reducing home energy use -- in real life:)

Over the past decade, I have added many electricity-using items to my household, including a cell phone (charger), an electronic game, an electric garage door opener, and a washing machine (Energy Star model, but still a big energy user). I know, I’m going in the wrong direction on reducing my use! But quite intentionally, I have tried to counter all of those additions with energy-saving steps as well. Apparently my efforts have worked, because despite the new items, along with rate increases, my utility bills for electricity and gas are nearly the same today as they were 10 years ago.


I’ve done a few small things, like replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents – but only as the old bulbs burn out. I don’t know how much electricity that has saved me, but I do know that even the CFLs in ceiling fixtures that I often leave on for security are going on eight years of heavy use!

Ok, yes, it took a few miles
of duct tape, but I
managed to get the
water heater blanket to stay on!

I also added a water heater blanket and weather stripping, neither of which went smoothly, but both of which are hopefully helping somewhat. My water heater is in a tiny room, with only an inch to spare between it and the wall. Trying to get the blanket, which is slick on one side and scratchy insulation on the other, and notably thicker than the available one inch of space, all the way around the heater tank -- can only be described as “wrestling.” And based on the 2,398,932 strips of duct tape I used to secure it in place, I’m not really sure if it will ultimately be better or worse for the environment! 

Weather stripping didn’t go much better, and in the end, six inches of it just hang from the door frame over my head. Still, I figure that means it’s 90% effective, and for now, I’ll take it!

Foam insulation on the walls of
my crawl space has greatly reduced
drafts, and made the floor warmer. 

The item that helped the most was, without a doubt, insulating my house. The ceiling was already well-insulated, but I had foam added anyway. The walls had NO insulation, nor did the upper blocks of the crawl space, so adding foam insulation to those has made a huge difference! Drafts are down, the temp in both summer and winter stays stable longer, and my utility bills dropped! An added benefit has been the insulation against outdoor noises.  I'm sorry to lose the bird sounds, but I sure don't miss the lawnmowers or loud cars! 

The price of the insulation was a price-gouger, to be sure, but the payback won’t take many years, and in the meantime, I feel good knowing my energy use has decreased.

The Story of Stuff: Electronics

Many of us will enjoy this holiday season by getting up to date with the latest electronic gadgets. Let's face it, these items are a part of society now and aren't going away any time soon! But when you make those purchases, consider what happens to the old stuff you're replacing and what chemicals and processes go into what we buy. By making smart choices we can reduce negative impacts on people and the environment as we move toward a more sustainable future together!

start your landscape inventory now

A good starting point in landscaping is to inventory what is already there, and why not start in the winter months? Pay attention now to where the wildlife hangs out in your yard, and what plants are providing winter shelter or winter food. And notice, too, which plants are good for you – are there plants that have an attractive shape in the winter, or colorful fruits?

Gray Dogwood has lovely white berries
that fall migrant birds love!

Do this same inventory each season, from top to bottom. Are there trees with small flowers you hadn’t noticed before, such as willows, which provide an important nectar source for early-arriving orioles? Is there an open spot where you could plant an attractive (unmown) native grass, such as Little Bluestem, that would provide shelter and food for small ground birds?

Black Gum provides blue berries that
this Gray Catbird loves, and a wonderful
shape and fall colors for you.

Ideally, your yard is providing food year-round, with seeds, berries, insects, leaves, etc., for a wide variety of wildlife. For example, raspberries and serviceberry are excellent summer fruits, strawberry puts a fruit down-low for turtles and ground-feeding birds, dogwood berries are favorites of fall migrants, and winterberry (Michigan holly) is an excellent winter fruit.

Don’t fight what you have, but find plants that will enhance your property. Whether you have wet soil or dry, sun or shade, there are hundreds of native plants that can enhance your yard for both you and wildlife.

purple wind turbines?

Wind power is growing significantly as a source of energy in our country and throughout the world. Although conservation organizations such as the National Audubon Society support wind energy as a greener alternative to fossil fuels (http://policy.audubon.org/wind-power-overview-0), there is definitely a need to make it even greener by reducing the bird and bat kills that occur when these animal fly near the turbines.  (The Audubon Society supports wind energy because despite the fatal collisions involving turbines, the pollution and habitat loss from fossil fuel drilling and burning kills many times more.) 

A recent study out of Britain's Loughborough University has shed some light on how to reduce wildlife mortality at wind turbines (http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9067000/9067721.stm).  Insects have long been known to be attracted to the turbines, and birds and bats are, in turn, attracted to those insects.  The Loughborough study found that the white and gray colors of wind turbines are part of the problem.  (Anyone in mosquito territory already knew this -- wear light-colored clothing and mosquitoes will find you much more quickly than if you wear dark clothing.) They tested different colors, including blue, red and purple, on wind turbines and found those with darker colors attracted far fewer insects.  The least attractive color was purple, so perhaps there will be a bit more color on the landscape one day? 

The researchers are quick to point out that it is too early to just rush out and paint wind turbines purple to "save the day," but this could be an important step in determining how to reduce wildlife collisions with wind turbines. 

Buy Michigan Now!

Lisa Diggs, founder of Buy Michigan Now, spoke at this morning’s WakeUp! Midland. She is campaigning to recruit 10,000 people to sign a pledge to make a valiant effort to buy products made in Michigan, which attendees had the opportunity to do this morning. Web site visitors can also take the pledge there.

Other cool stuff on the site includes:

- iPhone app

- Grocery guide

- Links to their social networking sites

- Search function to find businesses

- Page to list your business

The site has enabled businesses to connect across the state, rather than taking their business out-of-state or even out of the country to find suppliers. CNC's Jamie Hockstra reports, "Lisa encouraged us to buy Michigan products, help spread the word about the site and take the pledge, and make a point to educate our children about the choices we’re making to buy local."

So click on over to explore the site and most importantly, "Buy Michigan Now!"

enjoy that night sky!

Early winter is a fantastic time for viewing the night sky! It gets dark early enough to view the stars at a reasonable hour (admittedly, some people think midnight and later is still “reasonable":), but it isn’t as bone-chilling cold as those January nights are likely to be. There are many things to watch for, like meteor showers, northern lights (usually visible in mid-Michigan a few times a year), the International Space Station orbiting overhead, and of course, good old “star gazing.”


For some assistance in locating objects in the night sky, check out these links:

1) To find out when the space station will be visible, click on the nearest Michigan city on this NASA website: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/region.cgi?country=United_States®ion=Michigan It will show how many degrees above the horizon the station will be visible, and from which direction it will enter and leave your view.

2) For SERIOUS northern lights enthusiasts, a move to the far north is warranted. But for Michigan folk, this site will let you know when there is a reasonable chance of a local show: http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
If the forecast number is “4” or higher, we have a shot at seeing the northern lights even this far south!

3) Both of these sites provide good star and planet gazing information, from general “what’s going on this week” to more detailed astronomical highlights: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/  http://stardate.org/

4) And to find out exactly when it might get dark enough to SEE the stars, the U.S. Navy has this very user-friendly site to find out when the sun and moon rise and set:  http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications