Use Sprinklers Wisely

I don't know where you live, but here in Virginia it gets hot in the summer. The sweltering weather means...well, plants are thirsty! Sometimes the seasonal thunderstorms and cloud bursts just aren't enough to maintain a green yard.

People in my neighborhood always turn on their sprinklers during the hottest part of day, the early afternoon. Their reasoning? "Well, plants need to cool down too, don't they?"

This strategy not only may harm the plants, but is also extremely wasteful. With such high temperatures, a lot of the water from the sprinkler evaporates away before it can even reach the plant roots. Having a pivot system makes this even worse, because the water droplets have further to go before falling to the ground.

The best time to irrigate is during early morning or early evening, when the sun's rays aren't so strong and overhead. More water actually is able to reach the plants, so therefore you can conserve more water.

An even better idea would be to buy a different type of sprinkler that drips water directly into the ground, eliminating a lot of evaporation. If you don't want to go out and buy it, and you have an old hose, you can also poke little holes on the side of the tubing and lay it out where your plants/grass are. Simple solution for a big change!

This image is courtesy of CmsGardens.

Universities and Being Green

Yes, I know, this isn't a post with a tip, but I just wanted to mention the trend of colleges and universities going green. I'm visiting campuses right now, and just about every place I've been to has some sort of environmental initiative going on.

The University of Richmond has the one building called Weinstein, and in all of the bathrooms the lights are sensor-activated. When you walk into them they light up. It's really nice and saves them a lot on their electricity bill, but it can be a bit scary if you aren't used to it.

At Duke, they built this Smart Home Dorm that has various features such as solar power systems and rainwater collection systems. I personally did not tour the dorm but it seems very interesting so I encourage you to go visit in case you are ever in Durham.

William and Mary also recently had a dorm building built that was certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

It's a great trend, especially with engineering/science students helping with the construction in some of the buildings and other students experiencing living and learning in them. I hope other campuses follow soon and spread awareness!

Grow native plants in your yard

The next time you are at a plant nursery eying that exotic Brazilian plant, remember something- it is to your advantage and to nature's benefit to bring home something that indigenous to the region. There are a number of reasons why this is so.

Flowers, shrubs, and trees that are native to an area are already acclimated to the local temperature, rainfall, soil nutrients, etc. Therefore, it will be less work for you if you chose these species, since they will most likely not need special care or extra attention.

Many exotic plants require extra water, meaning you will have to turn on your sprinklers more often. Remember from the last post, water = valuable resource + money! You want to conserve it, not find ways to use it up.

Additionally, these plants may require special fertilizers or pesticides since they may not have developed protection against local insects or need nutrients not found in the area's soil. Let me explain to you why the less fertilizer/pesticide you use, the better.

After you apply these chemicals to your land, they stick around in the soil and on the plants. When rain comes, they are washed away with the runoff. Eventually, most of the runoff flows in bodies of water such as lakes. Now, pesticides and fertilizers from farmlands and yards accumulate into the lake. The pesticides can kill off beneficial organisms that are essential to the ecosystem of the lake.

The fertilizers also cause a grave problem, known as eutrophication. In this phenomenon, the nutrients in fertilizers such as nitrogen and phosphorous feed the algae in the lake. Because of the excess food, the algae can grow to enormous proportions, in groups known as "algal blooms." Now, when the algae die, bacteria swarm in large numbers to decompose the massive blooms. These bacteria use up a lot of the oxygen in the lake and cause oxygen-free areas known as "dead zones." With little to no oxygen, fish and other creatures die. Eutrophication is a major issue today, especially in the Chesapeake Bay.

Lastly, native plants simply cost less! They don't have to be ugly either- there are many attractive species located in all areas of the world!

The other dangers of exotic species will be addressed in an upcoming post, hopefully. Meanwhile, pay attention to what you are planting in your yard!

The above image is from www.jstryker.com

Check for leaks

Here's an easy way to cut down on water usage. Every time you use the faucet, shower, hose, etc., make sure to turn it off very tightly. Sometimes, even if the water seems to be cut off, there is still a tiny imperceptible drip. These precious drops of water add up to a lot. A slow rate of one drip per three seconds (yes, it is a long time- one...two...three) can lead to over 1000 gallons a year! That's crazy!

American Water Works Association has a fun calculator that will tell you exactly how much water you waste, right here.

