Conservation Tips, Hints and Facts!

• Switch your ceiling fan into reverse mode in the winter to pull warm air from below and push it out against the ceiling and down the walls.
• Last month, Bundanoon, an Australian tourist town of 2500 people, became the first in the world to ban the sale bottled water. Reusable bottles are sold ubiquitously; free tap water and public fountains keep locals and tourists hydrated.
• During WWI and WWII 20 million "Victory Gardens" provided 40% of the
nation's produce.
• When you enter a room, count the ratio of lights to people, then take appropriate action.
• SPEAK OUT!
Contact your senator via the U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202 224 3121 or write to Mark Udall, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.
• Many houses have "silent" water leaks in toilets, which can waste up to 150 gallons of water a day. Put one dozen drops of red food coloring into your tank. If red appears in the bowl, you may need to change the flapper or the float.
• There are 3,097 abandoned uranium mines in Colorado which continue to pollute air, water and soil. The proposed uranium mill in the Paradox Valley poses significant risks of all three types of contamination.
• There is contamination of water, air and soil at every phase of the nuclear fuel production process.
• U.S. Automobiles, the fifth largest global warming polluter, produce more green house gases than, for instance, all the utilities, industries, traffic and agriculture in the whole of Great Britain.
• The average person consumes twice as much as 50 years ago.
• Save electricity and set your computer to a five-minute sleep mode.
• 40% of our waterways are undrinkable!
• Join the local food movement. Shop at farmer's markets or join a CSA (community supported agriculture). Look for a local CSA at www.localharvest.org/csa

• 99% of all the things we (the average person) buy are not used after 6 months.
• Drive smart. Maintain proper tire pressure, change oil and air filters regularly and turn off your engine instead of idling.
• As many as 70,000 people nationwide may die prematurely from heart and lung disease aggravated by particulate air pollution.
• One-third of all trees logged are used for paper production. Reuse paper when you can.
• What's the big deal about native versus nonnative plants? Who cares where the plant comes from, as long as it does well and looks nice? Right? Wrong: The issue is that a plant in its native habitat grows under certain constraints: soil composition and nutrients, wind, rainfall, temperature, sun or shade, humidity. Removed from those constraints, transferred to a different set of conditions, the plant may thrive beyond all expectations or desires. Invasive nonnative plants are among the greatest threats to existing ecosystems. They can wipe out native plants and destroy wildlife habitat. They can diminish the light, water, nutrients and space available to native species, alter hydrological patterns, soil chemistry, moisture-holding capacity and erodibility and change fire regimes. Some may even contain toxins that may kill certain animals -- garlic mustard, for example contains compounds that are lethal to a native butterfly species.
• Commercial fertilizers have unregulated content: they may contain toxic wastes. Make your own organic plant fertilizer "tea bag."Lay a double layer of cheesecloth on a bare patch of soil and place one or two cups of compost, aged manure or slow release organic fertilizer* on the cloth. Bring the four corners of the cheesecloth together; twist them and fasten with a rubber band to make your tea bag. Place the tea bag in a bucket; fill the bucket with water and let the bag steep a day or so. Remove the bag and fill the bucket the rest of the way with clear water to dilute the tea. Treat each of your plants to a refreshing cup or two. *To make your own slow-release organic fertilizer, combine the following ingredients, sold at farm supply stores or nurseries. They'll keep for years if stored dry.
• • 4 parts seed meal
  • 1 part dolomite lime
  • 1/2 part bone meal or 1 part soft rock phosphate
  • 1/2 part kelp meal
• 1 million passenger vehicles idling 5 minutes a day waste more than 3 million gallons of gas. A 30 second wait is long enough to make it economical to shut down. With cars of yore, it was sensible to let the engine warm up a little on a cold morning. Multigrade motor oil and closer engineering tolerances in newer cars mean that this is no longer true.
• The 8.4 billion spent annually on trophy lawns hog water and help contaminate it. Some alternatives to herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers -- which create a chemical stew that contaminates surface and ground water -- can be found here. Or ask your local nursery for a advice and procurement of attractive viable vegetation. Consider buffalo grass, which grows slowly and often does not require mowing. If you must irrigate, do so early in the morning or at dusk. Turn automatic sprinklers off during wet seasons. Write letters to your HOA and ask them to consider environmentally friendly lawn care.
• Oil is the world's most widely traded commodity. Coffee is the second.
• Use your consumer power to support Fair Trade, Organic and "Shade-Grown."
• Baking soda, vinegar and castile-type soaps are key ingredients for most alternative household cleaners.  A simple recipe:
  • 4 tbsp baking soda
  • 1 qt hot water
  • Dissolve the former in the latter. Apply the mixture with a sponge.
• Another recipe for a more serious application:
  • 1/8 cup washing soda (hydrated sodium carbonate)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable-based soap, e.g., Murphy's or Dr. Bronner's
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 2 gal hot water
  • Combine all ingredients. Apply with a mop or your instrument of choice.

