A Quick and Easy way to Start Getting Power from Alternative Renewable Energy Sources

Thinking about using more alternative renewable energy sources in your home or apartment? If you own a home, then there are several options for using the best in alternative energy. However,  if you’re a renter, then there aren’t that many options for decreasing your carbon emissions from electricity. There is one effective method available for alternative renewable energy sources to many renters, and it’s so easy that even homeowners may want to consider it.

By joining a utility-based alternative renewable energy sources program, you can sign up with a third party electricity provider who uses alternative renewable energy sources. There’s nothing extra to install; the green energy comes from the electric grid like all other forms of electricity, and you simply pay for whatever you use. And since it’s still your local electricity provider that’s feeding energy into your house or apartment, your bill will still come from your regular electricity provider. You may end up paying more for your electricity from alternative renewable energy sources. Depending on the service and where you are, it could be between 1-4 cents more per kilowatt-hour.

So how can you find out what providers for alternative renewable energy sources are in your area? If you live in the US, the Department of Energy has an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site that lists green power programs for each state. By most accounts, the sign up process is easy.

In most cases, the alternative renewable energy sources used are wind power or hydroelectric power. Biomass alternative renewable energy sources are also gaining popularity. Some providers may even let you choose the type of green power you’d like to use.

Tips for Living Green: Reuse Common Household Items

Do you recycle your paper bags, glass jars and plastic food containers? Great, but you can still do more to help reduce the never ending garbage problem as well as some packaging that is not environmentally friendly. 

Here are a few tips for living green for reusing common household items as suggested by The Cleveland Women’s Journal West Edition (Feb-Mar 2009).

• Baby Food & small food jars – These small jars with study lids are great for storing spices, keeping fingerpaint, small nails or thumbtacks organized. 
• Aluminum Foil – Foil tips for living green is to simply rinse and reuse. Other tips for living green is to wad up the foil to clean baked-on food inside pans. You can also layer used foil and cut with scissors to sharpen the blades.
• Paper bags – While these bags are more eco friendly than plastic bags, paper bag tips for living green include covering student textbooks, organize other recycling, costumes for kids and can be used for cooling cookies instead of waxed paper.
• Socks – Sock tips for living green include using them as dusting rags especially when you are only left one of the pair. Other useful tips include filling the sock with rice, sew the end, warm in microwave and use as a heating pad. Make a tug toy for your dog by tying knots in the sock or fill with catnip for your kitty.

Remember these tips for living green before you throw the items in the trash or recycle bin.

20 Environmentally Friendly Home Improvements for an Energy Smart Home

Looking to create an energy smart home this year? Here are 20 environmentally friendly home improvement projects you can do.

1. Install Solar Panels – They provide heat with no moving parts to replace and use no fuel.

2. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact flourescent bulbs – They use 70-75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.

3. Roof Improvements – Research has proven that the color of your roof and the material used can lower the attic temperature.  Light color tile roofs outperform shingles for lowering the temperature.

4. Use motion detectors outside instead of outdoor lighting -They save energy and keep the area well lit.

5. Save water – Make sure there are no leaks in any faucets.  Use cold water to wash clothes.  Do laundry less frequently.

6.Use low flow shower heads- They cut down on water usage and save energy.

7. Create a composte pile in your backyard – Add food waste to dirt and turn over weekly.

8. Istall aluminum-clad storm doors- They are energy efficient and insulate entry ways.

9. Invest in a high efficiency HVAC system that is Energy Star certified – It will reduce Green House Gasses and reduce your utility bill.  Also look for the highest SEEER you can get.

10. Clean & replace air conditioner filters regularly.

11. Buy an automated thermostat – It saves 3% of your heating cost for every degree you lower the thermostat in the winter and up to 6% for every degree you raise it in the summer.

12. Install glass doors on your fire place – They will reduce the amount of heeat that escapes through the chiminey.

13. Use power strips for computers – They prevent power from being wasted.

14. Install exhaust and ceiling fans -  They will reduce dependency on air conditioning in the summer and push heat down from the ceiling in the winter.

15. Do an energy audit on your house and get things up to Green Par.

16. Insulate your doors and windows – This is the key when it comes to conserving your homes energy.

17. Always think of the 3 R’s Refuse, Reuse & Recycle when you are buying or disgarding anything.

18. Stop leaks – You need to tighten, insulate, replace and caulk to make your house watertight.

19. Insulate your water heater – Water heaters are on all the time, so by adding insulation can save enrgy and can reduce the cost of heating the water by 15%.

20. Consider tinting your windows to reduce the glare of the sun – It can reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer.  It also reduces 99% of damaging ultraviolet rays.

Search for Environmentally Friendly Packaging when Buying Plastics

Did you know that every consumer plastic is classified by a resin identification code? Just about every plastic container, in the interest of creating more environmentally friendly packaging, is numbered from 1 to 7 with its resin identification code. It’s usually placed underneath or on the bottom of the item. The next time you need to buy plastic food containers, you can flip them upside down and you’ll find the resin identification (REC) code number in the middle of the familiar recycling triangle and find out if the plastics are truly environmentally friendly packaging.

The bad news is that most of us have no idea the difference between a plastic container with an REC of 2 and an REC of 3. But here’s a quick guide on the numbers, so you can feel safe about buying environmentally friendly packaging and the numbers you should avoid.

Environmental Friendly Packaging to Buy:

#1

This is the environmentally friendly packaging plastic that is usually found in water and soda bottles. These are generally considered safe for use, but reuse isn’t recommended. They’re difficult to properly clean and the porous nature of the plastic means that the bottles can easily absorb bacteria. But the good news is that you can recycle them easily.

#2, #4 and #5

These numbers are considered the safest. These are the environmentally friendly packaging plastics that don’t transmit any chemicals into food and they’re usually easy to recycle, especially plastics that are coded #2.

Non Environmentally Friendly Packaging:

#3

This resin is usually used in cling wrap. It has softeners called phthalates that have been shown to interfere with hormonal development. Also, the manufacturing of the #3 resin releases dioxin, another powerful carcinogen.

#6

This is the resin that’s found in polystyrene-foam cups. It’s also sometimes found in some clear plastic take-out containers. This resin has been known to leak styrene, another human carcinogen, into food.