Friday, May 18 is National Bike to Work Day and cyclists and two-wheeled commuters across the country will use their bikes for their commute.The following cities have events planned to recognize the day:

Anchorage, AK                              Homewood, AL                               Little Rock, AR
Prescott, AZ                                   Los Angeles, CA                              Denver, CO
Hartford, CT                                  Newark, DE                                     Washington, DC
Miami, FL                                      Savannah, GA                                   Kailua, HI
Moscow, ID                                   Chicago, IL                                       Fort Wayne, IN
Indianapolis, IN                              Warsaw, IN                                      Oskaloosa, IA
Wichita, KS                                    Louisville, KY                                   Lafayette, LA
Portland, ME                                  Baltimore, MD                                  Boston, MA
Detroit, MI                                     Jackson, MI                                      St. Paul, MN
Kansas City, MO                           St. Louis, MO                                   Jackson, MS
Helena, MT                                    Las Vegas, NV                                 Omaha, NE
Hanover, NH                                 Santa Fe, NM                                   Raleigh, NC
Bismarck, ND                                Morristown, NJ                                 New York, NY
Brooklyn, NY                                Dayton, OH                                       Edmond, OK
Florence, OR                                 State College, PA                              Providence, RI
Charleston, SC                               Pierre, SD                                         Knoxville, TN
Austin, TX                                      Plano, TX                                         Salt Lake City, UT
Norwich, VT                                  Loudon County, VA                          Seattle, WA  
Madison, WI                                  Morgantown, WV                             Sheridan County, WY

Consider eco friendly options when selecting new furniture for your home or office. Choose high quality pieces that will last decades that are manufactured by sustainable ways. Ask questions about the manufacturing process, and about whether timber used is from an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) source and/or made from sustainable materials, such as bamboo.  Look out for vintage pieces that can be recovered or  upcycled. In a contemporary home these can be very effective and become statement pieces in their own right, adding a bit of character.

Why Use an Air Purifier?

Indoor air pollution is widely recognized as one of the top environmental health risks. 

Health effects
Symptoms can be mild and non-specific such as headaches, tiredness or lethargy; similar to colds and flu such as irritated eyes, nose or throat; or more severe such as aggravation of asthma or allergic responses. People who are more susceptible to air pollutants including newborns, young children, elderly people, heart patients, people with bronchitis, asthma, hay fever or emphysema, and smokers.

Pets and Pollen
Many animal allergens (from cats, dogs, birds or even cockroaches) can also spell problems for some people. The allergens are usually contained in the animal’s droppings, saliva or dander (tiny skin scales) and can become airborne when small particles dry and fall off. In people sensitive to them, inhaling these allergens can trigger a reaction in the lungs or nose, through asthma or hay fever. 

Moulds and Mildew
These are fine, often invisible spores become airborne and can be inhaled. Damp areas in the house are a perfect place for mold and fungal growth, as are water-damaged carpets and building materials. 
In people sensitive to mould spores, inhaling them can cause various allergic reactions. Mould can also produce poisons known as mycotoxins which, when absorbed, can sometimes affect the nervous system. Some fungi can also infect various parts of the body, particularly the lungs and skin. 

Air Purifiers can eliminate these pollutants leaving the air clean and fresh.

THE BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING TOILETS

Bathroom Water Saving Tips

Approximately 35% - 40% of household water use originates from the bathroom. By using a few of these water saving bathroom tips you can reduce water consumption in your bathroom.

If you are planning on renovating your bathroom or building a new bathroom there are a few items that you should consider that can help you conserve water and save money on electricity and water bills. Toilets are the largest water-using fixture inside the home. By installing more efficient 1.6 gallon per flush or less toilets, you can save thousands of gallons of water per toilet, per year.

How to Measure water flow rate

To find out the current water saving qualities of your bathroom taps and shower you can calculate their flow rate. Run a tap for 10 seconds into a bucket and multiply the amount by 6 to find out the flow rate per minute. For example, to find out how much water your shower head is consuming you can put a bucket under the shower. Turn it on for 10 seconds before turning it off. Measure the amount of water captured in the bucket, then multiply the amount by 6. This will give you the shower head flow rate per minute, if it is over 2 gallons of water per minute you should install a water saving shower head.

