Monthly Green Tips from Paydirt

Paydirt helps companies of all sizes implement practical sustainability strategies that deliver maximum benefit to both the environment and their bottom line. Visit us on the web at www.thinkpaydirt.com.

Tip for May 2010 – Offsetting and Offsets

“Carbon neutrality” is a phrase that many people have heard, but few really understand. Essentially, going “carbon neutral” means achieving net zero carbon emissions, or balancing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset. To further complicate matters, carbon offsetting can mean a couple different things: (1) using renewable energy instead of burning fossil fuels for power; or (2) purchasing carbon offset credits. Offset credits can fund a variety of activities, like large-scale tree planting efforts or innovative carbon reduction projects, such as installing anaerobic digesters on farms to capture methane (a global warming gas estimated to be 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide).

The best practice for individuals or organizations seeking to achieve carbon neutrality is to reduce the amount of carbon emissions released in the first place. However, purchasing carbon offset credits is also an easy way to invest in a healthier planet. To learn more about how to calculate and offset your personal or professional carbon footprint, visit www.terrapass.com or www.greenmountainenergy.com/carbon_offsets.shtml.

Tip for April 2010 – From Farm to Front Door: Local Food Made Easy

• Here are some factors to consider when selecting a CSA:
• Location
• Pick-up or delivery site and time
• Length of season
• Number of deliveries
• Opportunities for farm visits or other involvement

To learn more about CSA opportunities near you, visit: http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html

Tip for March 2010 – Take the Trash Out!

• Register with the Direct Marketing Association’s “Mail Preference Service” to remove your name from many junk mailing lists: https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action
• Register with similar service “Valassis” every five years or whenever you move: http://www.valassis.com/1024/Contact/contact_home.aspx
• Cut back on pesky unwanted catalog mailings by registering with Catalog Choice: https://www.catalogchoice.org/signup
• Tag junk mail “Return to Sender” and drop it back in the mail. It won’t stop the mail from being produced, but will hopefully remove your name from their list in the future
• If you’re willing to pay a little money, consider joining www.41pounds.org. With a goal of reducing junk mail by 80-95 percent, 41pounds will contact 20- 30 direct marketing and category companies on your behalf. $41 gets you a five-year subscription and removes your contact information from almost all credit card or insurance offers, coupon mailers, and catalogs.

Tip for February 2010 – In Hot Water:
Reducing Water-Related Energy Consumption

Tip for December 2009 – Sustainable Seasons Greetings

• Switch to solar-powered Holiday lights. Traditional electric lights are a big power drain and can use more than 100 watts of energy per string. Solar-powered LED lights produce a bright, clear light and automatically switch on at sun down.
• Make your own wrapping paper! Most wrapping paper is used only once and then ends up in the landfill. Instead of purchasing mass-produced paper, look around your house for other creative options, such as the inside of brown shopping bags, newspaper, magazine collages or even handmade artwork. Use natural items from your yard or leftover pieces of ribbon to create a beautiful package that would make even Martha Stewart proud.
• Reuse gift bags. More and more people are starting to take advantage of the ease of reusable gift bags or boxes in lieu of wrapping paper. Make sure to take good care of the bags you receive so you can “re-gift” them to others, and then encourage your gift recipients to do the same!
• Recycle your Christmas tree. If you celebrate Christmas, take the time to investigate the tree-recycling program near you. You can locate your local program by visiting www.earth911.org. To be even more sustainable, select a pesticide-free tree from a farm near you.
• Go Green and Give Back! Save the money you would usually spend on Holiday cards, and donate it to a local charity. Send out an electronic greeting with your favorite 2009 picture instead!

