Ready the dirt

February 1st, 2010 § 0


Besides being time to prune your roses, this time of year is perfect for getting the garden ready. And by garden, I mean any space where you throw seeds or seedlings into dirt. Whether you plow under your entire yard, or keep planters by the back door, think about adding some finished compost to your soil to get it ready. While your at it, get the garden going now with lettuce seeds.

With all the rain we’ve had, it’s also a great time to plant new fruit trees – shovels go into the dirt like scooping out butter from all the moisture. For as little as $15 you can get bare root fruit trees – soak the roots for an hour, dig the hole, and stick it in the ground.

A few other projects for sunny winter weekends:

• Take out the water thirsty hydrangea and plant a Mediterranean/Bay Friendly garden
• Take the dried up, dead plants out of your pots and replace them with succulents
• Mulch, mulch, mulch – in your flower beds, around your raised garden planters, even your whole front yard
• Dig up that grass that always starts looking bad by June and mulch the area instead
• Sprinkle compost on your grass – for simple natural fertilizing

Still need inspiration, take a walk around town and see what type of gardens your neighbors are planting in their front yards.

A Year in the Sun

January 25th, 2010 § 0

Image of solar panels being installed

It’s been a whole year since my roof became the source of our home’s electricity. Each month we monitored our production, and received notices (not bills) of our monthly usage. It wasn’t until the annual true up, that you really find out how much you’ll end up paying for your year’s electricity. At the end of the year, your two-way meter gets read – how much juice flowed in, minus how much flowed out.

Thought I’d review the numbers here to convince you.

Installation details: January 2009 – connection of the installed 3.2 KW system – 16 Evergreen panels taking up a little over 250 square feet of roof space.

Installation cost: Just North of $18,000 minus $5500 tax credit (30%) – leaves me just under $13,000 out of pocket.
First year production: Estimated to be 4000 kWh, but in fact we produced 5000 kWh.

First year electricity usage: With some big efficiency improvements, we cut our electricity use to about 580 kWh/month.

First year electric bill: Less than 7000 kWh consumed, minus the 5000 kWh produced – we ended the year buying about 1900 kWh from PG&E for a monthly bill of about $18.60, $223 for the year!

Return on Investment: My electricity costs for 2008 were $1886, so in my first solar year, 2009, I saved over $1650 in electricity costs – almost 13% of the cost of the system in the first year. Some of that savings is due to efficiency improvements, granted; however, I’m convinced that we are being more efficient because of the constant data source telling us how much we are using and generating.

My return on investment will improve with the latest utility news announced in December: PG&E has requested a rate increase that would take effect in 2011. How much? If you use 550 kWh/month, you’ll see a 3% increase in costs. If you use 850 kWh/month, you’ll see an increase of over 10%. (The difference is due to the tiered rate structure of utility bills – the more you use, the higher the cost.)

The tax credit I mentioned above is beyond the California rebates in place for solar (which get reduced every year or so). For any solar installation you get a 30% tax credit – 30% of your out of pocket cost, back to you on your taxes the next year.

Let the sun shine.
http://www.find-solar.org
http://recsolar.com – the company we used

Got fruit?

January 19th, 2010 § 0

Re-useable mesh produce bags

Reuseable mesh produce bags

Every time you go to the store, you are bringing your reusable canvas bags – saving yourself from the conundrum of paper or plastic.  You feel great about remembering this as you go through all the grocery isles, and then you come to the produce section.  More plastic bags!

Yes, you can recycle them (see last post on this at PiedmontGoesGreen.com), or you can use them for your dog’s poop, but you probably already have more than you need.  Now there is an affordable and practical option – reusable mesh produce bags.  You can see through them, wash them, refrigerate them, and even stuff them to take up next to no space.  Some are made from organic cotton, some from recycled plastic bottles. Prices: 5 for $11, or $3-5 each.

