14 Gas Saving Tips
1. Buy gas early in the morning. (afternoon sun heats gas, causing it to expand, and you pay for more than you actually receive. Also, it adds to air pollution.)
2. Never top off your tank. Natural expansion will make excess fuel spill out.
3. After filling tank, lift the handle and count to 5 so the remaining gas you’ve already paid for trickles in.
4. Tighten the gas cap. Gas can evaporate from your tank.
5. Keep your tires fully inflated. (you lose 2% fuel inefficiency for each pound of pressure you are low)
6. Tighten the gas cap. Gas can evaporate from your tank.
7 Make sure your wheels are aligned. Otherwise, your engine & fuel work harder, not to mention your tires and suspension.
8. Get regular tune-ups and car maintenance checks.
9. Combine errands into one trip whenever possible.
10. Make sure you’re ready to go before starting the engine. Fasten your seat belt and take care of anything else you need to do. Idling for 2 minutes uses enough gas to drive ONE MILE !!! Parents, are you idling your car while waiting to pick up or drop off your students at school?
11. Try to rid yourself of the habit of “warming up the car” before you get into it. You are getting ZERO MPG, polluting the air, and most vehicles perform well without the warm-up.
12. Remove any unnecessary weight inside, and any unnecessary encumbrances on the outside. (Remove storage bins, bike and ski racks if not using them; your car will glide more smoothly through the air and thus you will get better mileage. Inside: are you hauling around things you don’t need to?) Added weight/air disturbance contributes to reduced MPG; think what happens when you stick your hand out the window while driving down the highway.
13. Close your windows; you will get less air drag. Hard to do on a nice day, though!
14. Avoid gunning the gas when the light turns green, racing to the next light, and screeching to a stop at the last second, unless you’re qualifying for the Indy 500. Yeah, you won the race to the next red light but your car has gulped a lot more gas, and you have just been hard on the brakes. Try to time your approach to the lights, but be aware of the traffic around (and behind) you.
15. Slow Down. Driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph can get your 3 more mpg.
/anniesecotips/mas/9/21/07/various sources
Friday, September 21, 2007
Make a Big Difference in the Bathroom !
The use of new wood to create paper products uses a tremendous amount of electricity, water, let alone the trees themselves. Most of us know that. Here is a simple way to make a big difference. Seventh Generation makes alot of green products. One of them is bathroom tissue. At the regular supermarket, it costs a fair amount more than the standard tissue. But you can purchase 1000 sheets of 100% recycled paper for 99 cents at Vitamin Cottage stores. (Price could be subject to change.) This is a really good price. You can purchase either one-play or two-ply. Before you say "ewww", be assured of the following: this 100% recycled paper is hypo-allergenic and whitened without chlorine bleach. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1000 sheet virgin paper bathroom tissue with 100% recycled ones, we could save: * 469,000 trees *1.2 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 1700 full garbage trucks * 159 million gallons of water, which is a year's supply for 1300 families of four. Now, isn't that worth it? (Annie receives no compensation or other benefit from this blog.)
Monday, August 27, 2007
Buy 100% Recycled Copy Paper
We all know that it's best to use recycled paper for our copy needs at home, school and office. Until recently, purchasing recycled paper was a little difficult for Coloradans.
You can now purchase 100% Recycled Paper from Staples and Office Max. Probably from Office Depot, also. Previously, you could pick up partially recycled paper (around 30%).
The price is reasonable, too.
100% recycled copy paper uses 100% fewer trees, 43% less energy used, 36% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and 49% less water used!
What's not to like?
You can now purchase 100% Recycled Paper from Staples and Office Max. Probably from Office Depot, also. Previously, you could pick up partially recycled paper (around 30%).
The price is reasonable, too.
100% recycled copy paper uses 100% fewer trees, 43% less energy used, 36% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and 49% less water used!
What's not to like?
Friday, August 3, 2007
Water Facts from the EPA
Drinking Water Facts and Figures:
* 66% of the human body is water; 75% of the human brain is water. (Ever wonder why you get a headache when you've exerting yourself in hot weather?)
* 75% of a chicken, 80% of a pineapple, and 95% of a tomato is water.
* A person must consume 2.5 quarts of water per day from all sources (drinking, eating) to maintain health.
* Water regulates the earth's temperature. It also reguates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells, cushions joints, protects organs, and removes wastes.