Shower Water Conservation

Older shower heads can use 5 gallons of water per minute. By installing a new water efficient shower head you drastically reduce the water your shower consumes. A 3 star shower head will use less than 2 gallons of water a minute, saving 12 gallons of water per person, per shower. This amounts to approximately 5,000 gallons of water per year per person. So for the approximate $15 cost of a water efficient shower head you could potentially save yourself around $100 in water bills. You can also capture the initial cold shower water in a bucket for use in water plants or garden.

Water Saving Toilet

Around 15% of household water is flushed down the toilet. Older toilets use around 3gallons of water per flush. There are a range of 4 star dual flush toilets that use around 1 gallon of water for a full flush and 3/4 gallon for a half flush. 

Water Saving Bath

A short 4 minute shower will use less cold and hot water than having a bath. If you do have a bath then only fill it to a level that just covers your body. If you use natural soaps or detergents in your bath you can bucket the water out and use it to water your garden. 

Sink water saving tips

A running tap can use approximately 4 gallsons of water a minute. Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. If shaving put some water into the sink to wash your blade instead of running the tap continuously. By installing flow restrictors or water saving taps you can reduce the water usage when you turn on the tap to brush your teeth or lather your hands with soap.

How Rain Barrel Use Can Help Save You Money

Why pay for outdoor water use during dry days when, in most locations, more than enough rain falls right on your roof? Rain in barrels are a time-tested way of collecting water for reuse. Runoff water from your roof, which normally flows onto your lawn or down your driveway and out into the street, can be collected in barrels and used for watering your lawn and garden during rain free times. 

The collection and reuse of rainwater can help the environment, but there are also financial benefits for implementing a rain capture strategy. Here are a few ways you can save with rain barrel usage: 

• Reduce dependence upon city or well water by as much as 40% or more, therefore reducing your water bill
• Possibly avoid water restrictions with a ready back-up water source in times of drought or between rain showers
• Increase the health of your soil by watering the yard and plants with rainwater, minus the many harmful chemical contaminants (minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemical contaminants).

Posted by Clean Energy Experts 

Small space heaters can be a smart, cost-effective way to heat individual rooms or spaces, without relying upon central heating. In many cases, it is less expensive to heat the occupied space versus the cost to heat an entire area controlled by a central system.

To maximize cost savings, turn down the thermostat to 55 degrees F and place space heaters in a child or elderly person's room or where their are individuals that be sensitive to the cold. By concentrating the heat, the central heating system will run less and heating costs will drop.

Kick-off he New Year right with a these green living tips:

A new year is starting; it is now time to reflect on the past and look to the future and set new resolutions. Some of these green tips you may already know or already integrate them into your daily daily life. If you are currently not doing any of the following, even if you only follow a few of these easy tips,  you will save money, time and energy. You will find that these eco-friendly green resolutions are surprisingly simple to implement.

1. Replacing Appliances - When your next appliance breaks down and can not be repaired, be buy an energy efficient replacement.
   
2. CFL Light Bulbs—You can save over 50% of your energy use for lighting by replacing traditional, incandescent light bulbs with a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL).
3. Reduce Vampire Power Loss - Never leave anything on standby. Switch off PCs and TVs when not in use. And unplug your mobile phone charger when you're not using it. Leaving appliances on standby wastes at least 6% of domestic electricity use.  Also look into the use of smart power management products.
   
4. Use Re-usable Water Bottle  –  Utilize refillable bottles for drinking water to help reduce the millions of gallons in crude oil required to produce and distribute plastic bottles, that otherwise would take thousands of years to decompose.
5. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle -  The new year usually means out with the old and in with the new - but don't be so hasty. Don't let those items end up in the waste stream by recycling and reusing what you already have - one of the most eco friendly things you can do is look after what you already have or finding a new home for the item.
6. Better Thermostat Use - In many parts of the country, the heating and cooling portion of your utility bill makes up over 50% of your utility bill. Reduce you bills by 10%-15% by adjusting the thermostat by 2 - 3 degrees. You can can also reduce your cooling costs by 30% in the summer by implementing a flash evaporation system. 
7. Buy Organic and Local - As a partial replacement to fast food and chain supermarkets, try organic and local produce from your local farmer's market. The production of organic food causes much less environmental damage than conventional agriculture and also helps to reduce pollution by cutting down on food miles which contribute to climate change.
   