• Prevention - ie., tinfoil on the bottom to catch drips -- minimizes the frequency with which you need to carry out the chore of cleaning your oven.  Lye is bad news, too, so use a lyeless cleaner such as Easy-Off Non-Caustic Formula, a scrubbing powder (Bon Ami is the old standy), or the fiercer cleaner described above -- and a lot more elbow grease.
• Q: Which appliance in your hope likely uses the most electricity? A: Your refrigerator/freezer. Your refrigerator and freezer runs 24 hours a day. If you're buying one, look for the EPA/DoE "Energy Star" denoting the ultimate in efficiency, saving you up to $35 a year. Tips for helping your refrigerator function as efficiently as possible:
  • Check the door seal and replace if it's cracked or leaking cold air.
  • For maximum efficiency, set the thermostat between 38 and 40 degrees (0 for the freezer). Most refrigerator's have scales, not thermometers, so try dangling a thermometer from one of the shelves for an hour or so and adjust accordingly.
  • Don't let the freezer grow more than 1/4 inch of frost before you defrost it.
  • Clean the condenser coils of the kitchen fuzzgrease twice a year.
• Q: What is an indicator animal? A: An indicator animal represents the needs of a host of fauna and flora in its habitat. Effectively, it is a mute ambassador for an entire ecosystem. The grizzly bear, for instance, is an indicator animal. When we protect the bear's habitat, we protect a system that supports hundreds, even thousands, of plants, animals, fish, bugs, fungi and the other participants in that specific region's elegant dance of life.
• That is why it's crucial to keep the grizzly bear on the Endangered Species List until adequate habitat has been protected to allow healthy populations of the great bear to recover. The same importance applies to  the other endangered animals and imperiled ecosystems: each ecosystem, each watershed, is a mosaic of nearly unimaginable complexity. Changing or removing one element of the mosaic can affect the whole in ways that we cannot predict.
• Q: What is more energy efficient:  an electric range or a gas range? A: Gas. but here are some energy saving tips for an electric range.
• When it's appropriate to the food you're cooking and the result you want, cover posts and pans with tight-fitting lids; trapped steam provides faster cooking times.
• Use pots and pans with flat (unwarped) bottoms and match the pan size to the size of the burner. Use the minimum amount of water in cooking to shorten cooking time. A nice side effect: your food will retain more of its nutrients. Turn off the heat a couple of minutes before the cooking time is up; the coil will stay hot long enough to finish cooking.
• Can you name three energy resources, not dependent of fossil fuels?
  1. Geothermal power
  2. Solar power
  3. Wind power
• Save energy with every wash load – select a cold rinse cycle instead of warm or hot.
• In every coffee-drinking American used a reusable mug instead of a disposable cup, it would save close to 7 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every day.
• Bamboo is a great green choice for household item because it grows fast, is sustainable and grows without the use of pesticides or fertilizers.
• It takes three minutes for a refrigerator to regain its temperature after the door is opened – even briefly – so remember close the door even during the shortest tasks.
• GO PAPERLESS! Ask utility companies and cell phone providers to send electronic bills. And reduce unwanted junk mail by visiting www.CatalogChoice.org or www.GreenDimes.com.
• Avoid the "phantom load". Unplug your TV, DVD player, cell phone charger, etc. when not in use!
• Collect water used for rinsing fruits and vegetables and reuse it to water houseplants.
Weatherproof your home! Stopping your worst heat leaks will easily save you 136 lbs. of CO2 emissions every month.
• Recycle as much paper as possible. On average, paper can be recycled seven time before the cellulose fibers become too short to be remade into new paper.
• Teach children to respect the wild and to never tamper with nests, burrows and other animal homes and to never touch or trap wild animals.
• The average car emits twice its weight in greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide each year. Eliminating just one trip per week will result in a significant overall reduction of CO2.

Many of the tips and hints found here are courtesy of the Sierra Club.

• Visit http://www.catalogchoice.org/ to help reduce unwanted mail!
• Adopt an energy-efficient mindset; the cleanest energy is the energy you don't use.
• While the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world's population, we produce 72% of all hazardous waste and consume 33% of the world's paper.
• Insulating your attic reduces the amount of energy loss in most houses by up to 20%.
• Less than 5% of our public lands now have permanent Wilderness protection
• The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is far higher today than at any point in the past 650,000 years. And it is still climbing!
• Dispose of your old batteries properly.
• Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil