really think I would go nuts if I found out my “tree chopping” neighbor consumed less energy than me.  Sure there are a lot of factors to consider, but still!… it lends itself to the whole psychology of being compared to someone else, and that just might light a bigger “green” fire under me! I would consider it a huge challenge to keep up with the “smiley face” neighbors!

So where do you think you would rate? Would you want to know?

Okay, I swear this will be the last post about Earth Hour (at least for this year!…)

Take a last look at some famous landmarks and locations around the world turning off the lights for Earth Hour.  This whole event still amazes me!  (Beginning with the second photo, you can click on the image to see it fade.  However, you will need javascript to enjoy this feature.)

And while I’m already “here” – I never gave any real credit to WWF (World Wildlife Fund) for being the driving force behind Earth Hour!  Thanks, WWF!  We loved casting our vote!

We counted down… we turned ‘em off… WE LOVED IT!!!

Our kids were so excited that we were participating in Earth Hour that they ran around the house screaming the minutes until the lights went off.  We watched footage from around the globe as landmarks went dark and each and every time our kids squealed “Keeewl!”  I was ‘Twittering away’ up until the last moment and even had an exchange with Diddy (how crazy is THAT?!?) when he thought it started at 8:00.  (He apologized and corrected himself to his 300K+ followers!)

At the risk of sounding cheesy, it was really heartwarming to be a part of something that was embraced by such diverse cultures around the world.  Nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries around the globe participated – from Sydney to Jakarta, Singapore to Beijing, New Dehli to Moscow, Cairo to Athens, Stockholm to Rome, Paris to London, and NYC to Las Vegas and LA – the lights went to black in each of our time zones, but we all celebrated our incredible bond and let our voices be heard.  I was truly moved.

Okay, enough of the mushies… but sincerely, we had a great time being a part of this worldwide “vote” against global warming.  Since we were blacked out, the kids did get a little FREAKED out so we let them have flashlights (with rechargeable batteries, of course!).  We spent the hour cheering for Earth Hour, making silly shadows in the illumination of the flashlights, and talking about global warming, being “environmental” and why we were participating in the event.  Our daughter was a little disheartened by the story of polar bears because, as she put it, “Polar bears are my second-most favorite animal in the whole world, Mom!” but I think it really drove home the effects of global warming and gave her a clearer understanding.

We were thrilled to look toward downtown Cleveland (that we can clearly see from the back of our house) and see that some of the skyline had gone dark (kudos, Cleveland!).  We even moved from room to room in our house to see how cool the darkness could be but also felt grateful that, on a “regular” night, we are lucky enough to turn on lights when we need them.  We even took time out to read a story from the Barefoot Book of Earth Tales (giveaway still open!) by flashlight, while snuggling on our bed!

On a side note (as Recycling/Environmental Program Chairman at our daughter’s school) I sent out an invitation to participate in Earth Hour to all 418 students.  They participate, sign the pledge to say that they turned out the lights and can win prizes for doing so.  I’m so excited to see how many of them joined us!

Overall, I think it was a wonderful night and an amazing symbol that we are all unified in our concerns for this wonderful planet we share.

After the lights were turned back on, I think our son summed it up best by saying “That was the best “Errf Hour” in my whole life, ever!” Yes, sweetie, it certainly was.