Suggestions for Going Green FROm Team C

Air sealing

1.        Caulking windows or just little cracks in the home can save energy and money. It better insulates houses and keeps cold drafts out in the winter months, while keeping the heat inside. Simply hold a candle or piece of thread near an edge or corner of a window or door and if it blows, there is a draft in that spot (Minnesota) .

2.         This is a greener technique than not caulking because by keeping the warm air in it prevents moisture from condensing in the walls. This could prevent structural damage to the home. This also prevents large amounts of carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere and causing polluting. In addition, sealing leaks can         over $100 per year in home heating and cooling costs (Minnesota).

3.        Caulk is a very small investment. It costs $4.98 for a caulk gun and $4.36 for a tube of white caulk at Lowes. Potential drawbacks include the danger of locking carbon monoxide inside the home, which could be deadly. The benefits of caulking set in almost immediately (Lowes, 2008).

4.        Forty two percent of a family’s energy bill is spent on heat and cooling. The average American residential energy consumption is between $1,410 and $2,020 (Ceednet)! Caulking windows and cracks can lower the energy bill by ten percent (EIA, 2008).

Works Cited

"Caulk." Lowe's. 2008. Lowe's. 11 Oct 2008 .

"Caulking and Weatherstripping." Home Energy Guide Techniques, Tactics, and Tips. Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Information Center . 11 Oct 2008 .

"Energy Efficiency." Energy Kids Page. Energy Information Administration. 11 Oct 2008 .

"The Rising Burden of Energy Costs on ." Balanced Energy. Balanced Energy. 11 Oct 2008

Water Conservation

1.        To save conserve water in the bathroom place a brick or bag of rocks into the toilet tank. This saves water every time the toilet is flushed. It also takes less time for the toilet to flush because there is less space in the tank (monolake, 2007).

2.        This method is greener than leaving the toilet as is because it saves five to ten gallons of water per day, or upwards of 300 gallons per month for a typical family (monolake, 2007).

3.        This conservation method is free if rocks or bricks are available in the backyard, but if a brick needs to be purchased, a single brick costs just $0.43 at Lowe’s (Lowe’s, 2008). The drawback is that the brick can deteriorate over time from sitting in the water and the particles that come off the brick can potentially harm the flushing mechanism. Wrap the brick in tape or a plastic bag to prevent this from happening (Arizona).

4.        The average American uses four to six gallons of water everyday just flushing the toilet with a small tank (Elmwood). Modern toilets use just 1.6 gallons of water per flush, compared to six gallons a few decades ago. The United States flushes five billion gallons of water down the toilet a day. By putting a brick or rocks in the toilet, each person can save at least five gallons per day.

Works Cited

"Bathroom: Water Conserving Toile." Residential Water Conservation. 2001. SAHRA.
Arizona Board of Regents. 11 Oct 2008

"Brick." Lowe's. 2008. Lowe's. 11 Oct 2008

7294&Ntk=i_products&Ntt=brick>.

"Water Consrvation Tips: Household Hints to Consrve Water and Money." Mono Lake
Website. 29 Jan 2007. Mono Lake Committee. 11 Oct 2008
.
"Water Usage ." Mayfield Electric & Water Systems. 18 Apr 2008. Mayfield Electric
& Water Systems. 11 Oct 2008
.
"Water Usage Facts." Village of Elmwood Park. 2003. Village of Elmwood Park. 11 Oct
2008 .


Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying. If you must use a dryer, consider adding dryer balls to cut drying time (World Watch, 2008).
-They cut dryer time by 25% and are reusable
-In replacement of dryer sheets
-The kit is $7.50
-You can add a lint removal kit to further maximize your dryer’s efficiency, which costs $19.95 for the kit.
-These two items can be ordered online at https://earthaidkit.com/buy/cat-dryerefficiency.php?ref=6
^ (Earth Aid Kit, 2008).