* It is possible for people today to drink water that was part of the dinosaur era.
USAGE
* Industries as well as people need water. It takes on average, 39,090 gallons of H2O to manufacture a new car and it's 4 tires. 62,600 gallons of water are needed to produce one ton of steel; 1,500 gallons to process one barrel of beer; and 9.3 gallons to process one can of fruit or vegetables.
* On average, 50-70% of household water is used outdoors (water lawns, washing cars, etc)
* The average American uses over 100 gallons of water per day; the average residence uses over 100,000 gallons during a year.
* Americans drink more than 1 Billion glasses of tap water per day. (MAS note: this needs updating; not sure what the stats are on our bottled water usage are.)
INFRASTRUCTURE
* The average cost for water supplied to a home in the U.S. is about $2.00 for 1,000 gallons, which equals about 5 gallons for 1 penny.
* It costs over $3.5 billion to operate water systems throughout the U.S. each year.
MINIMIZE PRODUCTION OF WASTE
* Learn who your water supplier is, where the water comes from, whether shortages have occured in your community.
* Repair leaking faucets and toilets. (MAS note: Many water suppliers can provide you leak testers and other items, such as low-flow faucets, for free)
* Take short showers. (MAS note: you can reduce the water that goes down the drain by installing low-flow showerheads, or installing a simple water cutoff to use when you are soaping up.)
* Turn off water while brushing your teeth. (MAS note: Capture the water you are warming up, too. Use it to wash your toothpaste spit down the drain.)
* Turn off the hose while washing your car.
* Be careful and prudent with your water use outside. (MAS note: use soaker hoses or drip systems; water in early morning or early evening to reduce evaporation. Also, your hoses may need new gaskets; the little rubber things you find inside the hose. If they are old, they'll leak.)
* MAS note: In the winter, protect your water line by blanketing the outside faucets; this can help prevent a rupture.
For more information: call Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or visit the safewater web site at www.epa.gov/safewater.
Source: EPA Handout "Water Facts," 2004.
* 66% of the human body is water; 75% of the human brain is water. (Ever wonder why you get a headache when you've exerting yourself in hot weather?)
* 75% of a chicken, 80% of a pineapple, and 95% of a tomato is water.
* A person must consume 2.5 quarts of water per day from all sources (drinking, eating) to maintain health.
* Water regulates the earth's temperature. It also reguates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells, cushions joints, protects organs, and removes wastes.
* It is possible for people today to drink water that was part of the dinosaur era.
USAGE
* Industries as well as people need water. It takes on average, 39,090 gallons of H2O to manufacture a new car and it's 4 tires. 62,600 gallons of water are needed to produce one ton of steel; 1,500 gallons to process one barrel of beer; and 9.3 gallons to process one can of fruit or vegetables.
* On average, 50-70% of household water is used outdoors (water lawns, washing cars, etc)
* The average American uses over 100 gallons of water per day; the average residence uses over 100,000 gallons during a year.
* Americans drink more than 1 Billion glasses of tap water per day. (MAS note: this needs updating; not sure what the stats are on our bottled water usage are.)
INFRASTRUCTURE
* The average cost for water supplied to a home in the U.S. is about $2.00 for 1,000 gallons, which equals about 5 gallons for 1 penny.
* It costs over $3.5 billion to operate water systems throughout the U.S. each year.
MINIMIZE PRODUCTION OF WASTE
* Learn who your water supplier is, where the water comes from, whether shortages have occured in your community.
* Repair leaking faucets and toilets. (MAS note: Many water suppliers can provide you leak testers and other items, such as low-flow faucets, for free)
* Take short showers. (MAS note: you can reduce the water that goes down the drain by installing low-flow showerheads, or installing a simple water cutoff to use when you are soaping up.)
* Turn off water while brushing your teeth. (MAS note: Capture the water you are warming up, too. Use it to wash your toothpaste spit down the drain.)
* Turn off the hose while washing your car.
* Be careful and prudent with your water use outside. (MAS note: use soaker hoses or drip systems; water in early morning or early evening to reduce evaporation. Also, your hoses may need new gaskets; the little rubber things you find inside the hose. If they are old, they'll leak.)
* MAS note: In the winter, protect your water line by blanketing the outside faucets; this can help prevent a rupture.
For more information: call Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or visit the safewater web site at www.epa.gov/safewater.
