Experts suggest the optimum range for your home thermostat is between 20 and 22 degrees during the day, 13 to 18 degrees at night. Green at Home
"Nearly every commercial cleaner can be replaced with safer, commonplace ingredients. It all starts with a simple box of baking soda." -- Linda Mason Hunter in Green Clean
Green Lights
What a simple way to save energy! CFL lightbulbs (compact fluorescent lamps -- not Canadian Football League!) will reduce the energy you use especially during the dark hours of winter. Look for new advances in CFLs. You can find them for your chandelier and mini ones for smaller light fixtures and lamps.
This is an easy way to decrease your footprint on the earth
Computer Energy
Plug your computer into a power bar and switch it off every night. Over the course of one year, you can save 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Green Garbage Bags -- Canada is Responsible for Them.
The green garbage bag is a Canadian invention. It was invented by Harry Wasylyk of Winnipeg and Larry Hansen of Lindsay in 1952. The bags were intended for commercial use and were first used in the Winnipeg General Hospital.
Larry Hansen worked for the Union Carbide Company in Lindsay, Ontario, and the company bought the invention from Wasylyk and Hansen. Union Carbide manufactured the first green garbage bags under the name Glad Garbage bags for home use in the late 1960s.
Reduce your green garbage bag use by recycling what all cardboard, paper, glass and metals.
Your goal should be to put out 1 bag a week for a 4 person home.
Water Heater
You can reduce your water heating costs by simply lowering the thermostat setting on your water heater. For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs.
Although some manufacturers set water heater thermostats at 140ºF, most households usually only require them set at 120ºF. Water heated at 140ºF also poses a safety hazard—scalding. However, if you have a dishwasher without a booster heater, it may require a water temperature within a range of 130ºF to 140ºF for optimum cleaning.
Are You Living With A Drip?
A dripping tap can fill 55 one-litre bottles a day. If you let it go unattended, you could be wasting over 20,000 litres of water a year!
If you're not up to tackling the job, help the economy by calling a plumber.
Baking Soda & Vinegar
To soften your clothes in an ecologically sound way, add some baking soda to your water-filled washing machine, then pour in 1 cup (250ml) of vinegar during the rinse cycle. Don't worry, you won't smell like salt and vinegar chips.
Adding vinegar to the rinse water for your towels makes them more absorbent. Commercial softeners can make your towels water resistant!
Make an Easy Difference
The single best thing you can do to improve toilet efficiency is to replace an old inefficient toilet with a new toilet. Toilets made before 1993 use anywhere from 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) up to 8 gpf, while new high efficiency toilets are mandated to use 1.6 gpf or less
Reuse Towels
Turn the best bits of worn towels into washcloths, dishcloths or wipes
Cut the towel into a 12-inch or 30cm squares. Edge with bias binding or run through the serger.
Boost Dryer Efficiency
Clean the filter, exhaust pipes and vents periodically to increase the efficiency of your dryer -- up to 30 percent.
Use That Dishwasher
Using a dishwasher can save hundreds of gallons of water when compared to hand washing -- provided you do full loads in your dishwasher and use it only once a day.
Green Lights
What a simple way to save energy! CFL lightbulbs (compact fluorescent lamps -- not Canadian Football League!) will reduce the energy you use especially during the dark hours of winter. Look for new advances in CFLs. You can find them for your chandelier and mini ones for smaller light fixtures and lamps.
This is an easy way to decrease your footprint on the earth
Computer Energy
Plug your computer into a power bar and switch it off every night. Over the course of one year, you can save 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Green Garbage Bags -- Canada is Responsible for Them.
The green garbage bag is a Canadian invention. It was invented by Harry Wasylyk of Winnipeg and Larry Hansen of Lindsay in 1952. The bags were intended for commercial use and were first used in the Winnipeg General Hospital.
Larry Hansen worked for the Union Carbide Company in Lindsay, Ontario, and the company bought the invention from Wasylyk and Hansen. Union Carbide manufactured the first green garbage bags under the name Glad Garbage bags for home use in the late 1960s.
Reduce your green garbage bag use by recycling what all cardboard, paper, glass and metals.
Your goal should be to put out 1 bag a week for a 4 person home.
Water Heater
You can reduce your water heating costs by simply lowering the thermostat setting on your water heater. For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs.
Although some manufacturers set water heater thermostats at 140ºF, most households usually only require them set at 120ºF. Water heated at 140ºF also poses a safety hazard—scalding. However, if you have a dishwasher without a booster heater, it may require a water temperature within a range of 130ºF to 140ºF for optimum cleaning.
Are You Living With A Drip?
A dripping tap can fill 55 one-litre bottles a day. If you let it go unattended, you could be wasting over 20,000 litres of water a year!
If you're not up to tackling the job, help the economy by calling a plumber.
Baking Soda & Vinegar
To soften your clothes in an ecologically sound way, add some baking soda to your water-filled washing machine, then pour in 1 cup (250ml) of vinegar during the rinse cycle. Don't worry, you won't smell like salt and vinegar chips.
Adding vinegar to the rinse water for your towels makes them more absorbent. Commercial softeners can make your towels water resistant!
Make an Easy Difference
The single best thing you can do to improve toilet efficiency is to replace an old inefficient toilet with a new toilet. Toilets made before 1993 use anywhere from 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) up to 8 gpf, while new high efficiency toilets are mandated to use 1.6 gpf or less
Reuse Towels
Turn the best bits of worn towels into washcloths, dishcloths or wipes Cut the towel into a 12-inch or 30cm squares. Edge with bias binding or run through the serger.
Boost Dryer Efficiency
Clean the filter, exhaust pipes and vents periodically to increase the efficiency of your dryer -- up to 30 percent.
Use That Dishwasher
Using a dishwasher can save hundreds of gallons of water when compared to hand washing -- provided you do full loads in your dishwasher and use it only once a day.