Five Tips -- Be eco-friendly
Cougar News likes to keep our planet as healthy as possible. And we discovered five more tips to help do just that. Remember, the small things can make a big impact.
5. Collect cell phones, chargers and related gadgets. Organize a cell phone donation drive at your office or in your neighborhood. You'd be surprised at how many you can hoard. Find a charity that you'd like to benefit from your collection of wireless devices. Cell phones, as small as they are and as innocent as they look, contain a very wide variety of toxic chemicals, including arsenic, mercury, lead and zinc, that should not end up in land fills. Wireless phones generally contain 40 percent metals, 40 percent plastics, and 20 percent ceramics – all materials that can be reclaimed, recycled and reused. Some can be refurbished and redistributed for a potentially-valuable second life.
4. Household appliances can use four to seven watts per hour, even when not in use. A fridge with an Energy Star label uses 40 percent less power than an older model. New, front-loading washing machines use half the energy and water compared to a 5-year-old top-loading washer. Consider updating your household appliances to use more energy-efficient technologies. Just think of the loads of energy and water you can save and the money you can keep in your pocket. Use appliances during off-peak hours to save even more dough on your electric bill.
3. Encourage friends, family and coworkers to drink from reusable mugs rather than polystyrene cups. Launch a mug movement in your office. Wash and reuse mugs and cups and ditch the paper trail left behind by your daily latté. Go a step further and reduce paper waste by using a filterless coffee maker with a French press. Trade out your individual bottled water for a reusable water bottle. Wash, refill and drink up.
2. Go on, get your hands dirty. Break out the shovel and plant a tree. Ten trees will offset the carbon dioxide (CO2 ) that one U.S. citizen generates in four months. Nine trees will negate the effect of your family vacation in the Caribbean. Plant eight trees, and you'll cancel out four years' worth of garbage. Six will neutralize all of the CO2 released by your refrigerator over its lifetime. Five will reabsorb your automobile emissions for a year. Four trees will let you carbon-neutralize your washing machine for six years.
1. If you are sitting idle in your car for more than three minutes, it is best to turn it off. Remaining idle uses more gasoline than restarting the engine again. Keep your tires inflated properly to improve gas mileage by more than 3 percent and conserve fuel. Change your air filter. Change your oil. Get quality service on your vehicle to keep it in good shape so it will be as eco-friendly as possible.
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