Source: EPA Handout "Water Facts," 2004.
Back to School !! For Parents, Students and Teachers
Soon the kids will be back at school. As every parent knows, you have to work your way through a sometimes bewildering list of items to purchase for your child to bring to school. Teachers and administrators also have to load up on supplies. Here are some ideas to help you reduce the drag on the environment when you do this. Please provide any other ideas you may have.
Per the EPA handout:
"Students, educators, and school administrators can all play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
1. Reduce/reuse and recycle: Try to purchase less. Does your child need all 10 of those nifty sparkly notebooks? Try to purchase supplies made with recycled content.
2. Do you have items left over from the prior school year? If your returning student can use them, please do so. If not, consider donating them to the school, as there will be children who have less than yours does.
3. All schools have limited budgets. You can help your schools reduce their energy consumption, which will reduce their overall costs. Turn off computers, lights, and other devices that use energy when no one is in the classroom (make sure OK with teacher; teacher could ask a volunteer to do this). Turning off just one 60-watt incandescent bulb that would otherwise burn 8 hours a day can save about 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the bulb.
4. Learn about climate change science, impacts, and solutions. Explore the many resources available to learn about climate change. Investigate what other schools and organizations are doing to educate their audiences on climate change. EPA's Climate Change Web site provides educational resources on the "What You Can D At School" page.
5. Calculate your school's carbon footprint. Use EPA's Climate Change Emission Calculator Kit (Climate CHECK for high schools) or EPA's Global Warming Wheel Card Kit (for middle schools) to investigate the link between everyday actions at your school, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change. These interactive tools help students learn about climate change and how to address it.
6. Ask your school administrators if your school has earned the Energy Star. The least efficient schools use 3 times more energy than the best energy performers. By partnering with ENERGY STAR for K-12 program, school districts can serve as environental leaders in their community, become energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save 30% or more on energy bills.
7. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Recycle school or classroom paper, newspapers, beverage containers, electronic equipment, and batteries. Using these "Eco-3 R's" helps conserve energy, minimize pollution, and reduce greenhouse gases. You can practice the "Eco-3 R's" by using two-sided printing and copying, buying supplies made with recycled content, and recycling used electronics and printer cartridges.
EPA's Climate CHECK Tool: www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/downloads/ClimateCHECK_1.0 zip
EPA's Global Warming Wheel Card Kit: www.epa.gov/climatechange/downloads/ActivityKit.pdf
Energy Star for K-12 School districts:
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus_schoolsk12
EPA's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Website: www.epa.gov/msw/reduce.htm
EPA's Climate Change: What You Can Do at School Web site: www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/school.html
EPA's Climate Change Kid's Web site: www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/
Per the EPA handout:
"Students, educators, and school administrators can all play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
1. Reduce/reuse and recycle: Try to purchase less. Does your child need all 10 of those nifty sparkly notebooks? Try to purchase supplies made with recycled content.
2. Do you have items left over from the prior school year? If your returning student can use them, please do so. If not, consider donating them to the school, as there will be children who have less than yours does.
3. All schools have limited budgets. You can help your schools reduce their energy consumption, which will reduce their overall costs. Turn off computers, lights, and other devices that use energy when no one is in the classroom (make sure OK with teacher; teacher could ask a volunteer to do this). Turning off just one 60-watt incandescent bulb that would otherwise burn 8 hours a day can save about 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the bulb.
4. Learn about climate change science, impacts, and solutions. Explore the many resources available to learn about climate change. Investigate what other schools and organizations are doing to educate their audiences on climate change. EPA's Climate Change Web site provides educational resources on the "What You Can D At School" page.
5. Calculate your school's carbon footprint. Use EPA's Climate Change Emission Calculator Kit (Climate CHECK for high schools) or EPA's Global Warming Wheel Card Kit (for middle schools) to investigate the link between everyday actions at your school, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change. These interactive tools help students learn about climate change and how to address it.
6. Ask your school administrators if your school has earned the Energy Star. The least efficient schools use 3 times more energy than the best energy performers. By partnering with ENERGY STAR for K-12 program, school districts can serve as environental leaders in their community, become energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save 30% or more on energy bills.
7. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Recycle school or classroom paper, newspapers, beverage containers, electronic equipment, and batteries. Using these "Eco-3 R's" helps conserve energy, minimize pollution, and reduce greenhouse gases. You can practice the "Eco-3 R's" by using two-sided printing and copying, buying supplies made with recycled content, and recycling used electronics and printer cartridges.
