Dust Your Light Bulbs
The dust could be reducing the light output by 50%.
Don’t Be An Idler
Turn off your car if you are stopping for more than 30 seconds.
An Electrical Sabbath
List activities that your family enjoys that don’t need electricity. Choose a few for your Sabbath Day.
Clothes Dryers Are Energy Hogs
A way to make them more efficient: use longer drying times on the heat lowest setting, use the maximum spin cycle on the washer or consider air-drying your clothes.
Know Your Refridgerator’s Climate
Check the thermostat in your refrigerator to ensure your food doesn’t spoil. The ideal temperature is at or slightly below 40 degrees. A good place for foods that won’t easily spoil is in the door. It’s the warmest section.
Save on Energy
To find energy-efficient products that are certified by EPA’s Energy Star program go to www.energystar.gov. The site is a good resource for efficient products, information on rebates, and tips on other ways to save energy.
Choose Fragrance Free Products
Keep in mind when you’re reading the list of ingredients in personal care products that fragrance is the main ingredient associated with allergic reactions. Best to choose non-synthetic fragrances from plant essential oils.
Look out for Leaping Bunnies
The Leaping Bunny logo on labels means the product is certified as being free of animal testing.
Easy Way to Save Money
Set your water heater between “low” & “medium” (110-120 F); each 10-degree reduction saves 35% on water heating bills.
Local Food at Winter Farmer Markets
Check out ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) to find local food at the farmer’s markets in our area.
Choose Safer Suds
Make a switch to safer, greener laundry detergent. Check out Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
Nuke Your Dish Sponge
Kitchen sponges are moist and full of food particles—everything bacteria need to thrive. To keep your sponge “healthy,” microwave the damp sponge on high for one minute
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.