When old man winter comes knocking at our door,  as he most certainly has today, I start to think about keepping warm.  Inevitably, I want that to be as cost effective as possible but also as environmentally friendly as possible.  Thankfully staying warm and green on those long, winter nights without seeing your monthly bills skyrocket as the temperature falls in not out of the question.

A good place to start is checking for drafts coming from the doors and windows. Look to see if the caulking or weather stripping is damaged. If it is damaged or even destroyed, replace it immediately.

When replacing old weather stripping or caulking, it is important to remove it thoroughly before placing the new materials onto your windows and doors.

Another good tip for preventing drafts from your windows is to hang thick curtains, preferably lined ones.  Draw the curtains closed during the evening and night hours. Open them to the warmth of the sun during the daytime hours.

Additionally, you can also invest in a draft excluder for the bottom of your door to prevent drafts from entering your home. Ideally, you should follow this strategy at night when the air is typically at its coldest and the draft excluder will be less of an inconvenience.

If ther draft is really bad you may consider replacing old, outdated windows and doors. Replacing energy-inefficient windows and doors with energy-efficient windows and doors will save on heating costs. Plus, they should not require annual bouts of caulking and weather stripping.

Although this type of home improvement can be expensive, most home improvement stores offer sales throughout the year – with the downturn in construction there are some really good deals to be made at the moment. In addition, discontinued styles are often sold at cost or close to cost just so the manufacturer can make room for new merchandise. This type of home improvement can raise the market value of your home, while also lowering your utility bills at the same time.

Another money-saving strategy for the winter is to purchase and install programmable thermostats in each room where it is possible to do so. Programmable thermostats can help to reduce the cost of heating your home. They can be set to lower the temperature during the times throughout the day and evening when you do not need the heat. This strategy saves on energy use and cost.

Another money-saving strategy is to replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. If you simply cannot do away with all of your incandescent bulbs, replace the ones that you can afford to replace. Fluorescent bulbs use less energy, and this fact can be particularly important in the winter months when lights are needed more frequently.

Finally, if at any time you intend to replace any of your appliances, purchase replacements that feature the Energy Star® logo. They really do use less energy and save you money in the process. During peak periods of winter energy use, you will be glad that you replaced your old, outdated hot water heater, furnace, or oven with an energy-efficient model.

It is important to follow as many of the above strategies as you can in order to exercise winter energy conservation. After all, what is the point of staying indoors if you can’t snuggle up?

source: www.eco-wisdom.com

You’ve probably already noticed the first hints of autumn: a blush of color in the leaves; earlier sunsets; and cooler evenings.  In just a few days, our calendars will catch up with nature, and we’ll begin the headlong rush toward winter.

Spring and autumn are the “fix-up” seasons, as we make ready for big changes in the weather. What you do over the next few weeks can make a tremendous difference to the size of your environmental footprint through the winter. So we’ve put together a few autumn to-do items to get you started. Sharpen your pencil — and start checking a few off your list!

In the home

* Check your weather stripping. You should do this twice a year. Look for cracks and deterioration, and make sure your door seals are tight.

* Review your attic insulation, particularly if your home is over 20 years old. This is the area in which you can make the most dramatic savings in annual heating bills. Take a ruler into the attic. If you have less than a foot of insulation, you probably need more.

* Seal your windows. Once you’re past warm weather, unplug and seal your window units. If it’s practical, store them. This will also allow you to seal your windows with energy-efficient plastic film.

* Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL or LED lighting. Shorter days and cooler temperatures means more time spent indoors. If you’ve not already re-lamped with energy efficient bulbs, now is the time.

* Install a programmable thermostat. Smart temperature control can easily save 10% of your annual heating and cooling bills – a significant reduction in your household’s carbon footprint. Basic programmable thermostats can be purchased for less than €25, so you’ll recover you investment very quickly.

In Your Yard

* Start a compost pile. Compost heaps need both green and brown matter to get cooking — but there’s no shortage of carbon-rich leaves in the fall. Grab then while you can. Check out our Green your garden section for more info.

* Consider planting trees. Some varieties do well in the gap between summer’s heat and the real onset of winter. Consult your local nursery or garden centre for advice on what sort of trees might be appropriate for autumn planting.

* Bring your summer herbs indoors. There’s no reason not to enjoy fresh basil, mint, and rosemary through the winter months — and having some green indoors will remind you of spring. It takes a few weeks to transition herbs to indoor living, so start before the weather turns.

In your car

* Most automobile owner’s manuals recommend a switch of engine oil weights between seasons. If you did this last summer, switch to your car’s recommended winter weight as soon as the weather cools.

* There’s really no such thing as a “safe” antifreeze, but if you’re getting your radiator flushed before winter, ask for a propylene glycol (PG) formula. It’s less toxic to children, pets, and wildlife than ethylene glycol (EG) coolants.

* Do you have a roof rack for carrying summer gear? Remove it until next year. Roof racks decrease your vehicle’s aerodynamic efficiency and hurts fuel mileage — particularly at motorway speeds.  While you’re at it, check you car for any unnecessary summer items, such as coolers or picnic gear. No need to burn fuel by carrying unnecessary weight.

