KZE GREEN TEAM TIPS

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 KZE Green Team Contributing Artists (click on their names to find out more):

CHRIS WOOD (OF THE WOOD BROTHERS AND MEDESKI, MARTIN, AND WOOD), DAR WILLIAMS,  DOG ON FLEAS, EILEN JEWELL, MEG HUTCHINSON, MIKE AND RUTHY (OF THE MAMMALS), SARAH BORGES, SWEET WEDNESDAY, VICKI RUSSELL

KEEP YOUR EARS OUT FOR THEIR TIPS DURING THE GREEN TEAM SEGMENTS HERE ON 98 1 KZE!

 

Green Tips for Better Living

Appliances	Automotive	Building Materials
Dining Out	Electronics	Everyday Errands
Gardening	Home and the Workplace	Meat Reduction
Plumbing & Heating	Cleaners	Reuse Reduce Recycle

 

Appliances

When you’re shopping for new appliances, look for the Energy Star label.  This might be the best, easiest way to seriously reduce your electric bill and energy usage. With EnergyStar products you could use 30% less energy your home, and if just 1 in 10 homes used Energy Star appliances, the change would be like planting 1.7 million acres of new trees.  Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.  Their website has all sorts of helpful tools and resources too—go to the KZE Green Team "Links" section to get connected to them. 

To get the best performance out of your refrigerator, clean the condenser coils on the back or bottom of your fridge at least once a year. And remember—keeping the door gasket on your fridge clean will ensure the seal isn’t broken by dried food.

Laundry machines can be a big drain on energy. 90% of the energy used in washing clothes is for heating water, so only wash and dry in full loads and always rinse in cold water. Also, remember to remove the lint from your dryer screen and make sure the dryer exhaust isn't blocked—those can cause fires too.  

A freezer only half full uses about twice the energy as a full freezer. Actually, if you lose power a full freezer will keep food cold for up to two days, but a half full freezer will only keep it frozen for less than a day, since air doesnt hold heat as well as solids. So what you can do is reuse empty plastic bottles, usually big juice bottles since they are thicker, fill them with water and put them in the freezer to fill the extra space. Just be careful to leave enough extra room in the bottle for expansion or else it might turn into an icy mess. (Thanks to Randy, a listener for this great tip!)

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­Automotive

There are a lot of myths about idling, but the reality is that after about 30 seconds sitting still, you’ve burned more gas than it takes to restart your engine.  And that's also enough time for your car to warm up, even when it's cold out… So if you're stopped for more than 30 seconds, just ­turn the car off.

Building Materials

 There is a building material called "cob".  It's a form of adobe, an ancient building technique, and anyone looking into straw-bale house building should look into COB because it has a lot of benefits that straw bales don't have.  So if you decide to build, make it from cob.

 

­Cleaners: Natural Alternatives for Safer Cleaning ­

­Baking soda is not just for making biscuits. Use it to remove odors from refrigerators, freezers, drains, carpets, upholstry, put out grease fires, polish kitchen surfaces and utensils, remove stains, and brush your teeth. Dissolve 4 tablespoons of baking soda in a quart of warm water to make an all-purpose cleaner. Add vinegar to clean toilets or clean tubs and tiles by rubbing it on to the surface with a damp sponge.

­ Borax or sodium borate is a natural mineral – dissolves in water and it can be used as an alternative to bleach to kill mold, mildew, and bacteria, remove stains, and improve the cleaning power of soap.  According to the EPA mix the borax with sugar to kill cockroaches. Mix a half cup to a gallon of hot water to disinfect and deodorize. Add to lemon juice to clean toilets. Put half a cup on the bottom of a garbage or diaper pale to block odor causing mold and bacteria.

Corn starch can be used to clean windows, carpet and rugs, polish furniture, absorb grease and oil, and starch clothes. Mix it with vinegar and water to make a glass cleaner.

Lemon juice contains citric acid, so it can be used as an alternative to bleach, to clean and deodorize your home. According to the EPA mix lemon juice and baking soda to make a brass polish or mix with water for a window and glass cleaner. Add half a cup of lemonjuice to a cup of olive oil to make furniture polish. The juice can also be used to remove stains from clothing.  Run the peel of a lemon through the garbage disposal to deodorize the drain.