8. Use Green Household Cleaning Products – Eliminate the use of cleaners that utilize Phosphates, which have known environmental negative impact.Many conventional household cleaning products contain chemicals and phosphates. 
9. Reduce Car Use and Cut Car Pollution - Over 50% of all car trips are less than 4 miles, which is an ideal distance to be covered by bicycle.
10. Use Re-usable Grocery Bags - Plastic bags cause as much, if not more economic damage of plastic water bottles, showing up in water ways and landfills. By using a re-usable grocery bag, you can reduce the amount of plastic bags that end up in the landfill by 5 - 8 bags per trip.
    
11. Re-use plastic bags— It may be hard to completely avoid ever buying or having plastic bags around, but to minimize using more you can do a few simple things. If you have pets you can keep a drawer full of these bags and take them with you when you venture out with Fido. Another use for plastic bags is using them as trash bags in the smaller waste pails like the laundry room or the bathroom.
12. Composting - Composting is nature's recycling program, a process by which natural materials decompose as a result of natural chemical reactions or be aided by fungi, bacteria and insects. An excellent way to reduce the amount of food waste that will end up in the landfill by using an outdoor composter. If you live in an apartment or have limited space, a indoor composting system may be a good solution.
    

Unfortunately, most of the fruits and vegetables in the supermarket are covered in wax, germs, pesticides, soil, herbicides and a whole host of other chemical contaminants. If not washed properly, you may ingest these harmful chemicals.

A quick rinse under sink water is not sufficient to properly clean our fruits and veggies before we eat them, due to the fact that the agricultural industry makes their pesticides, herbicides and most other agricultural chemicals waterproof. The use of wax to make sure fruits and veggies look nice is another way all of these harmful chemicals are sealed onto the food product surface.

The pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, road dirt, supermarket dirt, molds, fungi, waxes and more, are usually on the beautiful apples, pears, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables before you eat them. Besides the dirt and other chemicals just mentioned, numerous strangers in the field and in the supermarket have handled your fruit or vegetables before you bought them!

Plain water, alone, just doesn't get all those chemicals and dirt off before you eat it.

The Natural Solution to Washing Fruits and Vegetables

Many folks in the US and around the world are now finding a solution with vegetable washes and food sanitization systems. Here are a few options:

1. Vermont Soap Organics Produce Magic - It's made with organic oils and makes food taste better! Natural soaps have been safely used by humans for thousands of years and harmful detergents for less than a hundred. Doesn't it make sense that a natural, organic soap safer for you and your family?
2. Lotus Sanitizing System LSR100 - The lotus® Home Cleaning System infuses water with ozone, in the Multi-Purpose Bowl included with the system, to reduce bacteria and pesticides on foods. You can also use lotus to infuse water in the Multi-Purpose Spray Bottle attachment and sanitize surfaces with one of the lotus® Microfiber Cleaning Cloths, also included with the system.
   

Properly sealing cracks and openings in you home can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs throughout the year. You may already know where some air leakage occurs in your home, such as an under-the-door draft, but you'll need to find the less obvious gaps to properly seal your home.

Here are several tests that can be used to check for air leaks:

1. Window Seal Check - Shut the window on a piece of paper. If paper can be pulled without tearing paper, than window should be resealed.
2. Visual Gap Check - After daylight hours, shine a light through closed window and door seam and have a partner confirm if light is visible on other side.
   
3. Hot/Cold Air Check - Use your hands to feel around door and window seal checking for cold or hot air coming in through a leak.
   

Common areas to check for leaks are between brick and wood siding, between foundation and walls, and between the chimney and siding. In addition, you should inspect around these areas for leaks and drafts:

• Door and window frames
• Mail chutes
• Electrical and gas service entrances
• Cable TV and phone lines
• Outdoor water faucets
• Where dryer vents pass through walls
• Bricks, siding, stucco, and foundation
• Air conditioners
• Vents and fans

Home Pressurization Test

If you are having difficulty locating leaks and drafts, you may want to conduct a basic building pressurization test:

1. First, close all exterior doors, windows and fireplace flues.
2. Turn off all combustion appliances such as gas burning furnaces and water heaters.
3. Then turn on all exhaust fans (generally located in the kitchen and bathrooms) or use a large window fan to suck the air out of the rooms.

This test increases infiltration through cracks and leaks, making them easier to detect. You can use incense sticks or your damp hand to locate these leaks. If you use incense sticks, moving air will cause the smoke to drift, and if you use your damp hand, any drafts will feel cool to your hand.