* Evaluate your tires. Worn tread and improper tire pressure aren’t just bad for fuel economy — they’re not safe, particularly if you live in an area where icing roads are likely.  Inspect, rotate, and balance.  Whip out your tire pressure gauge at least once a month and check all four corners.

We’ll make this list a baker’s dozen: If you’re shopping for jumpers, jackets, and winter wear, start at your local secondhand store.  It’s not just price – though shopping at thrift shop and engaging in the new sale circuit can save your hundreds of euros – it’s putting perfectly good clothing back to use, rather than consuming fresh resources. You may also be supporting a worthy local charity your purchase.

(via Lighter Footstep )

Did you know that up to 50% of the average homes energy consumption goes to heating? And much of the building′s heat loss is through it′s windows – so not surprisingly up to 1/5th of your heating bill could be going to heat loss!

(more…)

Washing dishes uses water, energy, chemicals, as well as your valuable time, so an efficient approach can save a lot of each. If used properly a dishwasher can be more environmentally friendly than hand washing.

Here are ten tips and some more in-depth knowledge to keep that dishwasher running green.

• Wash in off-peak hours of the day

Try to only use your dishwasher in non-peak utility hours or even use the built-in timer if you have an Energy Saver dishwahser. This will save money in the long run.

• Only run the washer with a full load

The rule of thumb is to only use the dishwasher when you have a full load (much the same rule as with a clothes washing machine.)  This helps utilise water, energy and the soap more efficiently.

• Be selective when choosing  your dishwasher

Choose a dishwasher that is rated for energy and water efficiency.  You can start by looking for Energy Star rated appliances, which use 25% less energy than the mandated minimum.  Also, know how to read the yellow EnergyGuide sticker you′ll find on all new dishwashers – as well as other appliances.

• Go green with the soap you use

Opt for dishwashing liquid or powder that is all natural, biodegradable, and free of petroleum and phosphates.

• Skip the pre-rinse

Most dishwashers today are powerful enough to get the all the gunk off, so a lot of pre-rinsing by hand is often just a waste of water and time. Plus, if you rinse all of the dirt off, your dog will have nothing to lick off while you′re throwing those plates in.

• Air Time

Instead of letting your washer use electric heat or a fan to dry the dishes, just open the door at the end of the washing cycle and let them air dry.  Leave the dishes to dry overnight and they′ll be ready for you when you wake up!!

Sleep Tight!

 Modern life has become so complicated that it is often hard to know what is the right, green thing to do. For instance, which is better for the environment: tomatoes grown in Spain and transported to Ireland, or tomatoes grown here in heated greenhouses?

To tackle this complexity, researchers and companies are putting considerable effort into ‘carbon counting’ , to give us answers in the form of simple numbers.  Answers we can then use to reduce our carbon footprint.

For the last two years, I’ve been researching and compiling a new practical guide to green living, and if I learned one thing, it is that there are no easy answers.  Carbon counting is often only half the story, and if we really want to reduce our footprint, we need to look at the bigger picture.  With that in mind, I’ve drawn up 10 top tips (see below), that can help, and may even save you some time and money.

Focus only on CO2 and the ‘carbon footprint’, and the Spanish tomatoes will be ‘greener’, because the environmental cost of heating an Irish greenhouse is greater than transporting the fruits from Spain.

Perhaps a better question is to ask when is the best time to eat tomatoes?  Now, the answer becomes: in late summer, when they can be grown here without the need for heating.

Or take chicken.  It turns out that, when you do the sums, an organic chicken has a bigger carbon footprint than a conventional one, kg for kg, because organic birds take longer and need more food to reach a comparable weight.

Again, rather than focusing solely on CO2, and encouraging consumers to eat green (conventional) chicken, we need to persuade people to eat less meat, regardless of its carbon footprint.

Which brings me to my 10 green commandments.  Instead of trying to put numbers on things — numbers that will change every time some step in the process changes, forcing us to recalculate, and revise the listings — I prefer simple rules of thumb.

And that’s what I’ve tried to do in my new book, Drive like a Woman, Shop like a Man.  From the 101 tried and tested tips, here are 10 that I hope will help you to live a little more lightly over the coming year, and may even save you some valuable time and money.

1. Get free stuff – try sourcing things you need free on Dublinwaste.ie and Freecycle

2.Eat less meat. (Thou shalt not kill, unnecessarily!)

3. Use off-peak electricity – reduce peak demand, spread the load, and we won’t need to build so many new power plants.

4. Get an SUV! ( A superior urban vehicle — with just two wheels)

5. Eat some of your garden. Forget Spain, grow your own tomatoes.

6. Read newspapers online — quicker, and saves on paper

7.Choose what you wear ‘carefully’ – avoid clothes that need dry cleaning, and look for organic cotton

8.Eat the seasons. Now is the season of parsnips, carrots, and winter greens.

9. Drink sustainable water. From a tap, not a truck

10. Spread the word –  if you find something useful, don’t forget to tell your friends and neighbours.

And a happy Chinese New Year to you.