Tip for November 2009 - Giving Greener Thanks

• Spice up your family’s feast with delicious and fresh dishes featuring local and organic ingredients
• Design your holiday centerpiece and decorations using naturally occurring elements like leaves, acorns and dried corn stalks
• Where possible, purchase food and beverage items in bulk to reduce excess packaging waste
• Skip the paper tableware in favor of real china and cloth napkins (chances are you only use them a few times a year anyway!)
• Offset the impact of holiday travel by purchasing carbon offsets from a site like www.terrapass.com
• Set up a clearly marked trash can for recycling (or composting!) to avoid waste being sent to the landfill
• Promote “giving back” by organizing a canned goods collection with your guests

Tip for October 2009 - Zapping Phantom Energy Loads

Save energy – and money – by taking the following steps in your home and office:

Identify your biggest energy drains - An appliance watt meter can be used to find out how much electricity an appliance is drawing in standby mode. Watt meters can often be borrowed from the local power authorities or a public library. Measure devices in your home and office while “on” and in “standby” mode to determine where you are wasting the most energy.

Where feasible, unplug electronic devices while not in use - Unplug easily accessible appliances whenever possible, especially before you leave on vacation. Where unplugging individual devices isn’t feasible or realistic, plug a couple devices into one surge protector that can easily be switched on and off.

When purchasing new electronic devices, select energy-efficient or ENERGY STAR products - When shopping for new products, reference the Federal Energy Management Program’s online database of products rated by their standby energy use: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/technologies/standby_power.html. You can also look for ENERGY STAR-labeled products, which use about half the electricity of standard appliances on average– both on and off!

Tip for September 2009 - Got E-Waste?

Residents of Hennepin County can drop off their residential e-waste for recycling at one of two drop-off facilities for no charge (visit www.hennepinatoz.org for details.)

Residents and businesses in all metro area counties can check out www.greenguardian.com for e-waste recycling options. Some counties offer free recycling options for residents, other recyclers may charge a small fee. www.metrotransit.org.

Tip for August 2009 - Composting 101

Did you know that yard and kitchen waste make up almost 30 percent of the waste stream in the United States? Removing compostable materials from our garbage cans can significantly reduce landfill space and also has excellent benefits for the health of your garden. Backyard composting has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity in recent years, as more and more people have discovered the environmental and economic benefits of composting (and that the process isn’t as difficult as it sounds!)

Basic Steps for Successful Composting:

• Identify a location convenient to the garden and the source of your raw materials
• Select an open bin or enclosed container for compost materials
• Layer a selection of “green” and “brown” materials to balance the moisture content – an ideal blend is approximately 4 parts of browns to one part greens
• Turn the heap every few days using a garden or pitch fork
• “Cook” for several weeks
• Use the composted material in your garden for mulch, potting soil and more!

Typical “green” materials include fresh grass clippings, weeds or leftover kitchen scraps. Typical “brown” materials include dried leaves and grass. You can also purchase compost activators or try vermiculture, which is composting with the aid of worms, to improve the effectiveness and speed of your composting process. But adding a shovel-full of good garden soil will also do the trick. To learn more, visit www.howtocompost.org. Happy composting!

Tip for June 2009 - Beat the Heat

• Replace your air conditioning filters on a monthly basis: Dirty filters restrict airflow and cause the system to run longer and less efficiently.

• Use ceiling fans to supplement air conditioning use: Ceiling fans can help cool your home by creating a low-level “wind chill” effect throughout a room. Consider an ENERGY STAR® model for maximum efficiency.

• Turn up your thermostat: Set your thermostat to 76 – 78 degrees when you are home and 85 degrees or off when you’re away. A change from 73 to 76 degrees could save you up to 30 percent on your cooling costs this summer!

• Seal your ducts: On average, leaking ductwork accounts for 25 percent of home cooling costs. Have your ducts tested and any leaks or restrictions repaired by a qualified contractor.

• Consider "cool" exterior finishes: Use light-colored or other cool roofing and siding products when replacing your roof or painting your house.

• Install window shading: Use trees, plantings, patio covers, awnings, and solar window screens to shade your home from the sun.

• Invest in a new air-conditioning unit - If your air conditioner is on the way out, purchase an ENERGY STAR® air conditioner. A new, high efficiency, 13 SEER air conditioner uses about half the energy of a 15-year-old air conditioner.

