8 Ways to Green your Pool

Many people are enjoying the last few days of summer in their backyard, grilling, cutting the grass, and lounging in the pool.

While reading earth911.com, I stumbled on a really neat article: 8 Ways to Green your Pool.

Some of the tips include: Switch your pool to a saltwater pool (to avoid the chemicals), use a solar pool cover, and planting shrubs and trees around your pool to fight water evaporation.

You can read the whole article, written by Lindsey Wilson of Earth911.com on their website and read other tips on GreenYour.com, or Discovery’s Planet Green.

Electric Bikes

Have you ever wanted to reduce your carbon footprint, but didn’t want to give up the fun and comfort of personal transportation?

I found a way the other day to do both … without gasoline.

There are several electric bikes on the market that are fun to ride, recharge with standard household current, or by pedaling more than you use (which was great on the downhills!). The model I tried was made by EPlus Electric Bikes and was a blast to ride.

It can be as much or little of a workout as you want.

The cheap thrill was by getting the bike up to 20+ mph by pedaling, then being able to maintain this speed using the electric motor. This was especially gratifying as the cars that passed were probably wondering how I was going this speed with no visible effort (you should have seen the expression on their faces!). The bike was well balanced, requires minimal maintenance, and offers a great alternative mode of transportation.

Energy Savers Handbook

When I’m traveling the country educating people on Dominion’s energy conservation initiatives and what people can do to conserve energy around the house, I often get asked for an “all in one” book people can get to help them save money.

The answer is easy (and it’s free)! The Department of Energy has an Energy Savers handbook, consisting of 36 pages packed full of information on tips to save energy and money around the house.

View and download the PDF version (be green, read it on the screen!) here.

Back to School – The Environmentally Friendly Way

This school year, why not fill your backpack up with eco-friendly merchandise and turn your friends green with envy. On the first day of school remember to pack:

• Reusable lunch box
• Recycled paper / notepads
• Binder made of recycled materials
• Refillable pens and pencils
• Soy crayons
• A cloth or rubber based book bag. Nylon book bags are so last year.
• A staple free stapler

These products are pretty mainstream that a visit to your local retail store with your school supply list in hand should result in a eco-friendly school year.

eBill is Just Too Easy

Day by day, the world is moving to electronic billing. Some people choose it to save a stamp, others choose it to save a tree, and a large group of people choose it for the convenience. Whatever your reason, electronic billing is definitely green.

According to PayitGreen.org…

If 20 percent of households (22,876,800 households) were to switch to electronic bills, statements, and payments, every year the collective impact would:

• Save 150,939,615 pounds of paper
• Save 1,811,275 trees
• Avoid creating 1,439,601,370 gallons of wastewater
• Avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic-size swimming pools
• Avoid filling 8,597,328 household garbage bags with waste
• Avoid filling 6,141 garbage trucks with waste
• Avoid using 102,945,600 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements and payments
• Avoid producing 3,920,802,916 pounds (1,960,402 tons) of greenhouse gas emissions

Right now, our eBill team has a promotion I want to spotlight:

• Easy (View your bill online)
• Easier (View your bill online + Bank Draft)
• Easiest (View your bill online + Bank Draft + Budget Billing)

I chose to do the Easiest option which is fantastic and extremely easy (which is great for me!). I pay the same amount each month (which helps me budget), my payment automatically comes out at the same time each month, and I have one less piece of mail to sort and deal with when I sit down to pay bills.

I encourage you to check out the eBill solutions for Dominion and other bills you might have.

Energy Saving Tips for Your Dorm Room

Ah, the glory days of college.

Have an incredible Orientation weekend, get your half of the room all decorated and ‘homey’ and never have to worry about another meal since they are made for you in the Dining Hall.

However, just because you pay college tuition and room and board, don’t think you shouldn’t worry about conserving energy. The more students are able to be conscious of their energy use, the less money the college pays to the local utility and more money that can be spent on student activities or other campus perks.

Here are some easy ways to go green in your dorm room:

• Plug your computer system or stereo into a power strip and turn off the strip when you leave the room or go to sleep.
• For that study lamp, use a compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Wash only full loads of laundry (but don’t overstuff the washer or dryer either).
• Set your computer to go to sleep after 10 minutes of in activity. Screensavers do not save energy - but sleep mode does.
• Report any leaks, drips, or maintenance issues to your facility manager.
• Nothing like early attic or hand-me-down furniture to help stock up your room. It creates a unique living environment while avoiding purchasing new goods.
• Purchase ENERGY STAR appliances (fridges, microwaves, computers).
• Use a laptop rather than a PC, it uses much less energy.

Why not encourage your Student Government Association to take a ‘green’ pledge for the academic year or encourage faculty and staff to support environmental initiatives like we mentioned back in May.

“I am what I Ink” - Soy Based Ink

At the bottom of a lot of e-mail I receive, people have begun adding phrases like ”Think before you print” or “Save a tree, only read on the screen.”

Sometimes there are certain e-mails or documents that are necessary for hard copy files and require printing. But, there are ways to make the Print Option more eco-friendly.

One way to mind the environment is to use soy-based ink cartridges for your printer. Soy-based ink emits fewer VOC’s than oil-based inks.

With any type ink cartridge, make every effort to re-fill or recycle the old one.

Laptops vs PC Power Consumption

Ah, I love the good old college days. You know, the couple weeks you get antsy before you go back to college, or the lucky freshmen who have no idea about the great journey they’re going to embark on (mainly because freshman parking is the furthest point on campus). Many schools across the country are participating in green initiatives (See our post on Cool Green Campuses) but buying a new computer is a chance for you to take the green initiative into your own hands!

As we all know, laptops use significantly less energy than desktop computers. On the high end, a laptop might use about 45 watts, compared to a desktop which uses about 200. That’s 155 watts in difference! If the 15,000 students at your school all had laptops versus desktops and they were all running at the same time, there would be 2,325,000 watts, or 2.325 Mega-watts in difference. That’s about the amount of power a wind turbine outputs!

When you’re out purchasing a computer, we encourage you to get an ENERGY STAR® qualified product. They use less energy and the units must meet specific efficiency criteria.

Lastly, check out the Energy Star Computer Power Management Savings Calculator. You can plug in some stats about your computer (watts it uses), your energy usage patterns, and settings (sleep settings) and the calculator will produce some interesting savings results.

Have fun this school year!

New Year’s Resolution Tip #8 of 12 – Adjust the Temperature on your Refrigerator

Estimated Cost: $6.00 + shipping for a thermometer or FREE if your fridge has a numbered temperature dial.

Ease of Install: Very Easy

Other Notes: The Department of Energy and Energy Star recommend you keep your refrigerator temperature between 35 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit – this is the ideal temperature so your food doesn’t spoil nor do you use excess energy to over chill your refrigerator. I found a $6 refrigerator/freezer thermometer which you can put in your unit to see the temperature.

Other refrigerator tips on saving energy?

• Place your refrigerator in a cool place (away from the oven, dishwasher, etc)
• Allow circulation behind the fridge
• Clean the condenser coils behind the unit
• Check the door seals to ensure it closes properly
• Keep the door closed (minimize the amount of time you keep the door open)