Lights go out, you grab your flashlight – it works until you get to the stairs, then darkness.  Everyone does this next – turn it off and on three times, then bang it a couple times, then you open the battery compartment and close it again.  The next day you go hunting the in drawer for a pair of D batteries you know aren’t in there.

Before you go to the store and buy more traditional batteries – think about today’s rechargeables.  If you had rechargeable batteries in that flashlight, you’d pull them out, throw them in the charger, and put them back in the flashlight – ready to go.  Yes, they cost more up front, but you will save this money ten times over throughout the life of the batteries.  And, the convenience in knowing you don’t have to go to the store to get more – just recharge them, and throw them back into your flashlight, toy, or whatever.

Remember batteries are not garbage – regular or rechargeable – toxic to the landfill and illegal to toss!
Your options for disposal: bring to the fire department, a local hardware store, or schools for collection.

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An esthetic pet peeve, but bear with me, there’s a green “edge” to this one.

Too often I see lawns that no longer meet the sidewalk.  For years they have been “edged” with a weed wackier held vertically – inside the edge of the concrete.  Problem is, rather than cutting the grass blades on the concrete edge, the lawn is over-trimmed, digging out any grass from touching the concrete.  Over time, all the grass, sod and even dirt is swept away.  The edge of the lawn retreats until only a channel of dirt remains.  Year after year, this channel gets bigger – 4, 5, 6 inches of nothing.

Esthetically this bothers me, but environmentally it’s a problem as well.  The reason the channel forms is because the over eager trimmer exposes the soil to the air.  Without the grass covering to protect it, the dirt dries out, unable to support any growth.  The edges of the lawn begin to dry up as this parched moat expands.  More water is used to try to keep things green, and often weeds will spring up in the cavity without any competition from the grass.  Weeds then spur on the over use of chemical herbicides.

All this because of the way the trimmer is being held.

Best green option – get rid of your grass.
Good green option – If you want a clean look to the edge of the grass, then instead of holding the trimmer vertically, keep it horizontal and angle it toward the concrete.

But it’s October, why am I writing about this now?  This is a perfect time to go get a few bags of dirt, fill in the moat, and add some grass seed.  Or, ask the culprit who’s been digging the channel, to get some sod and patch it.  The Fall rains and cooler temperatures will help the seeds or the new sod set in.

And, while you’re teaching your spouse or gardener about the edging, make sure they keep the grass high – less water, less weeds.

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I was in Home Depot the other day – needed some new CFL bulbs (the curly florescent bulbs that use less energy that regular incandescent bulbs), and stood there in front of a wall of different brands.  The quality of CFLs have varied greatly over the years as – with some being shorter lasting than advertised, incapable of dimming, and my personal peeve – poor color.  I’ve returned many a bulb in the past for creepy green colored light.

So there I am standing in front of all these “environmentally friendly” bulbs and most of them are wrapped in more plastic than any old incandescent packaging every was.  Choosing purely on the basis of environmentally friendly packaging, I brought home the only one packed in cardboard.

Phillips CFLs – excellent color quality and fully recyclable packaging.

Remember, CFLs contain mercury and cannot be put in the garbage/landfill.  Instead, bring your dead bulbs back to Home Depot, Ikea of Ace Hardware for disposal.  Hopefully the city will start collecting these along with the battery collection at the Fire Department.

While incandescents are going to go away soon, CFLs are only a temporary solution.  LED bulbs are getting better and are becoming available.  Right now they make great LEDs for low voltage cans – those recessed lights in your ceiling.  These light fixtures are always a pain to change a bulb in, so putting in an incredibly long lasting LED will probably make it so you never have to change the bulb again.

And the power savings of an LED bulb – around 1/10 the power of an incandescent bulb.  Multiply that across a kitchen ceiling full of recessed lights.

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