Tip for May 2009

With Spring finally settled in, we’re all heading out to enjoy the sun and tend our lawns and gardens. As we do so, however, we need to make sure we’re being responsible about our environmental impact. Despite plant life being critical to a healthy environment, our actions out of doors may be doing more harm than good! With the Government Accountability Office (GAO) predicting water shortages for 36 states as soon as five years from now, pay careful attention to watering habits. Water in early morning hours when the air is still and heat is minimal – up to 50% of water used for irrigation is lost to evaporation and runoff. Adjust irrigation rates seasonally, since plants and turf require less water in cooler months than they do in peak summer months. Look for native plants that are designed by nature to tolerate our climate. These plant varieties require little or no irrigation, fertilizer, or pesticides – after thousands of years, they’ve adapted to soil conditions and local insects.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a section of its web site dedicated to resources on native plant species: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/gardens/nativeplants/. Spending less time watering and applying chemicals will leave you with more free time to enjoy your garden and the surrounding environment!

Tip for April 2009

Most of us realize that taking the stairs is better for us than taking the elevator, since it provides some additional exercise, but how many of us stop to think about how it’s better for the environment? According to Hennepin County’s Healthy Lifestyle Center, walking up 10 flights of stairs will burn about 50 extra calories, while walking down those same 10 flights will burn about 20. This may not seem like much, but keep in mind the average office worker makes three round trips per day. Add it up, and you’d have to walk for nearly an hour on level ground to get the same benefit. Enough about the health benefits – what about the environmental impact? In a 20-story building served by 6 elevators, total elevator power consumption can approach 8,000 killowatt-hours per month, enough to meet the needs of nearly 10 average households. Absorbing the greenhouse gases emitted when generating this much electricity requires about 150 tree seedlings growing for 10 years.

Change your habits, and prove the stats wrong! A study published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis found that posting information for building tenants on health benefits and energy use had no effect on elevator energy consumption. It wasn’t until the elevators were slowed down, making them less convenient, that energy use dropped by 33%!

Tip for March 2009

The price of a gallon of gasoline may have dropped for now, but it will certainly rise again in the future. Even if prices are low, you can still save money by modifying your driving habits and making sure your car is properly maintained. Much was said in past months about proper tire pressure, but that has very little effect on gas mileage – other factors are far more important. Obeying posted speed limits can have a large effect: fuel efficiency drops quickly at speeds above 60 MPH, and sticking to 55 mph can save you as much as 23% according to the EPA. Cleaning out your trunk and removing unused bike or cargo racks can save another 2% for every 100 lbs. of weight you remove. Give your car a tune-up, making sure the air filter, radiator coolant, and spark plugs don’t need to be replaced. If one or more of these components is performing poorly, your gas mileage can easily drop 10-15%. Finally, experiment with different grades of gasoline: while Regular may save you $0.20 per gallon versus Premium, your car may run differently, in reality consuming more of the lower-grade fuel per mile. There are many sources on the web for information on fuel economy and auto maintenance. Check out the EPA’s automotive site (http://www.fueleconomy.gov) or advice from CarTalk’s Tom & Ray Magliozzi (http://www.cartalk.com) for more tips.

Tip for February 2009

If you haven’t heard it yet, you’ve been living under a rock: bottled water is not sustainable! According to the International Bottled Water Association, U.S. consumption of bottled water hit 8.8 billion gallons in 2007, the majority of which was sold in single-serving bottles, only 23% of which were recycled. In addition to the waste created, bottling this water consumed 18.2 million barrels of oil and produced 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Did I forget to mention that bottled water is over 1,000 times more expensive than tap water?

Save the environment and your cash: buy a reusable bottle and fill it from the tap. Plastic bottles are inexpensive, but be sure to look for a recycling code of “2” (HDPE), “4” (LDPE), or “5” (polypropylene) on the bottom – these plastics won’t leech harmful chemicals into your water. Metal bottles cost more but are nearly indestructible. Stainless steel or lacquer-coated aluminum bottles are available from Klean Kanteen (http://www.kleankanteen.com) and SIGG USA (http://www.mysigg.com) in a variety of sizes and styles. If you don’t like the taste, buy a filtration system from BRITA (http://www.brita.com): in conjunction with Preserve’s Gimme 5 Program, BRITA has recently begun offering recycling for used filters.

