Dolphin’s Dock

Happy Earth Day. I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t been keeping up with my Green Tip Tuesdays, but hopefully you can celebrate Earth Day by find just ONE thing in your life that you can do “greener” and make that change today!

Buy in bulk.

Buying non-perishable items in bulk saves you cash, but it also can save lot in packaging waste.

Pay your bills online.

It’s convenient, it’s easy, it’s fast, and you’ll save all the paper that goes into envelopes, statements, checks, etc. Over the holidays I talked my mother into paying a bill online she previously paid by mail because they charged her a dollar more to pay online. When I pointed out that she wasn’t using a stamp or an envelope so shes was really only paying a matter of cents for the convenience of online billing, she decided to start paying it online after all.

Deck the halls with LEDs

For every week (two hours a night) you run 300 LED Christmas lights on your tree instead of incandescent, you’ll reduce your CO2 output by 15 lbs. And next year, you won’t have to worry about the “burnt out bulb” problem either.

Close the curtains.

If you get alot of sun on one side of your home during the day, leaving those curtains open may be a good idea, but pulling the curtains closed at night helps keep your heat (or AC in the summer) inside your home where it belongs.

Some quick tips for a green Thanksgiving:

• Buy locally grown ingredients.
• Use cloth napkins and reusable plates and silverware.
• Make enough, but not too much food.
• Cooking and lots of guests raise the air temperature so you can cut down the thermostat a few degrees.

Water your garden in the morning.

Ok, unless you live in some tropical location, you’re probably not devoting alot of time to garden maintence right now. But if next summer ends up being a dry as this one was, you can save water by watering it in the morning before it gets hot. This allows the ground to absorb more water than daytime water, in which alot of the water evaporates into the air. Do it in the morning though, watering at night can make your plants rot!

Download Computer Software.

Put that high-speed internet connection to good use. Most software today is available for purchase and download directly from the web. By buying online, you save yourself a trip (and that gas) to the store (it also means the product isn’t having to be shipped to a retail location), plus you’re getting what you need (the software) without all the crap you don’t (the CD/DVD, the jewel case, the printed manual, the packing, the box, and the plastic wrap around the box).

Waterless washing.

Last week I mentioned that taking your car to an automatic car wash could save water and energy as compared to using a hose in your driveway, but if you want to save even more, try a waterless car wash. I use a phosphate-free brand called EcoTouch, but there are many different ones out there. It’s obviously more work than driving through an automatic car wash, but it’s easier than washing with a hose. Just spray on, wipe off, and buff with a clean cloth. No water use, no energy use (other than human energy), no mess, and no clean up (just toss the cloths in the laundry).

Don’t wash by hand

Dishwashers use alot less water (and even less power) per load as compared to even the most efficient hand-washing, and get your dishes cleaner (according to a comparative study by the University of Bonn). You also save quite a bit of water by driving through an automatic car wash (average <45 gallons) instead of using the hose in the driveway (average 80-140 gallons).