Being Green While Travelling

I was in Las Vegas last weekend for my daughter's soccer tournament. Although we didn't stay on the strip, what adult can resist at least one walk through sin central?

As a pro-environmental person who carefully watches everything that goes in my trash, it is frustrating to see that the number of "girls, girls, girls" flyers handed out hourly on the strip (and then left on the street) produces more trash than I produce in a year.

While there isn't anything I can do about that, I can still be green as possible when travelling. When I stay in hotels I don't like my towels changed daily. In fact, I can go several days without new towels. Many hotels offer a policy now where they will only change the towels you leave in the bathtub. However, my experience over the years is that it is impossible to stop maid service from replacing all used towels. My trick now is to leave the "do not disturb" sign up 24 x 7. I don't get maid service, but I don't need it. I am tidy enough and don't need my room vacuumed and cleaned every day. If I want more soap, I just grab it off the maid's trolley.

Another travel trick is to carry an empty water bottle with me that I can quickly fill and reuse instead of buying water and wasting water bottles on my trips.

So, happy travels while staying green!

Growing a Bird Garden

Although most of us still have snow on the ground and no immediate respite on the horizon, it is a good time to think about your yard and garden. Grass is generally a poor use of yard space and very demanding on the environment. We tend to water, fertilize, and cut (using electricity/gas as well as creating noise pollution) our grass very regularly. Most people spend hours more caring for their grass than they do ever enjoying it. Why not convert some of your grass area either into a vegetable garden or a bird garden?

MyBirdScape offers a quick and easy seed package to take the first easy steps towards creating a bird garden. It is easy to attract birds, provide them with more nutritious food, and have a beautiful landscape!

If you choose to convert some yard space into a bird garden sanctuary, you can even work towards having it certified as a wildlife habitat - how cool is that!

Save Water, Energy, and Money When Washing Clothes

Approximately 14% of our household water is used to wash clothes. To save water, time, and money, follow a few simple rules:

1. Try a shorter wash - the newer washing machines and detergent are so much more efficient than what most of us grew up. Most of us grew up with inefficient washers and expect that our current washer works the same. Old habits are hard to break! Try a shorter wash and see how it works!



2. Only wash full loads



3. When your washing machine dies, buy a new front loader - they are far more efficient

When washing clothes about 90% of the energy used is to heat the water. Reduce this by washing with cold water. Again, the washing machines and detergent are so improved over the last few years that warm/hot water is almost never needed anymore.

Finally, hang your clothes to dry. In dry climates, especially in winter, this doubles as a way to keep the air a bit more humid.

Reduce Your Heat Bill and Save Energy

With the coldest winter months upon us, now is the time to focus on reducing your heat bill and saving the amount of energy you use. Your heating bill can be one of your highest budget expenses this time of the year, or it can be very low.

The easiest way to reduce the heat you use is to use a programmable thermostat. If you don't already have a programmable thermostat, get one! If you have one, maximize its use. Programmable thermostats can help you lower your heat during the day when no one is at home and lower it over night, and still have the heat turned on before you need it. Also, if you are changing your schedule and will be out for several hours, turn the heat low again and have it set to come back on before you get home.

In our family we have two kids who do lots of sports so we are always out and about. Every day I reset the thermostat to suit the schedule for that day. Since we are often out for several hours there is no need having the heat running then.

Other ways to keep energy costs low:
- keep the blinds closed as much as possible, providing extra insulation around windows
- seal off leaking areas around doors, windows, etc.
- provide insulation behind exterior wall plug-ins and light switches
- keep the thermostat down a bit lower than you usually do - try it just one degree lower during the day and two degrees at night
- wear your slippers and a sweater to stay warm
- clean your furnace filter so that it operates optimally

Stay warm and save energy!

Saving Water in the Shower

On average, with a regular showerhead, we use 7-10 gallons/water for each minute we are in the shower. The average shower is 12-15 minutes. If you shower for 15 minutes using 10 gallons/water per minute that is 150 gallons of water - yikes! That is even more than a bath which uses 30-50 gallons of water (a whirlpool tub uses about 80 gallons of water). This is just the water usage - heating the water is a huge cost and energy drain as well.

Taking a bath, however, is not the answer. Instead, there are quick, easy and cost-saving changes you can make today to reduce your water used in the shower.

First, install a water saving shower head that uses 2-4 gallons of water/minute. These are not like they were 10 years ago, but now offer a very nice shower experience. This is a change that is so cheap and easy you should make it today. In Colorado, Excel Energy offers free showerheads to anyone who wants them, so take advantage!

Second, take a shorter shower. Bring your shower time down to 5-7 minutes. This can be done just by being more aware of your shower time - to do this, try the shower coach. Other tricks are not to shave in the shower. When I shave my legs I do it before I shower and use the water that I ran to heat up the shower. Also, save a lot of shower time by not washing your hair every time - this not only saves water but makes your hair healthier by allowing the natural oils to condition your hair. Wash your hair every 2-3 days, not every day.

Take a "captains" shower - only run the water when you need it. Buy a showerhead that has an easy off/on switch and then run the water, for example, to wet your hair, but stop it when you are sudsing. Very easy to do and probably reduces the water use by about 1/2 to 2/3.

Potty Talk

75% of the water we use in the house we use in the bathroom. Of that, 25% is used by your toilet!


A regular toilet uses about 3-5 gallons/flush whereas a low flo toilet uses 1-2 gallons. So, when you need a new toilet, buy an ultra low flush (6 L/flush) and save about 70% of your toilet water, and about 30% of your indoor water.


While your old toilet is still going strong there are several things you can do to reduce the water you use starting today and not spending much or anything at all:

1. Don't flush every time

2. Use "grey" (previously used) water to flush - we save the cold water that runs in the shower while waiting for the hot water by just having the cold water run into a bucket and using that to flush

3. Check for toilet leaks - very easy to do, just put a couple of drops of food coloring in your tank and check after 30 minutes to see if that water has run into the bowl. If yes, a quick and inexpensive fix should be done

4. Add a toilet tank bank or filled plastic water bottle to your tank to reduce the flow.

These fast changes can be made today so you can start saving money and the environment with almost no effort or investment!

Grey Water and Plants

I love plants in the house - they keep the air humid (important in Colorado) and clean, not to mention they cheer up the winter months.

However, the bigger the plants, the more water they require and I am one of the people who think that water is far more valuable to our planet than oil or gold, and so needs to be conserved.

There are two ways I water my indoor plants using
"grey" (reused) water instead of clean tap water:

1. Between sports and life, my family is always filling up water bottles but never emptying them. I dump the leftover water into my plants.

2. When running the shower none of us like to jump in when it is cold. We keep a bucket in the shower that we use to collect the cold water that runs before the warm water. I use that water to water plants or flush toilets.

Give this a try or let me know your ideas for conserving water for your plants!