Obama's United We Serve campaign is quite green

President Obama launched the United We Serve campaign over the weekend. The campaign urges Americans to do their part in the road to economic recovery by volunteering in areas that can help in the efforts. 

In the video below, the president reminds Americans that it's not just the governments job to fix our problems. One of the examples he uses is an environmental one.

"We can invest in clean energy, but we need people to use energy efficient products in their homes and train for the green jobs of the future," he tells us.

There's an even a home energy audit toolkit on the United We Serve website. One of the volunteerism suggestions on the site is to form a home energy audit team in your community. 

Other "green" ideas on the site that have toolkits are:

Community Gardens

Organize a book drive - used books are greener than new books

Organize a clothing drive - again, used is greener than new

Maintain public lands

There is also the option of creating your own project and registering it on serve.gov. You can also register ones that already exist.

Take a look at the video below and ask yourself, "How can you volunteer to help America and help the environment at the same time?"

The right to hang

Hang-dry that it. Our home blogger over on MNN, Matt Hickman, had  a post yesterday about states tackling clothes line hang ups. Okay, welcome to day two of my ranting (well, as much as I can rant) about things that the government shouldn't be doing because we could just be doing it ourselves! Yesterday, it was banning and taxing paper and plastic bags. Today, it's drying clothes on the line outside.

There's a "right to dry movement" brewing that's out there just waiting to lower people's property values and revert families back to the 1920's. Oh, wait, no that's not what the movement is trying to do. It's fighting to make it legal for people to save energy, keep greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere, and save money. Seriously, we need the government to make this LEGAL?

According to Matt's post

Clothesline bans, usually enacted by homeowner and condo associations, operate under the guise that they these simple energy-savers are unsightly blemishes on urban and suburban landscapes. States including Florida, Colorado, Utah, and most recently, Maine, have right-to-dry laws intact while other states such as Maine and Hawaii have similar bills in the works.

Yes, state legislatures have had to spend man hours and tax payer money to make it legal for people to dry their clothing outside. Does anyone else find this ridiculous? 

Here's what happens when I put my clothes out to dry:

• I get fresh air 
  
• I get a little exercise (hey, after a certain age just bending over repeatedly to reach into the laundry basket is considered exercise)
  
• I have a chance sometimes to chat with my neighbor (who is not offended by the site of my clean laundry)
  
• I save money
  
• I reduce my green house gas emissions
  
• I save energy

Exactly which one of those activities is so offensive to other people that the state needs to mandate that I have the right to do it?

There's a website dedicated to hang drying called Project Laundry List. They educate about line drying and they work with community activists to bring about a change in local policy. They also maintain a Community Registry of places that ban or restrict clothesline use.

I don't know. Am I missing something here? Are you against drying clothes outdoors? Do you know someone who is? Could you explain it to me, please?

Getting Tax Refund Money? 10 Ways to Spend Your Green, Greenly

It's the third Friday of the month and that means we're privileged to have a guest post by Adam Shake of Twilight Earth. Today he's talking about how to spend our tax refunds wisely and greenly.


A common misconception amongst many people is that being green costs more money, than not. This is not true, and in fact, the opposite is true. Being green saves you green. But just like most things in life, there is sometimes an up front cost involved, and that cost, over time, pays for itself or cost's less than a conventional product.

We've put together a list of items that will help you live a healthier life, help you keep the planet clean and will save you money. It’s a win, win, win situation!

