Using Energy Efficiently This Summer
Make sure not to let the warm weather cause an increase in your energy consumption! It’s tempting to turn on your air conditioning and relax indoors to escape the 90 degree weather, but there are practical steps that you can take this summer to decrease your energy use instead. Below is a list of different suggestions to improve your energy intake.
- Keep all electronics unplugged when not in use
- Turn lights off when not in the room
- Avoid turning you air conditioning on and off throughout the day, instead keep it at a comfortable temp around 75 degrees.
- Monitor your blinds. Keeping your north and south facing blinds open during the day provides natural sunlight and allows less heat then East and West facing windows
- Use public transportation when available
- Switch your light bulbs to CFLs for 4 times less energy use then a normal bulb
- Avoid running your dish washer and washing machine with hot water
- Replace older air conditioning models to potentially save 20-40% of energy use
- Use a rain barrel to reduce water costs
- Plant trees to create a cooler wind chill in the summer months
- Don’t run water while washing dishes or brushing your teeth
- Cover your pool to keep in heat
- Caulk and weatherstrip windows, doors and outlets to prevent cool air from escaping
- Purchase energy efficient appliances
If you are curious of your energy intake, perform an at home audit! Visit http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits
These are just a few of the thousands of ways that you can save energy this summer. All the information above was gathered from the US Department of Renewable Energy’s website. Check it out for more information at www.energysavers.gov.
Although the environment was not the main focus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act past in February, many were excited to see $60 billion dollars of Obama’s Plan going towards greening our country. These activities include tax credits for greening buildings, water purification, creating millions of jobs, reducing carbon emissions, as well as moving towards energy independence. One of the major agencies that is being supported includes the Department of Transportation. This funding is going towards increasing public transit, the development of more hybrid cars as well as 150,000 transportation related jobs.
Obama is also working to develop an Ocean Protection Plan as of June 12, 2009. This plan hopefully will help support our coasts, oceans and as well as the Great Lakes from hazards such as climate change, over fishing habitat loss, diease and pollution. The oceans are usually considered "carbon sinks", taking in about a third of the worlds carbon. However with higher levels of carbon new studies determining the acidic ocean levels have reached the lowest pH levels never seen. According to Brandon Keim, a writer for Wired Science "as seawater absorbs CO2, the proportion of hydrogen ions falls: Average oceanic pH has dropped by 0.1 since pre-industrial times, and will likely fall by another 0.3 to 0.4 units within the next century. These fractional numbers may sound insignificant, but they represent an unprecedented change in both degree and pace in the last 650,000 years, and marine life may be ill-equipped to cope". Hopefully the Ocean Protection Plan will be successfully implemented to help prevent this prediction.
The newest act , The American Clean Energy and Security Act, was past this past Friday. President Obama States, "by creating a system of clean energy incentives, this bill complements our earlier actions to raise automobile fuel-efficiency standards, to double our capacity to generate electricity from sources like wind and sun, and to make significant new investments in the research and development of home-grown, renewable sources of energy". Now we wait to see how congress will take the next steps towards implementing this bill.
No matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, it’s great to see the potential for positive environmental impact within the next few years. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we will begin to see improvements throughout our country, moving towards becoming a green nation.
Volunteers needed for Illinois Plastic Pot Recycling Initiative (IPPRI)
This important local project has seen a great response from the community in the tons of materials collected - however, your help is needed to help in the sorting of the plastic garden pots to prepare them for recycling. Two weekly workdays have been scheduled at the ODC in Normal, where the IPPRI project is housed. Assistance is needed Tuesdays from
9:30am - 12:30pm
and Wednesdays from
8:30am - 12pm. For more information or to volunteer, contact Michael Brown at mbrown@ecologyactioncenter.org or 309-454-3169.
Backyard composting is the easiest way to reduce smelly garbage from your home and create rich soil nutrients to feed your garden at the same time.
The Ecology Action Center will host a build-it-yourself workshop that includes everything you need to know to successfully compost your kitchen waste. We will discuss the various types of compost systems and techniques in addition to troubleshooting tips to help you avoid potential problems. Also a discussion on vermicomposting will be offered. At the workshop, you will build your own composter to take home and put to work.
Register to build your own backyard enclosed composter at one of 3 workshops offered by the Ecology Action Center in July:
Thursday, July 16 5:30 pm
Saturday, July 18 10:00 am
Saturday, July 18 1:00 pm
Participants will make and take home an enclosed composter ready for use.
$12 / EAC members
$15 / non-members
Workshop space is limited and registration ahead of time is required; registration forms are available for download at www.ecologyactioncenter.org or by stopping by the Ecology Action Center at 202 West College in Normal. For more information, call the Ecology Action Center at 309/454-3169 or email dbelz@ecologyactioncenter.org.
Ready-to-use Rainbarrels from Prairie Rain Harvester.
Save money and help protect a natural resource!
Rainbarrels work to collect rainwater from the roof of your house so you can then redistribute the water throughout your garden. By using rainbarrels you not only help conserve water, but you help keep our local water supplies clean by reducing stormwater runoff contamination
These great rainbarrels cost $80 (with sales tax) for EAC members or $95 (with sales tax) for nonmembers and can be purchased at the Ecology Action Center during our regular business hours - Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.