Catching Up - 17 January Saturday Six [Blazing Minds]

Saturday Six - Green!
Ok it’s that time again for the Saturday Six and this week I’ve gone green, not like the Hulk, but green as in the environment. So without any further ado here’s this weeks six:

Do you recycle?

Indeed we do! Paper goods, plastics, glass - we do it all. I feel good about it, but Parsippany, New Jersey is also really into it, so we are required to as well. However, I'd still do it, required or not.

Have you fitted any energy saving light bulbs?

Yes, we have the special light bulbs. They mostly work very well, but I will say that they are not great with fixtures that have dimmer toggles. Maybe they've changed that, but the ones we have don't seem to play well with that technology. However, a big plus: they do make them in full-spectrum lighting.

If you don’t have far to go, do you walk or still use your car?

I have an 18 mile/25km commute. All highway driving and I get 35 miles to the gallon. Sure, it might be better if worked closer to home, but I love my job. Luis commutes 2.6 miles to work. He should walk!

Have you turned down your thermostats by one degree?

I have something better. We did two things - one, we got into New Jersey's solar program and got solar paneling for the hot water heater (two panels on the southern effacure of the house) and electric solar power (55 panels on the front - Eastern - effacure). The gas bill dropped $40 from the monthly bill... and the electric... went from $310 to $30 a month.

We also had a gas fireplace installed (don't say it, I wanted a REAL wood-burning fireplace, but there is a $50,000 difference in price for that), and now we don't heat the rest of the house and the living room is always nice and warm. The ony time we use the house heat is when the temperature drops into the low teens to keep the pipes from freezing.

Do you leave your TV etc on standby or turn it off at the wall?

Oh, no. We don't unplug it. Luis got a device - a power consumption meter - and the television in stanby mode uses very little power. We do maintain a UPS and that does use power. But the refrigerator uses far more energy. And no, I'm not turning it off!

Do you wash your clothes on a 30 setting or higher?

We wash our clothes in a high-energy effecient washer and dryer with the appropriate detergent. It is great. We also have a child-free house, so I only do one-two loads a week. We are a very green household.