Green Sanctuary Committee
Green Tip of the Month
September 2008: Back to school already?!
Your vocabulary words:
PCW - post-consumer waste Most recycled paper products contain very little post-consumer waste paper. Only recycled paper made with PCW helps fight deforestation and reduces landfill waste. Choose the highest PCW percentage you can.
PCF - processed chlorine-free Chlorine bleaching of paper releases dioxins and mercury.
VOCs - volatile organic compounds
FSC certified - The Forest Stewardship Council promotes responsible forest management and certifies that wood products come from sustainably managed sources
Here are some green choices:
Staples Marcal Aspen recycled facial tissue
- 100% recycled
- 30% PCW
- $1.69 per 140 tissue box or $7.29 per 6-pack
Pental Handy-Lines retractable highlighters
- Certified non-toxic
- 50% PCW plastic
- $5.79 per 4-pack
- 100% recycled
- PCF
- $5.99/100 sheets
Office Depot Office Depot 100% recycled lunch napkins
- 70% PCW
- $4.99 per 400
Office Depot 8" recycled scissors
- 70% recycled content
- 30% PCW
- Stainless steel blades
- Left or right-handed use
- $6.29 each
- Also available in 7" size
Red Apple School Supply Liqui-mark's Ecolorgy Marker
- Marker tubes are 25% recycled plastic
- Box is 100% PCW paper
- Washable
- $3.49 per set of 8 colors
Green Apple recycled #2 pencils
- Made from wood scrap
- Ergonomic triangular shape
- $2.99 per box of 10
Stubby Pencil Studio Eco Highlighter Pencil
- Neon yellow dry highlighter pencil
- Natural wood finish
- No ink solvents
- No VOCs
- Biodegradable
- $2.00 each
- Made from 100% recycled newspaper
- Sharpen just like regular wood pencils
- All-natural gourmet scents
- $14.00 per set of 10
- Also available with #2 graphite
- Soy instead of traditional petroleum-based wax
- Natural pigments
- Non-toxic
- $1.00 per set of 8 colors
- $3 per set of 24 colors
Greenline Paper Supply Wrap-N-Mat reusable sandwich bags
- Cloth
- Machine washable
- Opens into a placemat
- $5.49 each
Rebinders 3-ring binders
- Replaceable covers
- 1", 3" or 5" sizes
- $3.95 - $5.95
- Small insulated lunch bag
- Made from recycled juice containers by a women's co-op in the Phillipines
- $15.95 each
August 2008: Toxic cleaners
Cleanliness means health, right? But most conventional cleaning products are anything but safe. They might save time or money, but they can cost you in health. Their fumes contribute to lasting indoor air pollution and can have immediate and long term effects on lungs and eyes. The EPA tested the levels of about a dozen common pollutants in both industrial and rural areas and found them to be 2 - 5 times higher inside homes than outside. They also found exposures to carcinogenic substances that were 5 to 70 times higher than the highest outdoor levels. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) evaporate from cleaning chemicals and can linger long after your work is completed.
Does your bathroom cleaner have an ethylene-based glycol ether? Working with it for 15 minutes, especially in a small space like your shower stall, exposes you to 3 times the safe limit for one hour set by the California Office of Environmental Health.
What to do? Read labels! Watch out for irrelevant or vague words like "natural," "Eco-friendly," or "non-toxic." Words like “caution,” “danger," "warning," "flammable," or "poison" should be red flags. Look for beneficial terms like "certified organic," "no phosphates," "from natural and renewable resources,” and for specific time periods for degradation, (e.g., "biodegradable in 5 days").
Reliably safe brands include Ecover, Seventh Generation, Method, Earth Friendly and Restore. Batavians for Clean Energy and Conservation has a good list of some nearby locations on their website.
You’ll find more information in the National Geographic Green Guide. Next month we’ll have cleaning ideas using inexpensive products already in your home, such as baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and others.
July 2008: Eliminate the lighter fluid
Lighter fluid is a petroleum distillate. Use a chimney starter and avoid the unfortunate taste that self-lighting briquettes impart as well as the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by burning lighter fluid. You can buy chimney starters expensively wherever you buy grilling supplies, although they'll become scarcer as the season winds down.
You can make your own fairly simply by using a punch-type can opener or church key to make holes along the bottom edge of the side of a large metal coffee can. Once the holes are punched, use a conventional can opener to remove the bottom of the can, giving you a tube with some holes around one end. The end with the holes is the bottom.