Tip for January 2009

Don’t throw away that cartridge! Just because the ink or toner cartridge from your printer is empty is no reason to add it to the waste stream. Getting your own cartridge refilled or trading it in for a remanufactured cartridge are economical ways of reducing your impact on the environment. Costing a fraction of new brand-name cartridges, they perform equally well, and they won’t void your printer’s warranty. Is your entire printer in need of replacement? Be sure to recycle the old one! And keep a few things in mind when shopping for a new model:

• While laser printers tend to cost more up front, they tend to cost less per page, and paper documents from a laser printer are more easily recycled than those from inkjet printers.
• Consider a print with built-in duplex capabilities, making it easier to print two-sided, reducing consumption of paper.
• Be sure to look for the EPA’s ENERGY STAR label; a list of certified printers is available on the ENERGY STAR web site: http://www.energystar.gov.

Tip for December 2008

The larger, colored bulbs used on Christmas trees when we were children, the kind that could really set a tree on fire, were slowly replaced years ago by mini bulbs. While more energy efficient than the larger bulbs, mini bulbs were prone to problems and, as prices dropped, became practically disposable. Now stores are selling LED Christmas lights – the most sustainable option, besides not lighting your tree at all!

The new LED-based string lights are far more efficient, requiring 80-90% less energy than incandescent bulbs and considerably safer: LEDs generate less heat, so they pose less fire risk as the tree begins to dry out. LEDs last longer, up to 200,000 hours, which means that a single string can last as long as with seasonal use. The benefits of LED Christmas lights are so pronounced that some utilities, such as Canada’s Toronto Hydro, are offering free strings of LED lights in exchange for incandescent strings.

Tip for November 2008

Buying items with recycled content is referred to as "closing the loop"; doing so creates demand for recycled materials, providing a market for further recycling. Consider the benefits... Recycling reduces natural resource consumption and saves space in landfills. Manufacturing from recycled materials almost always requires less energy than using raw materials. Use of recycled materials eliminates air and water pollution and habitat destruction associated with harvesting natural resources.

Even small changes in buying habits can make a difference. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, switching to paper with 30% recycled content will eliminate 11% of the CO2 emissions and 13% of the energy consumption related to paper manufacturing.

Tip for October 2008

Purchasing “green power” is a straightforward way of reducing carbon emissions for both businesses and households. Most electricity available in Minnesota is generated by plants that burn , both of which emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Solar panels, wind turbines, and other green sources can produce electricity without the carbon dioxide – a much better option. Currently, customers pay a small premium for power from green sources, but as fuel prices rise, this won’t necessarily be the case: in August 2008, customers of Xcel’s Windsource program paid less than other customers! More information on green power, including purchasing options, can be obtained through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Green Power Network: http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/.

Tip for September 2008

Got e-waste? Per Minnesota law, electronic products containing a cathode ray tube (CRT), such as TVs and computer monitors, may not be placed in the garbage. Since many electronic products contain mercury, cadmium or lead, none of them belong in the trash.

Residents of Hennepin County can drop off their residential e-waste for recycling at one of two drop-off facilities for no charge (visit www.hennepinatoz.org for details). Residents and businesses in all metro area counties can check out www.greenguardian.com for e-waste recycling options. Some counties offer free recycling options for residents, other recyclers may charge a small fee.

Tip for August 2008

The average Twin Cities commuter emits 2.5 tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year by driving to work alone. It takes 160 mature trees to absorb all that CO2! By taking the bus or light rail to work just twice a week you can reduce your carbon emissions by 1 ton annually. Or carpool with a co-worker twice a week and not only reduce emissions, but save an average of $400 in gas per year.

Check out the Metro Transit web site for more information www.metrotransit.org.