1. An Energy Star Washing Machine - While saving over $50.00 per year, the machine will pay for itself through its average life-cycle of 10 years. Kenmore, GE, Asko and Miele are just a few of the companies that sell these models.
2. An Energy Star Dishwasher - This has a double bonus. Not only will you be saving money on electricity, but these use 25-50% less water than a non Energy Star rated Dishwasher. Save some green and use fewer resources.
3. Energy Star Refrigerator - Standard Fridges account for a whopping 15% of your household electric use. But there is good news, new Energy Star Refrigerators use 40% less energy than models sold in 2001! One of these could easily save you $50.00 a year in electric expense.
4. High Efficiency Water Heater - Saving you over $100.00 a year through less energy use and water use, for most homes you can get the heater itself for $600 - $1,200. Sounds like a good deal.
5. Upgrade your insulation - There are many homes, especially those in the South West that don't have adequate insulation. Proper insulation is one of the most overlooked energy saving methods out there, and should be started in the attic. Just about any insulation investment will pay for itself in less than five years. You can also buy great insulation made in the US out of recycled and sustainable materials such as Cocoon cellulose insulation (recycled newspaper), Ultratouch recycled denim insulation, and BioBased insulation (made from soybean oil)
6. New Windows - If you do not have them already, installing energy-efficient, or double-paned windows can be a great way to use your refund. Not only will installing these new windows keep the cold out and the heat in, but you can also claim federal tax deductions for qualifying installations, if installed before December 31st of 2009. You can deduct 10% of the cost, up to $200 for all windows, skylights, and storm windows.
7. Change out your light bulbs and shower heads - Perhaps you’ve been waiting to change your incandescent lights to compact fluorescents or LEDs because the latter are expensive. Now’s the time spend a couple hundred dollars and get really energy-efficient lighting throughout your home– and for outdoors as well. Compact fluorescent lights will last ten times as long as standard bulbs, and LED lights will last 5-10 times longer than the fluorescents. You’ll save money and energy. Also spend $50 to get a few low-water-use shower heads. These shower heads can save you 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of water per person per year. And they work great! You won’t know you’re in a low-flow shower!
8. Alternative Energy Stocks - It looks as if the economy may be turning around, but even if we have to wait a bit, Alternative Energy Stocks are the way to go. Check out sites like AltenErgyStocks.com for more ideas and tips.
9. Invest in a Garden - What's better than healthy eating, saving money on groceries and spending time outside? Not much. Did you know that the largest selling seed in the United States is grass seed? Did you know that there is more grass grown in this country than corn? Gardening is the way to go.
10. Saving your green - One of the things we like to say here at Twilight Earth is that "Sometimes, the greenest thing to do, is to do nothing at all." The only thing I would suggest replacing with energy efficient substitutes is light-bulbs and shower-heads. (Unless it is time to replace other things) Nothing else should be replaced if it has already been installed and is in good working order. The energy it takes to create things often offsets the savings of replacing them. Please don't go ripping out hardwood flooring to replace it with bamboo. Please don't tear out counter-tops to replace them with recycled glass ones. Only replace when needed, and then replace with green!

________________________________

Adam Shake is the founder of Twilight Earth, a blog that brings news and excellent commentary on what is going on with the environment worldwide that we need to care about. Whether he's educating about the environmental impact of things like coal or simply sharing his breathtaking photos of nature, I always learn something at his site. Visit Twilight Earth and look around (and check out my guest post on his site today).

On his blog he says "I’m about sharing with you what I know, what I’m learning, and what I’m ignorant about in reference to this huge subject that we call the environment." That's what we appreciate around here.

10 easy ways to be more sustainable with your clothing

I'm not too different than other women. I like clothes. I like to feel good about what I'm wearing. I have a certain style, and when I see something that I think is "me" I want it. Unfortunately, buying whatever I want isn't very sustainable - either environmentally or financially. My clothing buying has considerably dwindled in the past couple of years. 

Still, I need clothing (believe me, it would not be all that pretty if I did not have them). So how can I be more sustainable with my clothing and with my family's clothing? Here are ten ways to be greener with clothes.

1. Wash your clothes less. Lots of the things we wear don't need to be washed every time we take them off. I have a rule that my boys have to wear their pj's at least three nights in a row before they can go in the hamper. We take a look at what we wear each day to see if we can get another wearing out of the before they get washed. Washing less helps the clothes to last longer and you use water and energy because you wash less.
   
2. When you do wash, wash in cold water. It takes a lot of energy to heat the water that is used when you wash in warm or cold.
   
