EnergyMiser101

This Compost Event Can Save You Money

      I took my daughter to the YMCA this morning and picked up a flier on composting that caught my eye. It's a great way to save energy because you don't have to buy fertilizer, which has natural gas as a raw material, as I wrote about in a previous post.

     Our town, Montclair, NJ, is trying to make composting easier for its residents, and it's sponsoring a composting event Saturday, October 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Edgemont Park.

     Now this blog has readers from as far away as New Zealand, so, obviously a lot of you aren't going to make it. But read on anyway because you might pick up some ideas that you can use wherever you live!

Remove Caps from Bottles before Recycling

     The Association of Post Consumer Plastic Recyclers (yes, there is such a thing!) has an interesting website with daily recycling tips for consumers. Yesterday their tip was to remove bottle caps from plastic bottles before you put the bottles in your recycle bin. I was told that you should do this, but I never knew why.

      Here's why. Most plastic bottles are made from either PET or HDPE plastic. Both are forms of polyethylene. The caps are typically polypropylene. So, when a capped bottle is put through recycling equipment the plastic from the top contaminates the batch of recycled plastic. Also, caps and lids can jam the machinery. That's bad for the machine, but it also presents a potential danger to the people working those machines.

      So, remember that "caps off" helps the environment by allowing more plastic bottles to be effectively recycled. It also supports worker safety.

Turn Off the AC, Turn On the Fan

      I'm not a big fan of air conditioning because I don't like that closed up feeling. But when the temperature hits 85 and it's humid, I love it. It's especially great at night when you're trying to fall asleep. But the other night, just as a test, my husband and I decided to try something different. What we found out is that you don't need to keep the air conditioner running all night to sleep like a baby—at least we don't.

      We have a 6500 BTU, 390 watt window unit in our bedroom. We also have an oscillating fan that's 48 watts when it's running on high speed and 40 watts when it's running on medium speed. The air conditioner costs 44 cents to operate for 24 hours, and the fan costs 16 cents a day when it's running on the highest speed.

 

Explore Sony's Technology Lab

    If you happen to be visiting New York City with children, bring them to Sony's Free Technology Lab in the Sony Building at 550 Madison Ave and 56th Street in Manhattan. Be prepared for a hands-on learning experience that can last several hours and is loads of fun.
     There are many exhibits including a temporary one that is a partnership between an organization called Stepping Stones and one called Conservation Quest. It contains 4 or 5 stations that allow kids to see the different ways energy is generated and used in our daily lives. There are also some visually riveting explanations of how devices like cell phones, play stations and digital cameras work. Visitors have opportunities to perform virtual heart surgery, work in an animation studio, create a high-definition television production and play in a virtual band.  Kids love it and adults do too, especially since admission is free. But you do need a reservation and  tickets to get in.  So it's best to phone first, at least a week before you want to go. The phone number is (212) 833-8100. 
     You also can visit their website at wondertechlab.sony.com.

Try Recycled Paint

      When a big piece of dried ceiling paint fell and almost impaled our cat the other day, I decided that it was time to do some indoor painting. I had heard about something called “recycled paint,” so when I visited our local hardware store to pick up a few samples, I asked if they had any.

     They pointed to a display of about 25 cans behind the cash register. When I asked what recycled paint was, the saleswoman told me that it was more like “rejected” than “recycled.”  People bought the paint,  probably decided  that they didn't like the color and returned it. She said they've just started selling the paint instead of trashing it.       

Replace Your Power Drill Battery

Don't buy a new power drill, replace the battery to save money and starve the landfill.

     My husband, Joe, loves tools, so my mother gave him a Makita 7.2 volt power drill for Christmas in 1993.  It's been his reliable helper ever since, allowing him to put up bookshelves, a train table and a score of other items around the house.  A few years ago he noticed that the drill battery was starting to go, but he put off looking for a new drill. (Maybe it was his sentimental attachment to the old workhorse--the drill, that is, not my mother-- or maybe he just didn't want to spend the money on a new drill). 

Drive Slightly Slower and Save

       For Spring break we drove from Northern New Jersey to Carolina Beach, North Carolina, where my brother lives. Just about everyone knows that the faster you drive, the more gasoline you burn. But, we thought this was a good time to put that principle to the test.
     During part of the trip my husband tried to maintain a speed of 60-65 miles per hour (mph), and in other areas with higher speed limits, he pushed our Subaru Outback to 70-75 mph. Because our car has a digital readout of average miles per gallon (mpg), it was easy to see how we were doing. The upshot is that at the lower speed, we achieved 33 mpg. When we drove 10 mph faster, we achieved 29 mpg.

Stop Newspaper Delivery While Away

     Temporarily stopping your newspaper delivery may deprive a neighborhood kid from making a little cash by picking up your paper, but it will benefit others. A lot of publishers will credit your account while you're away, so you'll save money and a tree—or at least a branch! Many papers also allow you to donate the cost of the subscription while you're away to a charity, or to have the papers you temporarily cancel donated to a school or other worthy public facility.

Try a Metal Water Bottle

     I confess that our daughter has been taking plastic bottles of water to school every day for several years. This is bad for the environment since fewer than 25 percent of plastic bottles are recycled. Also, since the plastic used to make these bottles comes from petroleum, their production contributes to our reliance on imported oil and to polluting our environment.

     Bottled water is also not as good for the person drinking it. Tap water quality is closely regulated by EPA under the Clean Water Act, but bottled water is only regulated by FDA and is not subject to all the same testing requirements (although about a quarter of bottled water is tap water, so some of it does undergo the more stringent EPA regulations!) To learn more and/or to buy a bottle try the Back2Tap Web site or the Greensender Web site.

Attend PSE&G's GreenFest

     If you're free April 3, 4, or 5 and live within a couple of hours of the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, New Jersey, think about attending PSE&G's GreenFest 2009. This is the second year for the event, and it 's intended to introduce homeowners and business owners to the latest environmentally savvy technologies and ideas. Their Website promises hands-on demonstrations and workshops, interesting speakers and kid-friendly activities (including a visit from the kooky Kratt Brothers).