Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition » Green Tips

Fix a Leak Week: March 15-21

JDCap — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:06:58 +0000

Every Drop Counts
Did you know that an American home can waste, on average, more than 10,000 gallons of water every year due to running toilets, dripping faucets, and other household leaks?

Nationwide, more than 1 trillion gallons of water leak from U.S. homes each year. That’s why WaterSense is promoting Fix a Leak Week from March 15 to 21, 2010, to remind Americans to check their plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks.

Fixing Leaks Across the Nation
Help make Fix a Leak Week a flowing success! Visit the WaterSense website and click on Flow to learn about events and programs taking place near you. Also find step-by-step instructions on how to fix a leak and much more!

WaterSense – Protecting the Future of Our Nation’s Water Supply

JDCap — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:56:31 +0000

Did you know that household leaks can waste more than 1 trillion gallons a year nationwide? Water is vital to the survival of everything on the planet and is limited in supply. The Earth might seem like it has abundant water, but in fact less than 1 percent is available for human use. Managing water is a growing concern in the United States. Communities across the country are starting to face challenges regarding water supply and water infrastructure. This is also true for New Jersey, despite an average rainfall of 44 inches per year.

To help address this problem, WaterSense was launched in 2006. WaterSense is an EPA-sponsored partnership program that seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by promoting water efficiency and enhancing the market for water-efficient products, programs, and practices.

WaterSense brings together local water utilities and governments, product manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and other stakeholders to:
* Decrease indoor and outdoor non-agricultural water use through the adoption of more efficient products and practices.
* Help consumers make water-efficient choices, including differentiating between products and services in the marketplace and adopting simple daily activities that reduce water use.
* Encourage innovation in manufacturing
* Establish and standardize rigorous certification criteria that ensure product efficiency, performance, and quality.

WaterSense helps consumers identify water-efficient products and programs that meet WaterSense water efficiency and performance criteria. Products carrying the WaterSense label perform well, help save money, and encourage innovation in manufacturing.

WaterSense partners with manufacturers, retailers and distributors, and utilities to bring WaterSense labeled products to the marketplace and make it easy to purchase high-performing, water-efficient products.

WaterSense also partners with irrigation professionals and irrigation certification programs to promote water-efficient landscape irrigation practices.

Check out the WaterSense website to see what you can do!

Energy Efficiency Tip from Earth Man!

JDCap — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:21:30 +0000

Check out Earth Man’s video and follow the tips listed below to save energy while showering:

1. Set your hot-water heater to 118 degrees farenheit.

2. Get a low flow shower head at your local hardware or home improvement store.

3. But a digital shower timer. These can range from inexpensive to expensive models which shut off the water after a certain period of time. Make sure you buy one that you will be able to see through the steam of the shower and doesn’t wake up the household!

The 5 Percent website has some good tips!

Idling…what’s the problem?

JDCap — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:08:08 +0000

Idling vehicles waste fuel and money, causes harmful emissions that lead to health problems, and can lead to hefty fines. Diesel in particular is a likely human carcinogen, containing fine particulates commonly called “soot”. Emissions worsen asthma, bronchitis, and existing allergies. Children are especially susceptible.

Fine particle pollution may actually cause more deaths in NJ than homicides and car accidents combined. The American Heart Association has concluded that air pollution increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

New vehicles don’t take long to warm up at all. And not only does idling increase maintenance costs over time, but idling fines begin at $100 for passenger vehicles and $250 for commercial vehicles. Learn more and checkout the website Stop the Soot.

Up to $1,500 Tax Credit for Home Energy Improvements

JDCap — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:12:27 +0000

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes funds for home owners who want to make energy efficiency improvements. Consumers who purchase and install specific products, such as energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment in existing homes can receive a tax credit for 30% of the cost, up to $1,500, for improvements “placed in service” starting January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2010. See EnergyStar.gov for a complete summary of energy efficiency tax credits available to consumers.

Recycle CFLs

JDCap — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:54:11 +0000

Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) greatly reduce energy consumption and energy bills, but they do contain mercury. While these bulbs last for years and years, they do burn out eventually. When they burn out, CFLs must be disposed of properly.

Most municipalities don’t have programs in place to recycle CFLs on a regular basis. Hudson County sets up recycling days for CFLs twice in the spring and twice each fall. Visit the Hudson County Improvement Authority’s website for dates. If you don’t want to wait, Home Depot collects CFLs at every store. The store located closest to Hoboken is on Grove Street in Jersey City right by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel.

Energy Vampires

JDCap — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:23:21 +0000

Energy “Vampires” are electronic devices that suck power even when they’re turned off. “Vampire” seems to be an appropriate term since these devices suck power with their “two teeth”, or, the prongs of the plug when placed in an outlet.

If you’re wondering whether wasted Vampire power is really a problem across the United States, then consider these facts: according to the EnergyStar website, televisions waste approximately 25% in Vampire power. VCR’s suck up about 30%, and cordless phones eat up a whopping 66%.

As far as your electric bill is concerned, if you have very many Vampires in your home that are sucking up power even when appliances are turned off, you can be spending approximately 10 – 20 percent more on your monthly bills than you need to. It’s estimated that the electricity that’s lost to Vampires in the United States is somewhere between $1 billion to $3.5 billion every year.

If you need further proof of this energy hog, turn off all of the lights in your home, then walk around and take a quick tour. You’ll see two dots on your microwave’s control panel, maybe an illuminated “on/off” button on your stereo, lit-up clock displays and probably many more tiny lights that use electric. Other energy Vampires are chargers, printers, cordless power tools, power adapters and low voltage transformers.

So, how can you become a Vampire Slayer and cut hidden energy costs in your home? It’s really pretty simple. Unplug electronic devices like microwaves, televisions, stereos and cell phone chargers when they’re not in use.

Walking School Buses

JDCap — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:56:52 +0000

Walking helps keep your children fit, teaches them valuable pedestrian skills and contributes to lessening carbon dioxide emissions. Changing behaviors of children and parents require creative solutions that are safe and fun. Implementing a walking school bus can be both.

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. If that sounds simple, it is, and that’s part of the beauty of the walking school bus. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.

Bring “Buster the Bus”, the Walking School Bus, to your child’s school. Ask your PTO to invite the Hudson County Transportation Management Association to present its “Walking School Buses” program. Call 201.792.2825 for more information.

What to do With That Old Computer?

JDCap — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:43:57 +0000

Computers, especially monitors, contain heavy metals and toxins that are dangerous if not disposed of properly. If you have an old computer that’s still in decent working order, why not donate it to the local Goodwill? You should wipe the hard drive to protect your personal information. For more information on how to protect your information, visit the Goodwill Industries International website.

Donate your old computer locally to Goodwill Industries in Jersey City on any day of the week from 10 AM until 7 PM at 2815 JFK Blvd.

Bike to Work

JDCap — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:37:10 +0000

Stay in shape and help the environment by biking to work! By biking to work you contribute to the reduction of congestion and pollution. The Hudson County Improvement Authority offers a free annual bike tune-up and emergency ride home program. You must cycle to work two days per week for a minimum of two months to be eligible. Find out more.