3. Line dry clothing whenever possible. 
4. Buy clothing made of organic fabrics. The making of organic cloth is much less harmful on the earth than non-organic cloth.
5. If you can't buy all your clothes made from organic fabrics (and it's very difficult to do so - I don't), try to buy as many from natural fabrics - cotton, linen, bamboo, hemp and wool are natural. While some of these may be grown using fertilizers and pesticides, it doesn't take the additional chemicals to turn them into fabric as it does for fabrics like rayon or polyester.
6. If your all natural clothing is no longer useful - say your jeans are so holey that you can't donate them, you can compost them. They act as "brown" additions to your compost pile. Cut them into thin strips so they will break down more quickly.
7. Buy used - thrift stores and consignment stores help the environment because they are instrumental in getting clothing reused. You can find some really fabulous clothing for good prices, too.
8. Accept hand me downs for your kids (and even yourself). Kids grow so quickly and need new clothes a couple of times a year. There's nothing wrong with accepting hand me downs. It can keep a lot of resources from being used in creating new clothing, and of course it will save you a bundle.
9. Hand down or donate your old clothing. Don't let clothes sit in storage if you aren't going to use them again. Get them back out into the market so they can be used.
10. Cancel the majority of your catalogs. I mention Catalog Choice here a lot because its such an easy way to cancel catalogs. If you have a bad habit of buying on impulse because you saw something you have to have in a catalog, cut off the source. If you don't know the items exists, you can't want it.

Sign up for Earth Hour

Last year, my family and I participated in Earth Hour. It's one hour when people volunteer to turn off all the lights in their home. We played Monopoly by candle light. It was fun. While we the only ones in my area participating that I knew about, across the world, communities turned off off their lights. 

You might wonder what one hour can do. Look at what happened in one hour last year.

Chicago kept 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
In Canada, there were significant savings in energy, including an 8.7% reduction in Toronto.
In Manilla, Earth Hour was hailed a huge success as power companies saw a huge dent in consumption.
Melbourne had an impressive 10.1% drop in energy usage.

This year, Earth Hour 2009 is on March 28th (thanks to Adam at Twilight Earth for reminding me). You can go to their website and sign up to participate by volunteering to turn all your lights off between 8:30 and 9:30 pm. You can also organize your community to join in and have your friends and neighbors participate, too. 

My family will be doing Earth Hour on March 27th because we have a fundraiser to help a family in need in our town on the 28th. 

What about you? What will your family be doing that night? Will it be in the dark?

Database of Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency

I just found out about the www.dsire.org database through a client. I can't believe I didn't know about this before. It allows you to search by your state what rebates and other incentives there are if you make energy efficient upgrades to your home (among other things).

The DSIRE project tracks information on state, utility, local, and selected federal incentives that promote the use of renewable energy technologies. For more information on federal incentives, see What federal incentives does DSIRE track. On the DSIRE website, incentives are grouped into two categories as follows:

(1) Financial Incentives: tax incentives, grants, loans, rebates, industry recruitment, bond programs, and production incentives.

(2) Rules, Regulations, & Policies: public benefits funds, renewables portfolio standards, net metering, interconnection, extension analysis, generation disclosure, contractor licensing, equipment certification, solar/wind access laws, and construction & design standards (including building energy codes and energy standards for public buildings), required utility green power options, and green power purchasing/aggregation policies.

When I search by my state, I see that there are quite a few incentives for solar power, which is good because when we FINALLY get around to putting the addition on the house (there always seems to be a good reason why now is not the right time), that is one thing we are strongly considering.

This is a fabulous resource. I hope you find it helpful.

Energy Efficiency Equals More Money in Your Pocket

Green Saves Green Day 2

It is absolutely beautiful out this morning. After a week of muggy, rainy, gray days, fall has emerged clear and crisp. The sun is shining, the wind is gently blowing leaves that are beginning to turn, and I'm considering actually putting on shoes instead of sandals. It's one of those days you don't need to worry about the thermostat. It's just off. 

But when that thermostat is turned on it's doing more than just regulating the temperature in your home - it's sucking up energy and it's sucking up your money. Chances are it's also depleting some of the world's natural resources, too. 

It makes sense to use energy in your home as efficiently as possible. But what does that mean? First of all, it would be good to do an energy audit on your home. I did a post on energy audits a while back. Basically, an energy audit is a process in which you yourself or a professional auditor takes a look at all of the energy used in the home to find out if energy is being used efficiently. To find out more, you can go to my past post, here.

Whether you choose to do an energy audit or not, there are several simple changes you can make to save energy and save money. 

