More Facts & Tips •Using compact fluorescent bulbs, rather than incandescent or halogen bulbs, saves 4 to 5 times the energy. The bulbs also last much longer.
•¾ of the world’s wild fish stocks are depleted. A number of ocean fish farms have been developed, producing 30% of fish served in the USA, much of it coming from Asia. There are several off the coast of Hawai’i, with each ‘farm’ cage holding around 800,000 gallons of water. Each cage is anchored 40 feet under water, producing around 300,000 pounds of fish annually. While Hawai’i tries to remain environmentally friendly, using only native species, other farms use chemical additives to cause quicker growth and are not as concerned with the environment or the quality of the fish compared to wild fish. Other concerns are waste, fish escaping to mingle with native species and the quality of the food supply to raise the fish.
•Teaching kids about the environment and recycling instills these values for life.
•The average Christmas tree takes about 7 years to grow to the desires tree height.
•Recycle your greeting cards into postcards and gift tags. Rather than throwing away the greeting cards you receive, have the kids cut off the portion with the writing and keep the picture. They can be used again as postcards, or turned into gift tags with all manner of shapes and sizes by using a little creative cutting - snowmen, stars, circles. - as well as traditional squares and rectangles.
•30% of the cost, up to $2,000, can be written off your federal tax return as a solar tax credit.
•Invest $40 in five compact fluorescent bulbs and save $60 a year in energy costs.
•About 20% of household energy costs are for lighting.
•Cell phone chargers, power strips, DVD players and other small gadgets suck up 5% of the US electric power. Your TV, DVD player, cable box and TiVo use as much energy as a refrigerator. Unplug them if you’re going to be away from home for a few days.
•To find what tax incentives are available for various energy reduction and green projects go to energytaxincentives.org
•Reduce the heat by 4 degrees at night and you’ll save about 4% in heating costs.
•Every 10 degree reduction on your water heater thermostat saves 3 - 5% on your hot water costs. Save another 5 - 10% by spending $20 on water heater insulation.
•Wash clothes in cold water. Unless they are oily or very dirty the cold water will clean just as well and save you about $60 a year.
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American waste production annually (before recycling) 251 Million tons •34% paper •13% yard trimmings •12% food scraps •12% plastics •8% metals •7% rubber, leather, textiles •5% glass •9% wood & other
12 reasons to plant trees now. •Trees provide shade. Properly placed trees can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 35%.
•Trees produce oxygen and clean the air of carbon dioxide, reducing your carbon footprint from all the carbon dioxide your lifestyle produces.
•Trees provide nesting sites and food for countless animals.
•Houses with trees have a higher resale value than treeless properties.
•Trees hold erosion in check and reduce runoff into our water.
•Trees act as windbreaks and can slow winter winds. This can save up to 20% off your heating bill.
•Trees moderate the temperatures in our communities and provide cooling shade.
•Trees are mood changing. Studies show that resting near a tree reduces stress substantially. Patients in hospitals with tree views recover faster.
•Trees add beauty to our homes and communities. Not to mention the sweet fragrances that tree flowers and leaves provide
•Trees provide food. Many varieties of the fruits and nuts we enjoy are grown on trees. We could feed many hungry people with the fruit that falls to the ground to rot.
•Trees provide seasonings Bay leaves, for example, add a great flavor to sauces.
•Trees are fun. Many kids love climbing them and swinging from their branches. What child doesn’t enjoy a treehouse?
How heat leaks from your house in winter and heat enters your house in the summer.
14% Fireplaces
31% Floors, wall, ceilings
21% Windows & doors
19% Plumbing, fan vents and electrical outlets
15% ducts
The single most important thing you can do to reduce heating and cooling costs is to insulate your home.
More than 50% of US homes are inadequately insulated. Thank your developer.
The more extreme your climate, the higher R-value of insulation to use. Go to simplyinsulate.com to find the best for your state.
Recycling Facts •Teaching children to recycle instills lifelong values while relieving stress on the environment, reducing landfills and putting some extra cash in the kids’ pockets.
•If 10,000 people recycle one aluminum can enough energy is saved to power a 100 watt bulb 24 hours a day for 23 years.
•Using recycled aluminum uses 95% less energy than using raw ore.
•An aluminum can may be recycled into a new can and be back on the shelf within 60 days.
•According to the EPA 75% of trash is recyclable, but less than 25% actually is recycled.
•Earth911.com is the site to visit to find where to locally recycle anything.
•Recyclables do not need to be totally clean, just not full of food or moldy. Save water and don’t rinse.