Light your coals inside the grill or in a fire ring. Crumple a full sheet of newspaper then loosely roll it up into a tube. Form the tube into a donut shape in the bottom of the can or the bottom chamber of your chimney. Spritz the paper donut with about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Put about 15-20 briquettes on top of the newspaper or in the upper chamber of your chimney. From below, light the newspaper in several places. This will start the charcoal. Leave the briquettes in the chimney until the majority of the coals are ashed over. Generally, the charcoal will be ready to use in about 20 minutes. If the humidity is high, you may have to repeat the process. Use the same charcoal, just add fresh newspaper. When the charcoal is ready, use tongs to lift the hot can and let the coals spill out the bottom into your grill. If you have a commercial starter with 2 chambers, use the handle to turn it over and pour the coals out. Add any additional charcoal you need and leave it for another 5-10 minutes.
Charcoal grilling will never be the greenest way to cook, but eliminating the lighter fluid is a significant improvement.
June 2008: GMOs - Genetically Modified Organisms
Here are some GMO factoids to help you maneuver through the grocery store.
* The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimate that 75% of all processed foods in the US contain a GM ingredient. (Wikipedia)
* In the US by 2006, 89% of soybeans, 83% of cotton and 61% of corn were genetically modified varieties. (Wikipedia)
* If you'd like to avoid GMO fruits and veggies, read the little stickers found on each one. A 4-digit number means it's conventionally grown; a 5-digit number beginning with a 9 means it's organic and a 5-digit number beginning with an 8 means that it's been genetically modified. - Batavians for Clean Energy and Conservation website.
May 2008: Going fishing? Get the lead out!
Fisherfolk need sinkers and jigs, but lead tackle is toxic and directly responsible for poisoning wildlife like loons and eagles. There is a growing number of non-toxic alternative fishing weights made from bismuth, steel, ceramic and tungsten. Bans and restrictions on lead are in effect in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Canadian national wildlife refuges. Buy alternative sinkers and jigs and encourage stores to stock non-lead tackle. Tell others and get them to switch! For retailers, manufacturers and more info, go to the OEA's website.The Green Guide 9/10/2007
February 2008: Take Control Of Your Home Heating
There's a common myth that lowering your thermostat for only a few hours uses more energy when bringing your home back up to comfort level than if it had been left at a constant temperature. This is not true. You'll use less energy overall. Here are some suggestions:
1) Try lowering your thermostat by 1 degree for a week. A well-insulated home should stay just as comfortable. Try going down by another degree each week and see how low you can go. The Department of Energy says you'll save 3% on your heating bill for each degree you lower your thermostat during the winter.
2) Install a programmable setback thermostat to lower the heat by 5 - 10 degrees just as you're getting into bed at night and turn it back up before you get up in the morning. You'll save 5 - 10% of your heating bill and may not even notice the change. Most programmable thermostats come with at least 2 setbacks, so you can also set back the thermostat during daytime hours when people are away. Some will allow you to program a different schedule on weekends. **Old style thermostats contain mercury, so don't throw the old one out with your regular garbage.**
3) When you're out for the evening, turn down the thermostat. If gone for a weekend or longer, turn it down to 55º. You'll save on heating but still be preventing frozen water pipes.
4) If you heat with electricity, use the individual room thermostats to shut off unused rooms or to keep some rooms cooler than others.
Mercury recycling resources:
Kane County will take items at their annual Hazardous Materials Recycling Day or you can take them to the Naperville Regional household hazardous waste facility (located at 1971 Brookdale Road) on Saturdays and Sundays, 9am-2pm. Also, Geneva Ace Hardware (617 W State St.) has said that they’ll take them for recycling, as will Ace Hardware of Aurora (994 Lake St.), Ace Hardware of West Aurora (2144 W Galena Blvd.), and Ace Hardware of Batavia (1901 W Wilson St.).
January 2008: Greener dishes
Among many other problems, standard dishwashing detergents contain high levels of phosphates. Phosphates are being banned in many countries due to their contribution to algae blooms in waterways, which choke out other species and contribute to toxicity in fish. Instead, mix equal parts of borax (i.e. Twenty-Mule-Team) and baking soda. Use 2 tablespoons per load. Increase the soda if you’re having hard water problems. Substitute vinegar for your commercial rinse agent. We’ve been using these for about a month and the dishes look much better than with traditional dishwashing detergent or with commercial environmentally-friendly detergents. Many think that these natural alternatives are also easier on aerobic septic systems.
Dishwashing vs. hand-washing
Although it depends on the dishwasher’s age and your hand-washing method, studies show that dishwashers with energy-saving features outperform all but the most frugal hand washer. If you wash by hand with sinks or tubs of water, measure how much water it takes to fill the wash and rinse containers and compare. Newer dishwashers use only 3 to 10 gallons per load.
Scrape, don't rinse
Dishwashers, certainly those purchased within the last 5-10 years, clean even heavily soiled dishes. Just scrape off the food, empty the liquids, and let the dishwasher do the rest, saving time as well as water and energy. If you find you must rinse first, get in the habit of using cold water.