• Program your programmable thermostat. It seems simple but many people don't take the time to read the instructions with their programmable thermostat and just adjust it manually. By programming your thermostat you can keep an even temperature in your home and your heating/cooling system will not have to work overtime adjusting up and down.
• Take advantage of your ceiling fans. Did you know that by properly rotating and using your ceiling fans when you have on the heater, you can heat your home more efficiently? I'm not sure how this works, but my husband does. If you want to learn a little more about it, Home Depot has a free podcast that explains it. Actually, that link will take you to several of their podcasts that give advice on energy efficiency.
  
• Turn of lights when you leave the room. I grew up hearing my dad say, almost daily, "This house is lit up like a Christmas tree." I never understood the big deal. I do now. My dad wasn't particularly concerned about energy conservation. He was concerned about his electric bill. Turning off lights, as well as turning off computers, tv's and stereos when not in use, can save a lot of money.
• In the kitchen - use the toaster oven instead of the big oven if you can, use the microwave to heat water for a cup of tea instead of heating the tea kettle on the stove, remove on light bulb from your overhead fixture if it has several - these are all little things that add up.

These are just a few ideas. I could go on, but I think this post is long enough. The point is, you can be both green and save some money. 

Don't forget: It's the Little Thinks has joined me this month for Green Saves Green. Check out her post today on Don't Buy That.

Green Term of the Week - Energy Audit

For someone who lives in a house or even an apartment or condo, an energy audit is a process in which you yourself or a professional auditor takes a look at all of the energy used in the home to find out if energy is being used efficiently. If it is found that energy is not being used efficiently in some areas, there are steps that can be taken to improve the situation.

An energy audit will look at simple things that can be improved easily like the type of light bulbs that you use or replacing dirty furnace filters. It will also look at bigger things like adding insulation to attics or completely replacing an outdated heating/cooling system. 

The Daily Green offers instructions and a printable checklist for a DIY energy audit. If you don't want to spend money on a professional auditor, doing an energy audit yourself can find some of the places where you are losing energy efficiency.

For a more thorough audit you can hire a professional auditor. The US Department of Energy has some tips for bringing in a professional auditor on its website.

Green Term of the Week - Phantom Load

I read this in a book I just finished reading, Serve God Save the Planet (review coming soon).

The U.S. government reports that Americans spend more money to power audio equipment when it is off than when it is on. When stereos are off - which is most of the time - they are still using energy because they are in standby mode.

When power is drawn from a piece of electronic equipment when it is seemingly turned off, that piece of equipment is known to have a phantom load (also known as a vampire load). I spent many years under the impression that the energy drawn when electronics are not in use were so miniscule that they made no difference at all. Turns out, phantom loads are responsible for 6% of America's energy usage. That's a lot of greenhouse gases being created for literally no reason.

What are some of the specific power sucking devices in a typical home?

• any item that can be turned on or off with a remote control, or that has an instant-on feature, is continually using energy even when turned off (just learned that from Save God Serve the Planet)
• plugged in chargers for cell phones, mp3 players or other devices that need to be charged draw energy even when the device is removed
  
• any device with an LED clock (alarm clocks, DVD players, microwave ovens, coffee makers, etc.)
• computers, monitors, printers
• electronic exercise equipment that has a display
• televisions
• stereos

How many of these items do you have in your home? We have all of them, and confession time here, it hadn't occurred to me about the exercise equipment. I have an elliptical machine that I haven't used in months that is sitting right behind me now. It's been plugged in all this time. Excuse me while I go unplug it.

Okay, I'm back.

How do you make sure that you aren't wasting energy with phantom loads? It's as easy as what I just did. Unplug the equipment when not in use. If you have a lot of the equipment centrally located, like your computer equipment or entertainment equipment, you can buy a power strip that will turn them all of with one button.

I also came across a little item called an energenie. You plug it into the wall and then you plug your equipment into it. The energenie senses when a device is in standby mode and automatically switches it off for you. I've never used one, so I can't really recommend it, but you can visit the website and check it out for yourself.

Sure, it's a bit of a hassle making sure all your equipment is truly off when not in use. But think of this. Some have estimated that the amount of phantom load energy that U.S. uses in one year would be enough to completely power the countries of Greece and Vietnam with enough left over for Peru. When you think of it that way, you've got a bit more incentive to truly turn off and unplug your devices, don't you?