Here's another calculator, which takes into account the number of faucets you have in your home. So, the average household has around 2 bathrooms, right? Each one has a sink and a shower/bath. Plus the kitchen sink, and some people also have faucets in a utility room. Oh, and some homes also have a half bath. Let's plug this into the calculator, still using the 1 drop per 3 seconds. Yikes! More than 3,500 gallons!

3,500 gallons, to give you some perspective, is the same size as this guy's pond that he built by hand, according to this Myspace video. Yeah.

So, by turning off all faucets tightly, you can save a pond-full of fishies! Um...no. But, seriously, check your faucets. It shouldn't take more than 5 seconds a day to squeeze them a little tighter.

This lovely image is from the Daily Green.

Turn your motor off

Everyone knows what it's like to wait by the curb for a friend... oh, just a few minutes right? There's no need to turn off my engine. What about leaving the car in front of the store to grab a gallon of milk? Stuck in a mile-long traffic jam?

There are many times when we leave our cars idling. This practice damages the environment, our vehicles, and our wallets. According to the Consumer Energy Center, every time we idle for two minutes, we use the amount of gas it takes to go one mile. With gas prices so high and the average person idling for 5 to 10 minutes a day, we could be using a gallon of gas a week- to go nowhere!

What's more, idling can cause fuel residues to build up and damage the engine components of your car.

According to the EPA, idling releases more than 6 grams of nitrous oxides and carbon dioxide per minute. If you think about the amount of time individual drivers idle per day, multiply that throughout their lifetime, and multiply that figure by the number of drivers in the world, you will realize that there is a staggering amount of air pollution that could easily be reduced.

Next time you're waiting in a car, just take less than 5 seconds to turn off your engine. Your car, your bank account, and the air quality will thank you.

The above image is from Carbon Offset Solutions.

Grab a reusable bag

I don't know how many times I've heard customers at the grocery store I work at chose to use paper bags because they are "better" for the environment. In reality, this is far from the truth.

Sure, paper is biodegradable right? Yes, and it is recyclable too. However, that's as far as the advantages go. Where do you think paper comes from? Trees! Aren't trees renewable? Of course, but they require years and years to mature. Cutting down all those forests to create bags has devastating effects on the creatures that live in that ecosystem. Plus, most companies who pledge to plant new trees typically grow pines, which aren't nearly as effective at removing CO2 from the air as other hardwood species.

The logging, transporting, and processing of paper bags requires fossil fuels to power the machines and produces pollution waste. In addition, paper bags weigh more than plastic, meaning it takes a large amount of energy to transport them anywhere. Even recycling the bags requires fossil fuel-powered machinery.

Plastic bags are not much better. They are made from petroleum (oil), and are not biodegradable.

So what's a shopper to do? It's easy- reusable bags! Many grocery stores such as Kroger and Ukrops' Grocers have begun to sell their own brand of bags at only about $0.99. Plus, some stores give you $0.05 back for every bag you use every time you shop. These durable, eco-friendly bags will pay themselves back in no time!

Reusable bags are actually becoming quite fashionable. Check out Ecobags and EnviroSax for some cute and chic options.

Next time you go to the supermarket, grab a reusable bag! It'll only take 10 seconds to pick one out, and it'll relieve your conscience to know that you will never need a paper or plastic bag again!

For more information about plastic vs. paper bags, go to GreenFeet.Net.

The image above is from PrettyPatrol.

When it's yellow, leave it mellow...

I'm sure you've all heard this saying before, right? Sure, it might seem a little gross, but trust me, it is totally worth it.

According to EarthEasy.com, every time you flush a toilet you use 5-7 gallons of water. Now, let's say the average person uses the bathroom 8 times a day. That means around 50 gallons of water are used for toilet flushing alone! Now, what if that person only flushed twice a day? That would save around 40 gallons of water.

You're not only conserving water, you're saving money! Now, water is pretty cheap in the United States. 1000 gallons costs about $2. However, if you used this water-saving technique for a whole year, you would eliminate (hmm...let me get a calculator) around 14,600 gallons of water. That means you save approximately $30 a year. Over 50 years, you would save $1500.

No, it is not a huge sum of money. This change may not impact your wallet a whole lot, but it sure impacts the amount of fresh drinking water a whole lot. You know, it is precisely because of the low price of water that encourages people to keep sprinklers on the whole day and leave the tap running, but that's a whole other story for another day...

The bottom line is that this change that doesn't take all that much time or effort (it actually saves you time and effort, if you think about) can really make a difference.

Think twice before you flush! But please, keep this habit within your private residence, and if it's brown, flush it down!

This image is from http://www.aaark.biz/plumbing.htm