New England Couple Works to Reduce Use of Mid East Oil. Come Learn!
From LadyHawk:
Ron and I are contributing to reducing use of Mid East oil. We installed energy efficient windows, a pellet stove in the basement (replacing the wood burning stove) and an energy efficient wood burning insert in the fire place (rather than just an open fireplace with a glass screen. Between the fire wood and pellets we've reduced the use of our oil markedly. We have two 300 gallon oil tanks in the basement. Last year we used only one of those tanks ALL YEAR! We fuel up in the summer and don't see the oil man again until the following summer. This is in NEW ENGLAND! Before those windows, the pellet stove and the wood burning insert were installed we would use up about 900 gallons a season of oil even though we used a wood burning stove in the basement all winter.
Caveats:
Keep in mind that pellets are not free. The current cost of pellets is getting up there to compete with the cost of oil, but pellets are a renewable resource that burns fairly cleanly and the fine ash residue is good for the garden. Also, pellets are purchased either from a US or Canadian supplier, keeping the $$ closer to home. There is some transportation cost of gas to get the pellets to the point of use.
Wood is free for the taking (off our neighbors' land), but it does need to be hauled, split and stacked. Some gas is used in the truck (for hauling), the chain saw and the running of our log splitter engine, about 15 gallons a season, I'd estimate. Though for the purist, logs can be split by hand.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Green laundry: a wash load of savings!
If you are looking to save money while creating a healthier environment for your home, you are in luck today.
One group of cleaning products offers not only savings to consumers but a way to remove harmful substances from your family and the environment.
Laundry detergent, stain removers and bleach constitute irritants and harmful substances we continuously encounter. Greener products from Bio-Kleen, Seventh Generation and Ecover perform as well or better than more toxic brands and can cost up to nine cents less per load than familiar name brands like Tide or Gain.
Laundry Product *Cost/Load
Bio-Kleen $0.15
Ecover $0.18
Gain $0.20
Tide $0.24
Baking Soda $0.25
Seventh Generation $0.27
Trader Joe's $0.09 - 0.18
*Based on loads advertised per fluid oz or dry oz.
Even better, you can double your savings by using half the detergent you normally use per wash load. Add a fourth cup of baking soda to boost the cleaning power.
By adding a half cup of white vinegar or a few tablespoons of borax to rinse water you can brighten your wash and keep chlorine bleach out of the environment.
Chlorine is harmful to the immune and reproductive systems and is implicated as a possible carcinogen.
If every household removed just one 64 oz. bottle of bleach from their laundry rooms, 10.9 m pounds of chlorine could be held from entering the environment.[1]
TIP: Add a fourth cup of baking soda to rinse water to make clothes feel soft and look and smell like they’ve been flapping in fresh air and sunshine.
Consult with the Green Heloise of cleaning products, Annie Berthold-Bond, in Better Basics for the Home by Pocket Books for great tips on saving money. I bought her book recently and love it. This woman has researched every conceivable savings and health-related green strategy for items from drain cleaners to facial cleansers.
Check out the Washington Toxics Coalition http://www.watoxics.org/ for reliable information on risks and substitutions for many new products.
Since the EPA estimates that the average home has 150 cleaning products, we could all be sitting atop a hazardous waste site - our homes! That headache or rash could be something off-gassing from you carpet, paint or synthetic product.
Armed with gentler laundry products, gallon of white vinegar and baking soda, you can save hundreds of dollars each year, create a much healthier environment for your family and keep the planet green, too.
[1] Seventh Generation
If you are looking to save money while creating a healthier environment for your home, you are in luck today.
One group of cleaning products offers not only savings to consumers but a way to remove harmful substances from your family and the environment.
Laundry detergent, stain removers and bleach constitute irritants and harmful substances we continuously encounter. Greener products from Bio-Kleen, Seventh Generation and Ecover perform as well or better than more toxic brands and can cost up to nine cents less per load than familiar name brands like Tide or Gain.
Laundry Product *Cost/Load
Bio-Kleen $0.15
Ecover $0.18
Gain $0.20
Tide $0.24
Baking Soda $0.25
Seventh Generation $0.27
Trader Joe's $0.09 - 0.18
*Based on loads advertised per fluid oz or dry oz.
Even better, you can double your savings by using half the detergent you normally use per wash load. Add a fourth cup of baking soda to boost the cleaning power.
By adding a half cup of white vinegar or a few tablespoons of borax to rinse water you can brighten your wash and keep chlorine bleach out of the environment.
Chlorine is harmful to the immune and reproductive systems and is implicated as a possible carcinogen.
If every household removed just one 64 oz. bottle of bleach from their laundry rooms, 10.9 m pounds of chlorine could be held from entering the environment.[1]
TIP: Add a fourth cup of baking soda to rinse water to make clothes feel soft and look and smell like they’ve been flapping in fresh air and sunshine.
Consult with the Green Heloise of cleaning products, Annie Berthold-Bond, in Better Basics for the Home by Pocket Books for great tips on saving money. I bought her book recently and love it. This woman has researched every conceivable savings and health-related green strategy for items from drain cleaners to facial cleansers.
Check out the Washington Toxics Coalition http://www.watoxics.org/ for reliable information on risks and substitutions for many new products.
Since the EPA estimates that the average home has 150 cleaning products, we could all be sitting atop a hazardous waste site - our homes! That headache or rash could be something off-gassing from you carpet, paint or synthetic product.
Armed with gentler laundry products, gallon of white vinegar and baking soda, you can save hundreds of dollars each year, create a much healthier environment for your family and keep the planet green, too.
[1] Seventh Generation
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