Read more about saving energy:

Little Environmentally Friendly Laundry Changes: Part 1

Little Environmentally Friendly Laundry Changes: Part 2

Ten Ways to Conserve Gasoline

Helping to Create Renewable Energy Through Facebook (Seriously)

If you're a Facebook user or a tree hugger who has considered having a Facebook account, my most recent post at Sustainablog will interest you - New Facebook Application, Green My Vino, Will Help Vineyards Go Green.

I've already installed the application and started the process of helping vineyards go green.

Two of my favorite things - wine and going green. You know I'm all over this.

How do Wind Turbines Make You Feel?

When you see a wind turbine off in the distance (or up close if you've ever had the chance to get close) what feelings does it evoke?

When we were in Ireland, we listened to a lot of talk radio. One of the programs talked about some wind turbines that went up near a fairly affluent area (can't remember where), and the commentator said that people were afraid that "if it could happen there, it could happen anywhere." As if it were something horrible that happened in that area.

This past Saturday, we were at a party and the subject of wind turbines came up. My husband and I were telling everyone that we had seen them all over the place in Ireland, usually in groups of three, off on distant hills as we were driving. We thought they were beautiful sights. The people at the party agreed.

One person said the turbines made her feel peaceful when she saw them. I said that they make me feel hopeful.

The closest wind turbines that we have to our home are off the coat in Atlantic City - about a 50 minute drive from here. As you drive into the city, you can see wind turbines spinning out in the water. I remember a few years ago getting my first view of them and being in awe. This was before I was concerned about energy.

I understand that everyone's home can't have a wind turbine up on the roof because the conditions need to be right for them to function properly. But, there are plenty of places where the conditions are right. Why aren't they being put up as quickly as possible?

Is it political pressure from the existing energy companies? Is it that we don't have the ability to harness the energy from more wind turbines yet? Is it public resistance?

I haven't had a chance to listen to the full speech that Al Gore gave last week, but I plan on getting around to it this week. I know that wind turbines were mentioned. Will this get people moving like his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, did? You know, I was never thrilled with Gore as VP, but now he's one of my favorite people.

I encourage you to learn more about wind turbines. I'm going to be doing the same.

I'm going to start with How Wind Power Works on the website How Stuff Works, and if I can wrap my head around the information in that article, I'll get more indepth.

In the mean time. Wind turbines make me feel hopeful. How do they make you feel?

Image from Wikimedia

Time to Have Your Air Conditioner Serviced for Best Energy Efficiency

Summer's coming. It unofficially starts tomorrow, and over the next few weeks the weather will be warming up and air conditioners will start their summer jobs. If you haven't done so yet, you should have your air conditioner serviced by a professional so that it runs the most efficiently this summer. 

I used to think that it probably cost more to have it serviced than the amount of money I saved by having it run efficiently. But now I realize that the cost of not having it serviced is more than just monetary. 

If you don't have it serviced annually, it's estimated that your air conditioner unit will lose 5% of its efficiency each year. 

Other tips for keeping your unit running more efficiently:

• Change your filters regularly. When you have it serviced, the filters should be changed. But checking the filters monthly after that to make sure they are clean will ensure that the unit runs more efficiently.
  
• Get a programable thermostat and learn how to use it. A programable thermostat can regulate the turning off and turning on of your unit when it needs it. It won't run longer than it needs to.
  
• If your home is particularly humid, get a separate dehumidifier. Air conditioners work overtime to get the humidity out of the air. Get an Energy Star certified dehumidifier, and your air will be more comfortable while your air conditioner works less.
  
• Close your blinds and drapes. Open blinds and drapes let the sunlight in and heats the inside of the home causing your air conditioner to work harder. Keeping them closed during the day will keep your home cooler.
• Watch out for heat producing appliances. Washers, dryers, ovens, dishwasher, even showers can raise the temperature in your home and often add humidity. Run appliances early in the morning or late at night when the outside temperature is cooler. Use toaster ovens, slow cookers, or cook outside instead of heating up your oven. Take a cool bath or shower.

An added benefit to running your air conditioner efficiently is that it will save you money.