Another use for them – Buy extra to save some for wrapping up a small gift.  How green and practical is that if your wrapping paper is a re-useable produce bag?

http://reuseablebags.com
http://greenfeet.com

New Year’s Resolutions

January 11th, 2010 § 0

Front yard gardens

It’s the start of a new year, time to complete those green resolutions.  Decrease your carbon footprint, help the environment, and save money too.  Here’s your starter list:

1. Water Heater – lower the temperature to 120 degrees – you won’t notice the difference except on your gas bill.
2. Programmable thermostat – will cost you less than $50 at the hardware store, you can install it yourself and you’ll save energy and money, and be more comfortable at home to boot.
3. Recycle more – make sure you are putting all your food waste into the green bin, and keep your plastic bags and clear plastic wrap in a separate pail to recycle once a month (or bring to the grocery store for recycling).
4. Plant that vegetable garden – use your front yard to inspire your neighbors – start small, just lettuce, tomatoes or squash.
5. Refrigerator - Vacuum the back/bottom of your refrigerator to keep the coils clean for more efficiency.  If your fridge is older than 10 years consider replacing it for a huge energy savings (save $ too).
6. Washing machine – change yours to a front loader – you’ll save lots of electricity, water and gas.  With the PGE and EBMUD rebates and cash savings, it may pay for itself in less than two years.
7. Bay friendly landscaping – change out some of those water thirsty hydrangea to low water plants, more appropriate for this climate.  Changing your outdoor pots to succulents will save you some watering time too.
8. At work – bring some of these changes you’ve made at home to your workplace – inspiring your co-workers, decreasing waste and saving your office some money as well.
9. Commute - walk to school – spending extra time with your kids and getting you out exercising.  Carpool, use the number 11 bus, take BART.
10. Carbon offsets – buy carbon offsets for your home and travel to support carbon reduction programs – neutralizing your own effects on the environment.  Climate Smart offers an easy option for your home energy use, or many groups like TerraPass offer options for your airline flights and auto use.

The future is in plastic – old plastic

December 30th, 2009 § 0

Houser_100104_0300_sm

Let’s start with the alarming figure.

500,000,000,000

It’s the number of plastic bags used worldwide each year – almost a million plastic bags used every minute.

Amazing, overwhelming, shocking, gross – what can you do?  Recycle yours.

But not just the plastic bag, recycle all of them – grocery bags, produce bags, dry cleaner bags, ziplock bags, clear plastic film, the shrink wrap around that new iPhone, the clear plastic the movers/shippers wrapped around all those boxes, or stones and tile for your yard.  All of it, just about any clear plastic.  But how?  A separate garbage pail, a canvas bag under the sink, maybe just a plastic bag – one in the kitchen, one in the laundry room – collect them from everywhere.

In a week, you’ll be both disgusted and pleased by the amount of clear plastic you keep out of the landfill.  Once a week, or once a month, stuff it all into one plastic bag – bring it to the grocery store for recycling, or put it on top of your recycling bin for collection, if your city accepts plastic bags.  Do not put them individually into your recycling bins -individual plastic bags jam the conveyor belts of the recycling center’s manual inspection stations.  Bag them, and put them on top of the bin.

All these plastic bags will come back, as carpets, backyard decks, even shopping carts.

Do your part, put this valuable plastic back to use, not in the landfill.  And, keep bringing those canvas bags to the grocery store; keep saying no to a bag at the convenience/hardware/candy store; keep putting your kid’s lunch in tupperware instead of bags.

10 things you didn’t know you could recycle

December 15th, 2009 § 0

CFL bulb

1. Cereal box bags – Of course the cardboard box can be recycled, but the inside plastic bag can be recycled with all your other plastic bags with the recycling collection (if your community recycling plan offers it).  Bag all your plastic bags and put them on top of your recycling bin for collection or bring them to your grocery store for recycling.  Make sure they go on top of the bin, not mixed with the rest of the recycling; otherwise they clog up the conveyor belts at the recycling center.