Wash only full loads
The dishwasher uses the same amount of water whether full or half-full. Putting dishes in the dishwasher throughout the day and running it once in the evening uses less water and energy than washing dishes by hand throughout the day. If it takes a day or two to get a full load, use the rinse and hold feature to prevent dried-on food, saving time and water compared to pre-rinsing each item. The rinse feature typically uses only 1 to 2 gallons of water.
Use the cycle requiring the least energy
If your dishwasher doesn't have the no-heat air-dry feature, turn it off after the final rinse cycle and open the door for drying. Depending on the hardness of your water, you might see increased spotting.
Turn down the water heater temperature
Since the early 1990s, most dishwashers have built-in heaters, so now you can turn down your water heater. Resetting the thermostat to 120 degrees F (typically halfway between "medium" and "low") will provide adequately hot household water.
November 2007: Environmentally-Friendly Gift Ideas
1. Programmable thermostat
2. Low-flow shower heads
3. Subscription to greendimes.com - continually stops junk mail and plants a tree for each subscriber monthly
4. A membership in one of many green organizations such as Audubon or Sierra
5. A gift toward a share in a Community Supported Agriculture or local green store or market
6. Give Fair Trade products, like coffee, tea, cocoa (can be bought at church)
7. Help someone plant a vegetable garden
8. Environmental items for the garden or yard like rain barrels
9. Environmental Books like “You Can Prevent Global Warming – (and save money): 51 easy ways”
10. Certificates for a Farmers’ Market or green store, a bike shop, garden store, etc.
October 2007: Are Your Appliances Leaking?
by Dave Brink
I picked up a new device called a “Kill A Watt” meter. You plug your appliances into it to see how much power they are using.
For example, I unplugged the power strip to my desktop computer system and plugged it into the watt meter, and plugged the meter into the wall. My typical computer system uses 14 watts, when everything is “off”. Then I plugged the components into the meter one by one. It seems that the printer consumes 7 watts without doing any actual work. The main computer draws 4 watts and the monitor another 3. When on, the whole system runs at about 180 watts without doing anything intensive. My old laptop draws 1 watt when it’s off, and 22 watts under normal conditions. Unplugging the wireless card had no effect.
So I spot checked a couple other items: 55 gallon aquarium with the heater on--138 watts; a lamp with a 26 watt CFL--25 watts (just checking!); and a VCR--6 watts whwen turned off.
There are a lot of leaky/inefficient appliances in most households and the energy wasted adds up pretty quickly. One practical solution, once you have identified sources of leaks, is to put them on a power strip which you turn off, which blocks your appliances from any access to the power source, turning them off COMPLETELY when they’re not in use.
If you have a leaky faucet, you fix it. These inexpensive meters now let you see those appliances that are leaking electricity.
smarthome.com/9034.html 23.89 + shipping
cableorganizer.com/kill-a-watt/ 29.95 + shipping
ahernstore.com/p4400.html 34.95 + shipping
September 2007: Maintaining Your Refrigerator
The gaskets should last the life of the refrigerator if properly cared for. Keep them in good shape with soapy water. Test the condition of the gasket (the freezer's too) by closing the door on a dollar bill halfway inside the refrigerator. If the bill pulls out easily, the gasket requires replacement. Keep refrigerators between 36°F and 38°F and the freezer between 0°F and 5°F. Dusty refrigerator coils have to work harder to cool down the refrigerator. Simply vacuum the vents and coils to clean them.
August 2007: Using Ceiling Fans Instead of Air Conditioners
Using ceiling fans instead of air conditioners will reduce your cooling costs by at least 60%. Breezes make us cooler, because wind causes water to evaporate, making it is easier for us to sweat and stay cool. The human summer comfort zone is 72º to 78º, but a ceiling fan breeze can make us feel cooler – raising our comfort zone to 78º - 82º. Ceiling fans with air conditioners allow you to turn up the thermostat 6º. Also, running a ceiling fan for 24 hours at high speed costs about 35 cents. Open windows at night (if the temp is less than 78º) and use your ceiling fan in order to ventilate with a cool breeze instead of using the fan-only or ventilate switch on your air conditioner (which uses more electricity then the ceiling fan). Lastly, be sure to buy Energy Star label ceiling fans. They are 20% more energy-efficient and can save you $20-$30 a year over other ceiling fans. (Don’t forget running your air conditioning less frequently will save carbon dioxide emissions.)
(From You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!): 51 easy ways by Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner)
July 2007: Reduce Your Lawn Watering
Grass needs more water and maintenance than any plant in our yards. Part of the answer: "grasscycling." Leave chopped grass clippings on the lawn and keep them out of the landfills. They’re 75—85% water and they release nitrogen, reducing your need for (petroleum-based) fertilizer.