Energy Savings Tip
Save energy by keeping in your body heat. Long-sleeved sweaters can add between 2-4 degrees in added heat.
Consumer Tip
Before purchasing a product, consider how you will dispose it.
Good Use of Plastic Bags
Do pick-up after your pets—cats as well as dogs. Fecal matter gets washed into the storm drains and is a source of pollution.
Buy Local Beer
Packaging accounts for 40% of an average beer’s emissions when you factor in transportation. Good reason to buy local beer in cans. Applies to wine purchases as well.
Another Reason to Use Cold Water
Clothing made with polyester, nylon and acrylic are sources of plastic pollution when laundered. If synthetic clothes are washed in cold water, the release of the micro-plastics in the material is reduced. Another option: micro-plastic filters on washers.
Interested in a Quieter, Healthier Community?
Check out Quiet Communities Inc., a non-profit “dedicated to helping communities reduce health and environmental harm from noise and pollution.
Full Recycling Bin
If your recycling bin is filled-up, put extra in cardboard box and place it next to the bin for pick-up.
Soil Enrichment
Welcome mushrooms and allow them to grow in your yard and mulch. The mushrooms enrich the soil and provide nourishment for numerous organisms.
Keep Streets Free of Debris
Sweep up leaves and sticks that are in your street so that the debris isn’t swept into the stormwater system when it rains.
To Be Trashed
Disposable masks, sanitizing wipes and tissues and plastic gloves are to be put in the trash. These items are NOT recyclable
Recycle Those Bulbs, Don’t Trash Them
Compact fluorescents, CFLs, are accepted for recycling at most Home Depot and Lowe’s stores. The long fluorescent tubes may not be so call first.
Lower Your Noise Footprint
Replace your gas-powered leaf blower with an electric one or better yet, with a rake. Gas leaf blowers are identified by the CDC and EPA as sources of harmful noise: “ this type of noise is not just an annoyance, it is a public health problem.”
Treasure Your Leaf Litter
Leaves will enrich your soil. Rake them into small, low piles and then mow over the piles. The shredded leaves can then be gathered to use as mulch.
Yard Lights
Security yard lights kill thousands of moths. Replace these lights with motion-sensor lights that light-up only when motion is detected.
Help Local Wildlife
Install covers over your window wells to prevent small critters like frogs from entering and becoming trapped in the window wells. The plastic covers are an inexpensive fix and easy to install.
What About Those “Bug Zappers”?
Avoid using them!! “Bug Zappers.” are indiscriminate and non-selective: they attract and kill all kinds of insects unnecessarily.
Garden Questions
Contact the Garden Helpline offered by Buncombe County Master Gardeners. Send questions and photos to buncombemg@gmail.com or call 828-250-4878.
Curbie’s Recycling Tip
Squash the plastic bottles and cans if you can but do not flatten them like a pancake because they would be hard to separate from paper recyclables.
Optimal Storage of Nuts & Seeds
Store in air-tight containers in the refrigerator to extend the life. If only using occasionally, store in freezer.
Less Packaging
Cut down on packaging by choosing tea bags that don’t have strings and tags or are in individual wrappers.
Reef Safe
Sunscreens labeled “reef-safe” may not mean that they are 100% reef-friendly (non-harmful to coral reefs) because the label is not currently regulated. FMI: Environmental Working Group’s guide to sunscreens.
Seafood Guide
To make ocean-friendly choices when you eat seafood, check out Monterey Bay Aquarium’s consumer guide at seafoodwatch.org
No More Hormone Eggs
As reported in Consumer Reports, eggs labeled “raised with no hormones” are no different from eggs that don’t have that claim. By law, chickens that produce eggs cannot be given hormones.
Gaskets Save Energy
Every once and a while, check the rubber gasket on your gas cap to be sure it’s not cracked and allowing gasoline to evaporate because of a poor seal.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Label
When shopping for wood products, look for a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) label. The Council certifies that the wood comes from sustainably managed forests.
Save Energy While Cooking
Your oven or pot retain heat well so consider turning off the stove or oven several minutes before timer rings. Your food will continue cooking.
Keep Sewer Systems Healthy
Avoid putting tissue paper and facial paper and wipes into toilet. These products do not easily dissolve in water. Sewer systems are designed for only human waste and toilet tissue.
Bee Vigiliant
Do not use products containing neonicotinaids (neonics). Some chemicals associated with the neonics’ family are Acetamiprid, Cothianidin and Imidacloprid and are known to be harmful to bees. Read labels on products in your home and local garden center. Avoid using neonics.
Exhaust Fans
Switch on bathroom exhaust fans when using hair spray or nail polish. These products release VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Banks and Climate Change
Who’s funding the fossil fuel industry? Check out “Banking on Climate Change—Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2020” from Rain Forest Action Network ( ran.org )