Good to be Green Part 3: Wasted Standby Power in Home Electronics and Appliances

We're back this week with the 3rd part to our small series "Good to Be Green". If you missed the 1st part, you can follow along here.

Are you aware that you could be spending approximately 10 - 20 percent more on your monthly bills than you need to in wasted energy throughout your house which is referred to as Vampire Energy ?

Definition of Vampire Energy:
The electricity your home electronics and appliances suck out of the power grid when you're not using them and stay in stand by mode.

Such appliances include:
internal clocks and sensors
external clock displays and panel display LEDs
remote control sensors
battery rechargers and power-conversion packs
communications between a base unit and a portable unit (as in a portable phone)

We are all guilty of having them: printers, computers, CD players, digital clocks, microwaves, the list goes on....

here is a chart to show you how much we are actually wasting per appliance.

Did you know:

Satellite TV systems and some DVD players each cost about $9 a year for standby power; an energy-thirsty TV can cost more than $10 a year. The standby power of a computer monitor only costs about $3 a year when the computer is shut down . However, if the computer's "sleep" function is used, the power can cost up to $41 a year!

What can you do?

Use timers or turn off most wasteful appliances by plugging them into fuse-protected power strips (also known as surge protectors) that, when turned off, can disrupt the flow of electricity when the appliances aren't being used.

Unplug microwaves, televisions, stereos and cell phone chargers when they're not in use. (easier said than done,I know!)

Always look for the "Energy Star" label when you shop for electronics. This way you can be sure it will use the lowest amount of standby power.

These are just a few small ways to help cut down the costs of wasted energy and help you to save to more on your monthly bill. For more info on vampire energy, you can just google it to come up with a wide variety of info to help you become better informed!!

Do you have a Count Dracula at home?

Good to be Green Part 2 : Get Paid to Recycle

We're back on track this week with the 2nd part to our small series "Good to Be Green". If you missed the 1st part, you can follow along here.

Last week we discussed The Why's of going green. This week, let's talk about The How to's. One of the most important & easiest ways to start is to recycle:

Definition of Recycle: taking a product or material at the end of its useful life and turning it into a usable raw material to make another product.

There are 4 main Categories to recycling : Curbside Recycling, Composting, Electronics & Gargage Recyclables.

*Curbside Recycling is when you place your items such as cans,plastics,bottles & papers out on the curb for pick up.

*Composting is nature's process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil known as compost. When you compost, you are returning nutrients back into the dirt.

A Benefit of Compost :
You'll get healthy plants from the rich, fertile soil that look better & grow better!

*Electronics that are older should be disposed of because they often contain dangerous elements such as lead and mercury that can contaminate the soil and water supply.

Some electronics you can donate such as cell phones & old computers. For more info, see here .

*In the garage, items such as paint & used motor oil are recyclable too!

There are many programs out there that are available for you that offer incentives and/or rewards programs. One such program is Recycle Bank where you can earn valuable rewards for recycling .

With Recycle bank, Just toss all of your recyclables into your recycling cart, with no sorting needed. When you sign up, you'll receive a special recycling bin that has a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) chip ) embedded into your family’s recycling cart. This chip is used to record the weight, then converts it to points, and credits that amount directly to your account. You can then redeem those points for discounts and rewards at hundreds of participating businesses. You'll earn 2.5 RecycleBank points for each pound of recyclable materials.

How Recycle Bank works: 3 Step Process

1.Recycle: Place all your recyclable materials into one cart for curbside pick up
2.Record: Carts have an identification tag that is recorded by the recycling truck.
3.Reward: The amount recycled is converted into RecycleBank Points, which you can use to order rewards.

And one of their partners happens to be CVS where you can use your recycle bank awards at CVS!!

For a list of areas that participate in this program see here. Unfortunately my area is not participating as of yet but hopefully it will soon! I would love to earn more money to spend at CVS,lol!!

Staples offers $3 back through the Staples Rewards Program toward a future purchase of ink or toner when HP, Lexmark™ or original Dell cartridges are returned to the retail stores for recycling.

Through the InkDrop service, they make it easy for customers to always have the ink they need. When a cartridge runs out, customers simply drop a new one in the printer and mail in the empty cartridge using the prepaid shipping materials. You'll get a replacement automatically, and all shipping is free.

Recycle Rewards School Program offers schools a way to earn money by collecting used inkjet and laser printer cartridges and cell phones and donating to the school. You can download free posters to promote the fundraiser!

These are just a few programs out there. There are many more that are atate specific so call your local county office for more information on any programs they may have to offer.

Do you know of any other rewards programs out there? We would love to know!!

Good to be Green Part 1: The Basics

My sister came up with great idea of making a series just for "Going Green". In this small series we will cover topics that make "Going Green" easy and profitable to the environment. Our goal along the way is to discover new ideas and helpful tips to help save the environment that are small but will make a big difference now and in the near future: for our children and our children's children:)

Why do we need to become more "Environmentally Friendly"?

There are many factors as to why we should start saving our planet:

1. The Greenhouse Effect: As things get warmer, hundreds of different living creatures could die and become extinct, while many kinds of pests (such as rats and mosquitoes) could multiply in the warmer climate.

2.Water and Air Pollution: When the air we breathe gets too dirty, it can be uncomfortable to breathe, and with every breath you may be inhaling substances that can make you sick. But even when the air is only a little polluted, the effects can still cause many illnesses, particularly among very young children and older adults like your grandparents.

Air & water pollution also hurts our plants and animals. It can poison trees and crops, and can even kill entire forests.

Did You Know: In some areas, such as Los Angeles, air pollution has become so bad that the government has been forced to restrict many everyday activities, including driving a car, having a barbecue, even mowing the lawn with a power mower. All of these activities contribute to air pollution.

3.The Diminishing Ozone Layer: What is destroying the ozone layer? Our biggest problem is a group of chemicals that are called "chlorofluorocarbons",or better known as CFCs. CFCs are used to make hundreds of different products that we buy on a daily basis. Most plastics and packaging materials are made with CFCs today. They are used to keep our refrigerators and air conditioners cool as well.

Why CFCs so bad: When released into the atmosphere, they interact with sunlight and release chlorine atoms. When they rise into the atmosphere, these chlorine atoms attack and destroy parts of the ozone layer. One single chlorine atom can destroy thousands of ozone molecules.

So how can we help our Planet? There are a lot of inexpensive ways that you can start right now doing in your own home that won't take a lot of time or effort and can actually help you SAVE money!

Start off by taking a test to see how Green you are at the National Geographic's Greendex Calculator here to see how you average in the Green of Things.

Now your ready to get started! Our first goal: Recycling!! Be sure to come by next week and we'll show you how you can get rewarded for recycling and save our planet at the same time. Its a win win situation for everybody!

Do you have a tip or an idea that you would like to share with us for this series? We'd love to hear about it!