EPA's Climate CHECK Tool: www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/downloads/ClimateCHECK_1.0 zip
EPA's Global Warming Wheel Card Kit: www.epa.gov/climatechange/downloads/ActivityKit.pdf
Energy Star for K-12 School districts:
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus_schoolsk12
EPA's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Website: www.epa.gov/msw/reduce.htm
EPA's Climate Change: What You Can Do at School Web site: www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/school.html
EPA's Climate Change Kid's Web site: www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Have Fun, Stay Cool, Save Water and Energy This Summer
Here we are in the middle of summer, and the Denver area has seen alot of heat and dust and dryness. Perhaps you have noticed that there seem to be alot of "hazy" days. Medical experts have noticed an increase in asthma, too. Here are some simple tips to help keep you cool and yet avoid sucking too much energy.
$ Close drapes/blinds/windows against sunlight. Open up the windows on the non-sunny side. You will help keep the house cool without air conditioning.
$ Buy some insulating window film and install it. Some can be installed with just water and a squeegy. Cost is reasonable.
$ Use fans when you can: ceiling fans move the air and this tricks the mind into thinking it's cooler. Portable fans are helpful when you are stuck in a specific area and just need a little bit.
$ Water outdoors sparingly, using soaker hoses or a drip method. You get extra bonus points if you are using a recycled hose! These 2 methods minimize water lost to evaporation. Water in the early morning or early evening. (Watering at midnight not recommended; you can develop fungus on your plants and grass.)
$ Use mulch around planted areas that lose alot of moisture. This helps keep the weeds down, too.
$ Use alternative transportation, when you can. Carpool, bus, lite rail, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle. You will be putting less CO2 into the air.
$ Drive during "off" hours, when you can. You will get to your destination with less gas consumed, and less junk added to the air. And less stress!
$ On especially hot, dry days, try to purchase your fuel in the early morning or evening. This helps cut down on the ozone.
$ Try to avoid unnecessary idling of your engine: drive-throughs, waiting to pick someone up, etc. If you are in a big traffic jam and it is safe to turn off your engine, do so. You will save gas and also contribute less to the ozone layer. Which brave business will have the nerve to be the first to suggest we turn off our motors while we wait?
$ Can you cut down your use of power mowers? This is a tough one, I know. Recent studies have shown the one power mower puts out alot more CO2 than a passenger car! Some stores sell push mowers. Anyone remember them?
$ Try to manually weed your garden, if you can. This is also tough, especially if you have alot of land to care for. But even doing a little bit of manual weeding is helping the environment because you are not using chemicals to kill the offending plants, nor are you using gas weed-eaters. Take advantage of the weather, when possible: last night it rained heavily, so pulling weeds today was really easy!
$ When getting into a hot car, open up the doors for a couple of minutes before you jump in & turn up the air conditioner to "Ice Age". The hot air molecules are swirling around in your car, looking for an escape, and you can provide it when you open up the doors. It just takes a couple of seconds, and then you can hop in to a cooler car, and turn on the air conditioning if needed.
$ Make Sun Tea. Drag out that old glass container that holds about 2 gallons, fill it up with cool water from the tap, and place your favorite tea bags (about 6 - 7) into the water, then put it in a nice hot & sunny location. You'll have "solar" tea in no time, and it's cheap! I love Good Earth tea, which is kind of spicy, and does not need sugar.
$ Try to avoid using those ubiquitous plastic water bottles if you can. There is not much opportunity for recycling them, and they are really adding to the landfills. Several of the large companies bottling the special water are known to be depleting the already-shallow water tables of various third world countries, thus making their situation more desperate. And the water is not all that special, in many instances. (Yes, we've been fooled again!)
$ And if you have to use your sprinklers, run through them like a little kid. Instant cool down!
Thanks, and enjoy your summer!
$ Close drapes/blinds/windows against sunlight. Open up the windows on the non-sunny side. You will help keep the house cool without air conditioning.
$ Buy some insulating window film and install it. Some can be installed with just water and a squeegy. Cost is reasonable.
$ Use fans when you can: ceiling fans move the air and this tricks the mind into thinking it's cooler. Portable fans are helpful when you are stuck in a specific area and just need a little bit.