Make sure you have a faucet aerator on each faucet. These inexpensive appliances conserve heat and water, while keeping water pressure high (World Watch, 2008).
-reduce the amount of water and energy that is wasted while doing everyday actions like rinsing dishes, washing your hands, and brushing your teeth.
- kits for faucet aerators run from $2.50-$4.00 when ordered online from https://earthaidkit.com/buy/cat-faucetaerators.php?ref=6
^(Earth Aid Kit, 2008).

Work Cited

Earth Aid Kit, 2008. https://earthaidkit.com/buy/cat-dryerefficiency.php?ref=6.

World Watch Institute, 2008. http://www.worldwatch.org/re


Taking your shoes off at the door can eliminate many environmentally unfriendly things. At the end of the day, imagine what is left on your shoes. Things such as oil, animal waste, antifreeze, particulate pollution, and pollen are just a few of the examples of things that you could be dragging into your home from outside (“How to Green Your Cleaning”). A good way to go about eliminating these kinds of harmful things from entering your home is to have a doormat or a shoeless policy where everyone must remove his or her shoes at the door. This is a very cheap way to keep a multitude of unwanted germs and other environmentally harmful things out of your home. Having a shoeless policy is 100% free, and doormats can be purchased for as low as $4.99 at amazon.com (“Doormat”). It is estimated that “the average six-room dwelling takes in 40 pounds of dust in a year. A private home may have between 800,00 and 1,600,000 tiny bits of dust and particulate matter in every cubic inch of air” (“The Dirty Facts”). Also, “70-80 % of dust, grime, and dirt in a building is tracked in from the outside on peoples feet - permanently damaging floors and carpets” (“Door Mat Facts”). Interior door mats perform many tasks including dust control; protecting floor finishing; and spot, spill, and soil control. They are also very useful in protecting indoor surfaces from wear in high traffic areas (“Types of Mats”).

Works Cited

“Doormat”. http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1224090785/ref=sr_pg_2?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=doormat&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Adoormat&page=2

“Door Mat Facts”. Stopdirt.com. 2008. http://www.stopdirt.com/product/INFO24/Door_Mat_Facts.html

“The Dirty Facts”. Stopdirt.com. 2008. http://www.stopdirt.com/c=AWQ6QOXUWLDLPluf5SPN9FsQF/product/CLEANINGTIPS/The_Dirty_Facts__Why_you_need_mats.html

“Types of Mats”. Stopdirt.com. 2008. http://www.stopdirt.com/product/INFO25/Mat_Types.html

Drink tap water instead of expensive bottled water to reduce the amount of plastics you use. “Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $15 Billion” (Fishman, Charles). “We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes” (Fishman, Charles). Also, “there’s very little empirical evidence which suggests bottled water is any cleaner or better for you than its tap equivalent” (Baskind, Chris). Using less bottled water cuts down on transportation of the product which can save gas and provide less resulting emissions. In the U.S. alone, we transport 1 billion bottles of water per week via ships, trains, and trucks (Fishman, Charles). That’s a lot of gas and pollution. Also, buying bottled water produces plastic waste that is very harmful to the environment because there are such massive amounts. “Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year,” and more than 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled (Baskind, Chris). According to Food and Water Watch, in order to produce all of the plastic we use, it requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year (Baskind, Chris). Cutting back on bottled water is not only free, it has great benefit for the environment.

Works Cited

Baskind, Chris. “Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water”. 11 May 2008. http://lighterfootstep.com/2008/05/five-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water/

Fishman, Charles. “Message in a Bottle”. July 2007. http://bb/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11213_1