Salt isn't just used for seasoning food - add a teaspoon of salt and baking soda to an aluminum foil lined pan of boiling water to clean and polish silver. For a drain cleaner mix half a cup of salt to a quarter cup of hot water, sprinkle salt on plain paper then run a hot dry iron over it to clean the surface of the iron's flat bottom.

­ Vinegar contains about 5% acidic acid, giving it the ability to dissolve grease, remove soap mildew or wax and clean windows, carpet and exteriors. It could be used straight or mixed with equal parts of water to disinfect and deodorize your home, according to the EPA.  Undiluted, it can clean toilet bowls while a water and vinegar mix can be sprayed on bath and kitchen surfaces, and floors to clean and remove soap scum. Mix vinegar and oil (equal parts) for a wood floor cleaner.

(Thanks to Paul Tesoro for all of these great tips!  Be sure to tune in weekdays & Saturdays at 10 am to hear Paul, host of Central Hudson Almanac!)

Dining Out

 When you're dining out, bring along reusable tupperware containers for those great leftovers!  So, if you want to take something home, use the containers instead of doggy bags or styrofoam which are polluting the environment.  You can also bring along cloth napkins to use!

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Electronics

Unplug your cell phone, laptop computer, or other kinds of chargers when you’re not using them. Even when there’s nothing plugged­ into it, if it’s plugged into the wall you’re using energy to keep the electricity ready at the end of the line, and you’re paying for it.

 If you're in a place with no cell phone reception,  your phone will keep trying to establish contact with the satellites until it gets through.  This takes up a lot of energy, and if you're somewhere with reception for any amount of time, leaving your phone on will just run your battery into the ground.  So, no reception?  Turn your phone off!     

Unplug stereos, media players, and other home electronics when you aren’t using them. Many stay in a “standby” mode that still eats up lots of energy. In fact, 40% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.

Everyday Errands

The next time you go to the store, don’t go paper or plastic—bring your own bags from home to carry your groceries home in canvas bags work great! Lots of stores even offer a discount to customers who bring their own bags. Think--- how many paper or plastic bags have you been given in the last month when shopping?  Carrying a canvas bag or two to the store-- grocery store or ANY store--- cuts down on how many of these we use.  We encourage you to just say NO to your free bag. 

When you go shopping, think about what you’re paying for and where your money goes. A lot of the time, our money is paying to ship goods across long distances, when we can actually help the people around us by buying the same goods locally. In the case of produce, for example, you’ll get a fresher, tastier fruit in return too.

 The next time you're shopping for anything from fans to computer monitors to washing machines, look for the energy star logo to get the greenest product you can.  Energy Star is a joint program of the EPA and Department of Energy designed to help consumers identify energy efficient products and save money.  Visit their very informational website—go to the KZE Green Team "Links" section to get connected to them.

 If you live in a small rural town you can organize your shopping by community.  Create lists set out by towns, so the next time you are in that town, you'll know what you need,  It saves on gas--- which is really expensive--- and it makes your carbon footprint smaller, plus it's fun!

Gardening

 A lot of people think you have to water your garden, but this isn't true.  There's a whole world out there that isn't watered by anything but rain, and if you choose your plants properly, you won't have to water them either.  It's fun-- you'll have some dry and moist places, so you can have different plants in them.  It isn't necessary to have every kind of plant in one garden.  In fact, you can't because they won't all live there.  So value the places you have, grow the kind of plants that grow there, and you'll save a lot of water, which is good for our world. (Thanks to Kathleen, a listener for this great tip!)

 One thing you can do to keep your home green is backyard gardening.  We encourage you to start your own--- even with a little porch, a window sill, you've always got room to grow tomatoes, greens, and other vegetables, and if not, get out and support the local growers and markets. (Thanks to Andy and Jenny, KZE listeners, for this great tip!)

 Grow something! Some fruit, vegetables, or spices.  There's so much fossil fuel that gets cut out of the process.  You don't have to go buy these things and you'll be more tempted to do cooler meals, plus it's more communal.