2. Sneakers – Nike offers a program that recycles all the parts of sneakers – turning them into surfaces for tracks, tennis courts and basketball courts.  Drop any sneakers at any Nike store, or host a shoe drive.  http://www.nikereuseashoe.com

3. Crayons – Got crayon bits?  Crazy Crayons keeps old crayons and parts out of the landfill and melts them into new crayons.  No sorting necessary, but they’ll only take US made crayons because some from China contain lead, so only buy US made crayons.  http://crazycrayons.com/recycle_program.html

4. CDs/DVDs – For the cost of shipping, GreenDisk will recycle your CDs.  They’ll also take mice, keyboards, cell phones, cords – all sorts of techno-trash.  http://greendisk.com

5. Batteries – It’s illegal to put these into the landfill!  Drop them at the fire department or local hardware store, or leave in a plastic bag on top of your recycling bin (if your community recycling plan accepts batteries).

6. CFL bulbs – These are also hazardous waste and cannot be tossed.  No municipal collection exists yet (read press your Council person), but you can bring old or even broken bulbs (in a sealed plastic bag), to any Home Depot or Ikea store – look for the drop box at the customer service counter at Home Depot, or the lighting department in Ikea.

7. Packing peanuts – Don’t toss these, instead bring them to a local packaging store – bring them your shipping boxes too so they can get a second, third or forth life.  http://loosefillpackaging.com

8. Ink cartridges – These are worth about $1 each – schools are constantly fundraising with collections for these, or try: http://recycleplace.com

9. Toothbrushes – Here’s a cool one – a toothbrush subscription.  They send you new recycled plastic toothbrushes on a pre-determined schedule, then they take back the old ones and use them to make plastic lumber for things like picnic tables.  http://www.preserveproducts.com

10. Old stuff – Before you put anything in the trash, offer it up for free on craigslist.com or freecycle.org.  Usually there’s someone out there that wants what you have, especially if it’s free, and they’ll come pick it up!

Dreaming of a green Christmas?

December 7th, 2009 § 0

First free weekend after Thanksgiving, brought many of us to think about a tree for the holidays.  But if that left you with a paper or plastic question, read on.

The good news on real Christmas trees is that about 98% of them are grown on tree farms these days, so you’re not pulling a tree from the woods, killing animal habitats, clear cutting, etc.  These tree farms are often in areas not well suited to growing other crops.  Another green benefit – one acre of trees can produce enough oxygen to sustain 18 people.  Also, tree farms provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, and for every tree cut, at least one sapling is planted to replace it.

OK, enough Google factoids, what about fake trees?  A lot of petroleum and energy go into their manufacture, so they are not the best green decision.  On the other hand, if it saves you taking the family SUV to a far off tree lot every year for 30 years, then you might actually save a little oil.
Then there is the live tree option.  Personally I’ve gone through all these tree types, a fake tree as a kid (fond holiday memories of putting together rather than buying the family the Christmas tree), live trees, and a potted pine that we carried indoors for about four Christmases until it grew to big to carry.  It now lives in a San Francisco backyard.  The potted option is nice, but only if your house isn’t too warm and you don’t keep it inside long.  The problem is, do you want another pine in your yard in a year or three?  Personally if I’m going to add a tree to my garden, I’d prefer a fruit tree.

Which brings up another option – for a few years we decorated the indoor family Ficus.  It looked quite cute all lit up for the holidays, then in January, it went back to it’s role as a corporate looking nondescript green thing next to the living room couch.   In San Francisco, the Friends of the Urban Forest are offering potted trees for individuals that you essentially rent for the holidays.  You get to pick from trees such as a Magnolia, a Strawberry Tree, or a Tristania to bring home, decorate, then return to be planted along the City’s streets.

If you opt for a real tree, the most important thing you must do is make sure it’s composted afterwards.  Do not let it get into the landfill.  Municipal green pick-up or chipped in your own yard or compost pile will ensure that the nutrients in the tree are used again.

Also, think small – you don’t need to outdo the Joneses with an 11 foot tree.  It’s fun putting lights on a five foot pine, and the kids can reach every branch!  And, for energy savings, try to keep the lights to a minimum, or switch to LED strings.