Buying local produce is healthier for both the consumer and the environment, and is always a better option than buying out of state produce.Buying local produce helps keep local farms in business
which also helps to maintain lower taxes.
At the same time buying locally helps keep pastures and fields open, rather than developed helping to keep the environment clean and benefit the wildlife population while helping the community thrive (Do it Yourself 2002).It is greener than out of state produce because when you take into consideration the distance most foods have to travel to make it to your dinner table, you realize how many emissions are produced during the transportation process. Buying locally can even help reduce global warming, something we all should be concerned with. Also, smaller, locally run farms tend to use less pesticides and chemicals on their plants (Do it Yourself 2002).The financial benefits aren't direct but are still significant. According to the USDA, 4.7 million farms have been lost in the United States since 1935. In addition, in 2002, farmers reported their lowest net cash earnings since 1940. By buying locally you can help relieve some of the financial distress most farms face every year.Farmers also don't have to share there profits if their produce is bought directly from the farm. By keeping local farms flourishing, farmers always need help harvesting and tending to the farm’s needs, so opportunities arise more jobs and more evenly balanced taxes.From the poor economy to the poor environment to America’s struggle for better health, it can all be helped by keeping your money invested in local farms(Do it Yourself 2002).According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry (KVUE 2008).

FoodMiles.us and FoodKM.com are two new twinned sites that allow consumers to type in their zip or postal code for a list of farmers and shops selling locally grown food in their region.

Work Cited
"Buy Local Produce and Help the Planet." 2008. Do It Yourself. http://www.doityourself.com/stry/buy-local-produce

"Ten Reasons To Buy Local Food." 2008. KVUE. http://www.greenrightnow.com/kvue/2008/10/14/ten-reasons-to-buy-local-food/

2. Wear certain clothing items more than once before washing them to save energy and water (Planet Green 2008). 90 percent: Amount of total of energy used by a typical washing machine to heat the water; only 10 percent is used to power the motor (Planet Green 2008). You can consume up to five times less energy by wearing your jeans at least three times, washing them in cold water, and skipping the dryer or the iron(United Nations Environment Programme).

Work Cited
"How to go Green: Laundry". 2008. Planet Green. http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-laundry/green-laundry-stats-numbers.html


Turn off kitchen and bathroom fans 20 minutes after use. Exhaust fans that are used when cooking work very well in absorbing extra moisture. However, leaving them on after you are done using the room cause the fans to absorb extra moisture and reduce the heating or cooling effects of a house (CES Philadelphia 2008). Turning off a fan costs no money and can actually save you up to $7 a month on your heating and air conditioning bill (Free Press Release Distribution 2008). Turn off the oven 5 minutes before you’re finished cooking. The food will continue to cook even though the oven is off because of the excess heat (U.S. Department of Energy 2008). Opening your oven during use or keeping it on until your food is fully cooked wastes about 30% of the heat. People may think that their food will not be fully cooked but baked goods will actually turn golden brown and meat benefits from sitting in a cooling oven for about 15 minutes (Clean Air Online 2008). The average American will reduce their carbon emissions by 50% by not preheating or opening the oven during use and turning it off a little early (U.S. Department of Energy 2008).

Works Cited

CES Philadelphia 2008
http://www.savewithces.com/energyheatandcool.html

U.S. Department of Energy 21 January 2008. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/heating_cooling.html

Free Press Release Distribution 2008
http://www.prlog.org/

Chiff 1999-2008
http://www.chiff.com/a/cut-heat-bills.htm

Clean Air Online 2008
http://www.cleanaircamp

Take extra plastic bags you have lying around, and use them as trash bags. Instead of throwing them away, place them in your trash can to save plastic! “When one ton of plastic bags is reused, the energy equivalent of eleven barrels of oil is saved. When one ton of paper bags is reused, up to seventeen trees are spared,” (Rogers and Kostigen 2007). This is a no-cost (actually, money-saving) act that can help save the environment, and increase sustainability.

Works Cited
Rogers, Elizabeth, and Thomas M. Kostigen. "The Green Book: The Everyday        Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time." 2007.

2. When you go to the grocery store, bring reusable bags with you. This saves thousands of plastic grocery bags from being tossed into landfills. They sell reusable bags at local food marts, and can cost as little as 99 cents, and in many cases, stores offer small discounts if you bring your own reusable grocery bag. “Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year,” (reusablebags.com).

Works Cited
Reusablebags.com. Better Bags for a Better Planet and More. “Facts       

figures regarding the true cost of plastic bags.”         http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php.