 We encourage you to compost all your scraps, and turn it into food again!  Put it out in your garden and grow some more food!

Home and the Workplace

Cooking food in glass dishes instead of metal ones takes less time, and uses less gas and electricity. With glass you can cook quicker, save some money and use less resources. And don’t forget that water boils faster if there is a lid on the pan.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy estimates that the average family spends $160/year to light their home. Using Compact Fluorescent bulbs can cut that bill by 75%— they use 1/3 the power regular light bulbs do, and last up to 7 years. Try to Compact Fluorescent bulbs to save money and energy.

 When you leave a room, and especially when you leave the house, turn your lights off!  It's easy and saves energy and money.

Look into alternative energy sources for your home. With an upfront investment you can save lots of money down the road, and improve the value of your house at the same time. Also,local energy companies and state governments offer incentives, rebates, and financing options to help you make it happen—check the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, website at nyserda.org to learn more.

Paper and ink are such an everyday part of our lives that we rarely think about what is in them. Chlorine and Chlorine derivatives are usually used to bleach wood pulp and lighten its color, which then form highly toxic compounds when released into the environment, while lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are used in inks to this day. So try paying your bills online if you can, and start a scrap-paper pile in your home and office to reuse one-sided printouts. Anything helps.

How many rolls of paper towels do you go through in a month? Think of how much money you can save by switching to cloth napkins, rags, and sponges instead.

Meat Reduction

According to a 2006 UN report, 18 percent of global warming emissions come from raising cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals we eat. That's 40 percent more than all of the world's cars, airplanes, and other fossil-based transportation. So, if you aren't a vegetarian, now lots of people are committing to eating meat only once a week. Meanwhile, a 2003 study from Sweden suggested that production of grass-fed beef "reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and consumed 85% less energy" compared to normal beef raised on feed. So if you're eating meat more than once a week, you can still be green by keeping it grass-fed."

Plumbing & Heating

You don’t need to spend money on corrosive drain cleaners to keep your drains open, clean and odor-free. Just mix 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup salt, pour ¼ cup of this solution down the drain, then flush with a pot of boiling water and a rinse with cold water. Do this once a week to keep your drain happy, clean, and lowing.

 You can save water every time you flush your toilet.  Just take a jug of water, seal it, and place it inside the tank.  If you use a 2-liter bottle of water, you'll be saving 2 liters of water every time you flush.  Just make sure it doesn't obstruct the mechanism inside the tank. (Thanks to Igor, a listener for this great tip!)

Do you mix cold water with hot water when you shower or wash dishes? Check the temperature on your water heater—130 degrees F is hot enough to kill bacteria, without wasting energy overheating your water.

When it starts to get cold out [now that it’s cold out], you don’t need to turn the heat up that much —park the thermostat somewhere comfortable and put on a sweater, or grab a blanket. You can save money and resources, and nothing beats the cozy feeling of curling up under a blanket on a chilly night.

Reuse Reduce Recycle

It’s the most basic thing you can do to help out—Recycle. Everyone talks about it, but take a look around you—do you have paper, plastic, glass, and metal recycling containers at home? At the office? At the businesses you shop at? If not, say something—but remember, no need to be rude.

Free Cycle Network... a grass-roots, non-profit organization of people who give and take stuff for free in their communities. As they say, one person's trash is another person's treasure, and Free Cycle gives people an electronic forum to "recycle" their unwanted items. Each group is moderated by a local volunteer, and membership is free. The main rule: everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages. Find out more at freecycle.org

Most bottled water is just filtered tap water. Instead of spending your money buying plastic bottles that get shipped across the country or the world, get your own water filtration system, refill old bottles and take them with you—or just drink your local tap water. 

 To all parents of a newborn—when diapering your baby, use CLOTH diapers.  Just give it a try—so much of our landfills are taken up by disposable diapers.  It's not that challenging, and it's so much better for our environment.

To submit your own Green Tips, click here, change the "Category" to Green Tips,

and send us your suggestions. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

 
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