•You do not need to remove labels from bottles and jars, but do remove plastic lids and toss them.
•You can recycle most metal containers - cans and tins - and aluminum foil.
•Recyclable paper includes newspapers, magazines, gift wrap, boxes, envelopes, cereal boxes and mail.
•2-liter bottles, detergent bottles, milk jugs and food containers are among the plastics accepted by most recycling centers. Most yogurt cups are recyclable also.
•Styrofoam, shrink wrap, pvc pipe, padded envelopes and trash liners are generally not widely accepted by recycling centers
•Many grocery stores have recycling bins for plastic grocery bags. A bench in front of our local store has a sign stating it was made entirely of recycled bags. Thousands of bags.
•The annual sales of ink cartridges in the US would stretch from New York to California and back again if placed side by side.
•Most plastics are petroleum based. Only about 5% of plastics even get recycled. We could save millions of barrels of oil by recycling more of the plastic we use.
•An average of 220 million tons of computers and other “e-waste” is dumped annually - much of this could be reused or recycled.
•Donating computers to non-profits helps people who can’t afford a computer gain the needed tech skills to improve their job prospects. Plus you get a tax break. Visit sharetechnology.org for more info.
•Computer rechargeable batteries can be recycled. Visit www.rbrc.org to find out more.
•Many cities have Christmas tree recycling facilities. The trees are turned into wood chips and mulch. The end product is used at parks, on hiking trails and on other erosion control projects. The mulch is also good for plants as it keeps them warmer, supplies some nutrients, acts as a natural weed barrier and retains moisture.
•Using a water filter rather than plastic bottles supplies you with good, clean water much cheaper and saves the landfills of millions of bottles.
•Some schools report earning over $1,000 annually collecting and recycling printer cartridges.
•It takes 3.4 liters of oil to make one new laser cartridge. Millions of liters could be saved annually by recycling. Plus recycled laser and inkjet cartridges are up to 75% cheaper.
Reading Labels: •“All natural” - this in an unregulated phrase which does not necessarily mean anything
•“CFC free” - All CFC’s have been banned since 1978. This label is just a gimmick.
•“Organic” - for foods it means that it was grown without pesticides. In non-consumable products the term does not mean it is not made with safe products and chemicals. Check out labels closely.
•“Made from recycled products” - this can simply mean the manufacture process collects and reuses waste created during production. Look for ‘post-consumer recycled products’ labels instead. This means they are made from something that would have gone into a landfill otherwise.
Facts & Tips •Americans consume over 800 million gallons of gas per year just on gas powered lawn mowers.
•An electric powered mower costs about $5 per year to operate for the average home and reduces noise and air pollution dramatically. Gas mowers cost that much for two mows. Gas mowers also account for about 5% of greenhouse gases emitted in the USA.
•More fuel is spilled each year filling a gas powered lawn mower than the Exxon Valdez spilled in 1989.
•Trying to burn excess fat? Opt for a manual reel mower. Cut your grass and do your body good.
•Rechargeable batteries lose their juice faster than nonrechargeable alkaline batteries. You may want to use conventional batteries in smoke alarms and other vital systems.
•Find a huge selection of rechargeable batteries at GreenBatteries.
•A vinegar and water mixture makes a great glass cleaner for car and home windows.
•Most car washes filter and recycle water. Washing the car in your driveway uses 100 gallons on average for each wash.
•Reuse plastic water bottles and refill with filtered water to save money. Each bottle can be used many times, is portable in case you are on the go and saves resources.
•A single rechargeable battery will save you the cost of hundreds of single use batteries. The savings can be in the hundreds for one battery.
•Most Americans use one average size tree each year to wipe their butt. Consider recycled toilet paper to save money and trees.
•Use napkins and paper towels made with recycled papers to save trees. If every household in America replaced just one 250-ct package of napkins each year with recycled paper napkins, we would save 1 million trees annually, not to mention the resources used to process virgin-paper napkins.
•Buy Energy Star TV’s, phones, appliances, DVD players, computers and electronics when replacing products. It will save millions of pounds of carbon emissions used to produce the energy and will save you money on your electric usage.
•Americans deposit 2 billion razors into landfills each year. Replaceable razors and rechargeable electric razors will save you money and free space in our landfills.
•Screensaver mode on your computer uses about 65 watts of electricity. Sleep mode uses less than 4 watts.
•Use ceiling fans to keep cool and save electricity. They can reduce you air conditioning needs substantially by moving air throughout the room, lowering the need for the a/c unit to operate.
•Americans trash enough aluminum every year to build our commercial airline fleet four times.
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