I heat up and I can’t cool down.

Five tips to stay cool when temperatures are high.

Yes, we all know air conditioners suck up a lot of energy, and it accounts for 20 percent of total electric consumption in the U.S. Today, where I live in Minnesota, it is going to be 94 degrees with 83 percent humidity, (yes, it does get hot and humid in Minnesota), and I have every intention of having the air on!

How do we, as Ordinary Environmentalists, manage our desire to reduce energy consumption with our yearning for a home that is a cool, sweat-free zone? Here are a few simple tips to manage your home air conditioner energy use, while remaining cool.

#1 Only cool the areas that need cooling.
Take a look around your house. Most of us only use about 80 percent of our living space. If you have a guest bedroom, dining or living room you rarely use, close the air vents and stop cooling those room when they are not in use.

#2 Hang out in the cooler areas of your house.
If you live in a multi-level house, chances are it is at least several degrees cooler on the lowest level. My lower-level family room is 3-4 degrees cooler than my top-floor bedrooms. I can turn the air off in the evening and hang out in the comfortable family room. By bedtime, it is often cool enough outside to open up the windows, turn on the ceiling fan, and sleep in a comfortable air-condition free environment.

#3 Get some air movement with fans.
Fans will not cool the temperature of the room down, however they will give you air movement, which makes your skin feel like it is 2-3 degrees cooler. You can run ceiling fans for about $1 per month, which is a lot less expensive then cooling that room an extra 2-3 degrees with an air conditioner.

#4 Close the curtains.
You can close the curtains partway or all of the way and reduce the temperature in the room by several degrees. This also helps reduce fading on furniture, carpets, and rugs. Make sure to do this for all south and west facing windows on hot summer days.

#5 Turn the air-conditioner temperature up when you are gone.
Off to work or leaving with the kids for the afternoon? Turn the air-conditioning up so you are not cooling the house. If it is humid out, keep the windows shut so the humidity stays lower and it will feel OK when you get home. Make sure your pets are in a cool spot and have water and they will be fine with the temperature a few degrees higher.

If you heat up, let these five tips help you cool down, and be friendly to the environment!

P.S. For the lyrics to Steve Miller’s Abracadabra song, click here.

Resolution #3: Only throw out plastic bits.

Four simple questions to ask before you throw something in the trash bin.

My resolution to only throw out plastic bits may seem odd, however once I started composting, and utilizing my Twice is Nice resolution; I noticed a drastic reduction in my trash.

This week I decided to take mental note of what I was throwing in the trash bin, and found that almost everything I’m tossing are plastic bits and pieces that cannot be recycled, composted, or repurposed. Stuff like cereal bag liners, coffee bags, plastic clamshell packaging, and the like.

Want to get to the point where you are only throwing out plastic bits? Here are four simple questions to ask yourself, first when you are at the store, and second when you at home walking toward the trash can.

Question #1 Do I need it?
The best thing to do is avoid bringing waste into your house in the first place. Do you really need that plastic bag to carry that one item? How much food do you throw out because you bought too much? Simply ask yourself if it is something you will use, and how you will dispose of it before you buy it.

Question #2 Is it compostable?
Any vegetable-based waste, coffee grounds, food-stained paper (think the cardboard bottom from frozen pizza boxes) and paper from the shredder, can easily be composted.

Question #3 Is it reusable?
Always ask yourself if you can reuse something before you throw in the recycle or trash bin. Keep in mind it is better to reuse, than to recycle. Use your imagination! I just discovered a great use for the plastic containers mushrooms come in; they make great paint trays for small painting projects. My Packing Up Your Plants article gives another idea.

Question #4 Is it recyclable?
Most of us recycle our junk mail and soda cans, now think beyond that. Are you recycling your tissue boxes, paper towel tubes, and shampoo bottles? Make sure you take advantage of all of the opportunities to recycle.

If you ask these questions and really follow the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle process, you will find the only things you are throwing out are the plastic bits.

Dirty, Sudsy Water Guilt

Four tips for washing cars and garbage cans.

Today I was cleaning out a very smelly garbage can in my driveway by squirting a bunch of dish soap into the can and turning my water hose nozzle to jet-stream mode. After swooshing the sudsy mixture around with a makeshift mop, I unceremoniously dumped the dirty water down my driveway… and then… the guilt kicked in.

If you read my Green Gutter Guilt article, you know I was having guilt about leaving grass clippings in the gutter after mowing, and how I was contributing to the contamination of our lakes and streams. Now I have sudsy water guilt.

After quickly hosing down my driveway to cover the evidence of my soapy water (I live on a slight hill and it didn’t take long for it to look like it was my neighbor who was polluting the gutters and not me), I got to thinking of what an Ordinary Environmentalist can do to reduce water pollution when washing their cars and garbage cans in the driveway.

I did a bit of research and learned that it is more environmentally friendly to take your car to a carwash then wash it in the driveway.

According to a June 10, 2010 Los Angeles Times Article by Jerry Hirsch titled "Environment-friendly tips for washing your car", a car wash is designed to capture the dirty water, which includes brake dust, grease and detergent, and either send it to a treatment facility or to their own filtering system.

Hmmm… but what about water consumption? According to the article, a garden hose at full force uses about 7 gallons of water per minute. If you leave the garden hose running, it will exceed the average 7-minute commercial car washes’ water consumption within 2 minutes.

For convenience and costs, people often prefer to wash their own cars. The article sourced some tips to help at-home car washers be environmentally friendly:

1. Wash the car on the lawn. This way you water the lawn too, and it doesn't run down the gutter. I’m going to have to assume that typical car washing soap isn’t going to kill the lawn. Maybe I’ll offer to wash my parent’s cars and test it out on their lawn first.

2. Use a water hose that has a nozzle you can shut off when you are not using it.

3. Use a bucket and biodegradable soap that is chlorine- and phosphate-free to scrub the car down. Avoid dish soap, which could remove your car's wax finish. (Whoops have to change that practice)!

4. Dump your dirty soap bucket into a sink or toilet so that the water gets to a treatment center. If you just toss it in the gutter, it will go into a storm sewer and eventually drain to your local waterway or ocean.

These four tips are easy to do, and you can get a clean(er) smelling garbage can and a shiny car without the Dirty, Sudsy Water Guilt!