Holiday shopping – set a green goal

November 30th, 2009 § 0

Green gift

OK, so maybe the worm bin isn’t right for everyone on your shopping list, but that doesn’t mean you need to abandon green this season.  Start with a green goal for your holiday shopping:  Green products or simply gifts that will encourage greener living rather than consumption.

Stress relief – think gardening tools rather than bath salts.  Instead of encouraging someone to use a ton of water to temporarily relieve stress, have them get out in their yard.  Think of the concept – give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.  Try to go the whole month without buying anything needing a ton of water added.

Electronic gadgets - before you buy, think about whether they are really making life easier.  We often get caught up in what sounds cool – useful, even necessary.  My favorite was an electronic voice activated shopping list recorder that you mount to your refrigerator.  It then prints your shopping list when you’re ready.  Nice idea, but was paper and pencil really not working that well?  Imagine your frustration when this gadget runs out of batteries, or when you’re standing at the store wondering what cat chop is.  See if you can buy nothing that needs batteries!

Person who has everything – try a gift certificate for fruit trees rather than yet another tie, golf club or wine opener.  Buy nothing you know they already should own.

Busy body - how about a gift certificate to an exercise class rather than yet another bottle of wine.  Go to that club/gym/studio and buy 10 of them to give out.  What if every gift you gave this season started something?  Something green, something healthy, something volunteer/donation oriented.  Try it.

Green Friday – shopping list

November 24th, 2009 § 0

Houser_091124_7096_sm

Last week I wrote about my favorite green gift item – home made sparkling water or soda from SodaStream.com. Now what else can you get? There’s always the stainless steel water bottles and the reusable bags, but let’s get beyond that – though if you know that someone needs them: ReUseableBags.com. Let’s get creative:

1. Mint tea – no, don’t go buy any. That weed that you grumble about during the summer – it takes over your garden beds and you can’t seem to get rid of it – remember what they say about life giving you lemons. To make tea – pick long stems, group and tie tightly with twine, hang in a paper bag in a dark closet for 2-4 weeks. When it’s dry, remove the leaves, crush, buy cool tins – give away as holiday gifts.

2. Rosemary rub – same idea as above, only pick rosemary sprigs, dry the same way, add equal parts salt, pepper and dried minced garlic. Buy cool tins or bottles – SpecialtyBottle.com

3. Nothing – a wonderful gift: Available in many flavors: make someone dinner, host a party for them, deliver Sunday brunch, donate to their favorite charity, volunteer your time in their honor. StoryofStuff.com

4. Seeds – get the kids involved. Got a pile of pumpkin seeds you meant to roast? Still have some corn on the cob in the garden? String beans getting huge and inedible? Package up some dried seeds in small coin envelopes and let the kids decorate the envelopes or make cool sticker labels.

5. Worm bin – OK you may need to save this for the eco-geek on your shopping list, but they are fun, educational, clean (no odor), and very useful – worm casings are one of the best fertilizers around. RealGoods.com

720 less bottles

November 23rd, 2009 § 0

Sparkling water

Last year at this time, I wrote about one of my favorite green purchases of the year.  After 18 months of use, I am still a huge fan of the home soda maker from Soda Stream.

No I don’t get any kickbacks, I just love this thing for a number of reasons.  Prior to using it, my family would use about 4-5 bottles of sparkling water each week.  Add to that the 6 bottles of Snapple we put away, and a carton or two of juice.  While we recycled all those bottles, it still took a fair bit of energy to make, transport and recycle.  Now, almost all of it has been replaced by sparkling water – made with tap water in a few seconds.

The soda maker costs about $200 and comes with glass bottles and CO2 cartridges.  Each cartridge is good for about 30 bottles of sparkling water.  After you use up a couple of CO2 cartridges, you log onto the website, order replacements (about $30 for 2), put yours on your doorstep and in a couple days you have new ones.

The results:

About 40 less bottles being bought, carried, stored and recycled each month

I’ve lost weight skipping those Snapples and drinking half sparkling water and half juice in the morning

We’ve saved approximately $500 including the cost of the soda maker and the CO2 refills.

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/


« Older Entries