GoGreen Tips and Factoids

GoGreen Tips

Change to Fluorescent Bulbs - If every house in the United States changed all of the light bulbs in their house, that would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the streets.
Don't Rinse - Skip rinsing your plates before putting them into the dishwasher. In average you will save 15 gallons of water per load. Plus, you will save time.
Hang Outside to Dry - Get a cloths line or rack to dry your cloths. Your cloths will last longer and you will save money
Turn off computers at night - Don't just put them to sleep. You will save an average of 4 cents a day which ads up to $14.60 a year.
Use Both Sides of Paper - If you have a printer with a double sided print option, use it. You will save half of the amount of paper you would have normally used. Then when you are done bring it to the recycle bin.
Get rid of baths - Don't take baths, take showers. You will in average save about half the amount of water that you would if you were taking a bath.
Don't get bottled water - Instead of bottled water get a reusable container to carry water. Also you can get a filter to make your home tap taste more like bottled water. It is definitely more cost efficient.
Turn the water off when you brush - You will save 4 gallons of water doing this alone.
Shorten your shower - Every minute you cut from your shower is roughly 5 gallons of water. The less time your shower takes, the lower your impact on the environment.
Recycle Glass - If you do not recycle this, it will take a million years to decompose.
Don't Pre-Heat the Oven - Unless needed, just turn the oven on after you put the dish in it. Also, to see if it's finished just look through the glass instead of opening it.
Use Warm or Cold Setting on Washer - instead of the hot cycle use the warm or cold setting. This will save a lot of energy a year.
Turn Down your Thermostat - Every degree lower in the winter or higher in the summer you put it is a 10% decrease on your energy bill.
Turn off your lights - An easy one. Turn off your lights when you are not using them. The benefits are obvious.
Get rid of junk mail - There are many services that can help you get rid of junk mail. That will lead to a lot less trees being cut down to take up room in your mailbox.
Use Matches instead of lighters - Lighters are usually considered disposable so they will most likely end up in land fills. You can use the cardboard matches which are much more eco-friendly because they are made of recycled material.
Don't get a paper phone book - Instead of getting a paper phone book. Use a online directory instead.
Give things away - Take things that you are not going to wear or use and give it to a charity or someone who will use it.
Go to a car wash - Going to a car wash is a lot more water efficient then washing your car at home.
Stop paper bank statements - Why waste paper getting your bank statement mailed to you when you can just check it out online. MidWestOne Bank offers Secure Statements for free. Click here to sign up.
Buy Rechargeable Batteries - Even though it will take a good investment to buy these you will find yourself gaining it back in no time.
Pay your Bills Online - If every house in the US did this then we would save 18 million trees every year.
Get a reusable bag - You can't recycle plastic bags, instead get yourself a reusable bag so that you won't have to worry about carrying your necessities.
Do Errands in Bulk - Make a list of the things you have to do, and see if you can fit a couple of those things together in one ride.
Inflate your Tires - If your tires are inflated at all times your car will run more miles on less gas.
Wrap Presents Creatively - Without going out to get wrapping paper you can use newspaper, an old map, or anything else. It would look a whole lot more creative.
Plant a Tree - It's good for the air, can keep you cool, and can increase your property value.
Buy Local Produce - Consider how much energy it takes for produce from china or any other country to come here. If you have the option to buy local, do it.
Walk or Ride Your Bike When you can - If you have to go somewhere close consider riding your bike or walking there instead of your car. It's better on the environment and healthier.

GoGreen Factoids

If the thermostat in every house in America were lowered 1 degree Fahrenheit during the winter, the nation would save 230 million barrels of crude oil – enough to fill an oil tanker 400 times.

One gallon of used oil – the amount from a small car engine – can pollute 1 million gallons of fresh water and create an 8-acre oil slick.

If 40 million people were to spend 1 minute less each day in the shower over their lifetime, it would save 4 trillion gallons of water – the total amount of snow and rain that falls over the entire lower 48 states in a day.

One old cell phone recycled by each cell phone user in America would reclaim enough precious metals to create 631 solid gold replicas of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen’s funerary mask.

One hour of using a gas-operated leaf blower produces the same amount of hydrocarbonsas a car driving 4,400 miles—that’s a round trip from Salt Lake City to New York City.

If every American switched to receiving just one bill as an electronic statement instead of a paper one, the one-time savings would be 217,800,000 sheets—enough to completely blanket the island of Key West in a single layer of paper.

If metro Atlantans who normally drove to work would telecommute just one day a year instead, they would save more than $50 million in gas—enough to buy an EnergyStar compact fluorescent bulb for the desk lamps of every college student in the United States.

If every newspaper reader in the United States recycled just one typical Sunday paper, he or she could help create 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation—enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity houses. That’s nearly twice as many houses as all the Habitat homes built in America so far.

If homebuilders installed one dual-flush toilet instead of a standard low-flow toilet in every new house built in 2008, they would save 1.65 billion gallons of water a year.

If 1 quart of leftover paint was recycled from every renovation project in America this year (10 percent of all the house paint purchased in the United States is typically thrown out), it would reclaim 2.5 million gallons—enough to paint the outside of the White House every year for the next 43 centuries, or to paint San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge 250 times.

One soft drink can recycled by each elementary school student in America would save 24.8 million cans. That would be enough aluminum to create 21 Boeing 737 airplanes.

One out of every 3 pounds of the waste that Americans generate is just for packaging, which each year adds up to 77 million tons—enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans 37 times.

If every American collected 1 gallon of water once a week while waiting for the shower or bathwater to get hot (use it to water your houseplants!), the total saved would be 15.8 billion gallons of water a year—enough to fill the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., 2,338 times.

If just one passenger per each flight in the world this year packed 1 pound less of luggage, they would save enough fuel to fly a Boeing 737 around the world 474 times.

If Iowans purchased 1 percent more locally grown produce instead of fruits and vegetables shipped in from out of state, they could save enough fuel to drive a Toyota Prius back and forth from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, 211 times (visiting Iowa 422 times).

If one 20-mile trip per week was cut out (by combining errands) for every registered vehicle in the United States, 145 million fewer tons of greenhouse gases would be released into the air each year. That’s equal to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 36 coal-fired power plants.

Replacing just one 500-sheet roll of virgin toilet paper a year with one 500-sheet roll of 100 percent recycled paper in every American household would leave 424,000 trees standing—16 times as many trees as in New York City’s Central Park.

One dimmer switch replacing a regular on/off switch in every U.S. house would save the electricity necessary to light 1.2 million homes—that’s every home in the state of Arkansas.

Source: Jim Hackler, Delta Sky magazine. For more information, visit his website at www.TheUrbaneEnvironmentalist.com

Credits
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
The Aluminum Association
AZoM
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
California EPA
Cellulose Insulation Manufacturer’s Association
The Center for Research on Environment and Water
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Central Park Conservancy
The Clean Air Campaign
Conservatree
Dogwood Alliance
Earth Day Network
Eco-Cycle
Energy Information Administration
Environmental Defense Fund
Habitat for Humanity International
International Air Transport Association
International Carbon Bank & Exchange Kohler Co.
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Lutron Electronics Co.
Mobiledia
National Association of Home Builders
National Association of the Remodeling Industry
National Resources Defense Council
Newspaper Association of America
NOVA Teacher’s Guide
OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Purdue University
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Water Encyclopedia
World Wildlife Fun


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