$ Water outdoors sparingly, using soaker hoses or a drip method. You get extra bonus points if you are using a recycled hose! These 2 methods minimize water lost to evaporation. Water in the early morning or early evening. (Watering at midnight not recommended; you can develop fungus on your plants and grass.)
$ Use mulch around planted areas that lose alot of moisture. This helps keep the weeds down, too.
$ Use alternative transportation, when you can. Carpool, bus, lite rail, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle. You will be putting less CO2 into the air.
$ Drive during "off" hours, when you can. You will get to your destination with less gas consumed, and less junk added to the air. And less stress!
$ On especially hot, dry days, try to purchase your fuel in the early morning or evening. This helps cut down on the ozone.
$ Try to avoid unnecessary idling of your engine: drive-throughs, waiting to pick someone up, etc. If you are in a big traffic jam and it is safe to turn off your engine, do so. You will save gas and also contribute less to the ozone layer. Which brave business will have the nerve to be the first to suggest we turn off our motors while we wait?
$ Can you cut down your use of power mowers? This is a tough one, I know. Recent studies have shown the one power mower puts out alot more CO2 than a passenger car! Some stores sell push mowers. Anyone remember them?
$ Try to manually weed your garden, if you can. This is also tough, especially if you have alot of land to care for. But even doing a little bit of manual weeding is helping the environment because you are not using chemicals to kill the offending plants, nor are you using gas weed-eaters. Take advantage of the weather, when possible: last night it rained heavily, so pulling weeds today was really easy!
$ When getting into a hot car, open up the doors for a couple of minutes before you jump in & turn up the air conditioner to "Ice Age". The hot air molecules are swirling around in your car, looking for an escape, and you can provide it when you open up the doors. It just takes a couple of seconds, and then you can hop in to a cooler car, and turn on the air conditioning if needed.
$ Make Sun Tea. Drag out that old glass container that holds about 2 gallons, fill it up with cool water from the tap, and place your favorite tea bags (about 6 - 7) into the water, then put it in a nice hot & sunny location. You'll have "solar" tea in no time, and it's cheap! I love Good Earth tea, which is kind of spicy, and does not need sugar.
$ Try to avoid using those ubiquitous plastic water bottles if you can. There is not much opportunity for recycling them, and they are really adding to the landfills. Several of the large companies bottling the special water are known to be depleting the already-shallow water tables of various third world countries, thus making their situation more desperate. And the water is not all that special, in many instances. (Yes, we've been fooled again!)
$ And if you have to use your sprinklers, run through them like a little kid. Instant cool down!
Thanks, and enjoy your summer!
Earthworks Expo This Weekend in Denver!
Earthworks Expo will be at the Denver Merchandise Mart this weekend; July 27 - 29.
If you have been wanting to know more about energy conservation, energy conversion, reducing, recycling, reusing or any other enviro-related topic, this is the event for you!
Hours: Friday, July 27: 11 am - 8 pm
Saturday 28: 9:30 am - 8 pm
Sat eve Gala Reception: 7:30 - 10 pm
Sunday 29: 9:30 am - 6 pm
You can check to see the large number of Exhibitors at this link: www.earthworks2007.com/exhibitors.html
This is for the whole family! They will have workshops for kids, an EarthWorks Store, a Kids' Garden, a Farmers Market, and more!
The ticket prices are reasonable. But if you are interested in volunteering, please contact Nicole Irvine: nicole@earthworks-expo.com You have to commit to and work 6 hours, and you get a Tshirt, free entry, and other assorted goodies.
MAS
If you have been wanting to know more about energy conservation, energy conversion, reducing, recycling, reusing or any other enviro-related topic, this is the event for you!
Hours: Friday, July 27: 11 am - 8 pm
Saturday 28: 9:30 am - 8 pm
Sat eve Gala Reception: 7:30 - 10 pm
Sunday 29: 9:30 am - 6 pm
You can check to see the large number of Exhibitors at this link: www.earthworks2007.com/exhibitors.html
This is for the whole family! They will have workshops for kids, an EarthWorks Store, a Kids' Garden, a Farmers Market, and more!
The ticket prices are reasonable. But if you are interested in volunteering, please contact Nicole Irvine: nicole@earthworks-expo.com You have to commit to and work 6 hours, and you get a Tshirt, free entry, and other assorted goodies.
MAS
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