MUD SUSTAINABILITY TIPS
From small steps to big leaps, you can make a difference. It’s not just changing your light bulbs. It’s a change in the way you think. We hope these tips help you. Please fill free to share additional tips with us by e-mailing info@mudproject.org.
Brought to you the Missoula Urban Demonstration Project. www.mudproject.org.
HOME
Lighting accounts for about 20% of the average American’s monthly electrical bill. You can go beyond replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescents or CFLs. LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs last 10 times as long as CFLs, create less heat and don’t contain mercury. They are more expensive, but the save money over the long run and as technology improves, the price will likely come down as well.
Hang clothes out to dry. You can hang them inside in the cold season, which actually also helps humidify your house during the dry Montana winter. National Hanging Out day is April 19th.
Wash laundry on cold. Washing your clothes in cold or warm water instead of hot saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, according to climatecrisis.net. Drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds. Source: Chicago Tribune
Turn your heat down to 52 when you go to bed and when you go out during the day. Install a programmable thermostat in your home to regulate the temperature inside your home to correspond to your use.
Invest in an energy efficient furnace, particularly in older homes. The initial investment will pay dividends in cost savings on your energy bill.
Add insulation to areas of your home that do not have a sufficient amount to keep heat in and the strain on your furnace and the grid down.
Use rope caulk and weather stripping around leaky windows. This is often easier and more effective than window wrap.
Replace worn or ineffective door sweeps and thresholds to keep drafts out.
Consider using a space heater (EnergyStar-rated) to heat one occupied room instead of the furnace, which will heat the whole house.
If you’re looking for materials for your next home improvement project, check your local building reuse center (Home Resource) first. You can also check with local building materials vendors that may have surplus discontinued materials that they may be willing to sell to you at a reduced price.
Keep the interior air quality high. Use low VOC paints (non-lead based). Check radon levels, particularly in basements. Radon remediation systems should be installed if levels are too high.
Green the inside. Houseplants aren’t just aesthetically pleasing. They help clean the air inside your home.
Replace or clean your furnace filter frequently.
Clean your house using environmentally friendly products. There are many companies that make no-phosphate, low chemical products, but you can also make your own out of common household items, such as vinegar and baking soda. Visit http://www.womensvoices.org/our-work/safe-cleaning-products/learn-more/green-cleaning-recipes/ for green cleaning solution recipes.
Invest in low flow plumbing fixtures. This can be as extensive as retrofitting your plumbing with low-flow kits or as simple as putting a brick in your toilet tank to reduce water use. Tighten or replace all leaky faucets. Those drips add up.
Keep an old waterproof watch in the shower to help you keep your shower shorter. According to the USGS the average shower uses 2 gallons of water per minute, which means that a 10-minute shower uses 20 gallons of water!
If you are replacing a toilet, consider installing a dual flush toilet. When all you need is to flush away urine the dual-flush models use much less water versus the most efficient toilet for flushing solid waste. And you don’t have to flush “every time.” It’s like the old saying goes, if it’s, yellow let it mellow…
Explore more energy efficient ways to heat your water supply. Some examples include air-heat pumps water heater, solar thermo-siphon water heaters (external heat exchanger), or on-demand water heaters.
The best way to make recycling a part of your life is to make it easy for you. A well-organized system makes sorting and loading recycling a simple task rather than a chore. Create a recycling sorting station in your utility room, invest in durable bins or flexible hanging bags – do whatever works for you in your living space so that it feels like second nature, not a second job.
Glass is one of the worst items to throw away. It sits in landfills for centuries. Yet glass recycling options in Missoula are few and far between. Target has started a glass recycling bin, taking glass recycling centers in their empty freight trucks after they drop off a shipment. Read more about Target’s glass recycling program in this article from the Missoulian, http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_951e0326-0f19-11e0-a71e-001cc4c002e0.html
Conscientiously hand-washing your dishes can use less water than a dishwasher. You know there are always items that need to be washed by hand anyway, so there will be soapy water already. The savings (in amount of water used, not as much cost savings) adds up if you are careful when rinsing. Using a spray nozzle and a slow volume saves water as well.
Conserve water and try to use every drop. Turn off water when brushing your teeth. Use excess “gray water” from washing dishes or from the bathtub to water your plants.
Keep the fridge and freezer full. “Dead spaces” take more energy to cool. This includes any secondary freezer/fridge in your home. If you don’t have enough food to keep it full, fill milk jugs with water. You can use the chilled water for camping trips and the frozen water jugs can go in your cooler, rather than buying ice.
Unplug power strips and appliances you don’t use on a regular basis when not in use.
Replace old appliances with EnergyStar models. You reduce your strain on the power grid and save money to boot. In addition to the long-term energy bill savings, you may also qualify for a tax credit for upgrading your appliances.
If you’re doing a major home renovation, it would be worth it to look into investing in solar panels to power your home. Photovoltaic panels utilize the free energy from the sun, and if the solar panels are tied to the grid, the system is adding power to the grid in a non-centralized method. If enough people added P.V. (photovoltaic) panels to their homes the potential in eliminating, or not adding more coal or gas-fired electric plants increases.
Keep your blinds down during direct sunlight in the summer.
Put a draft excluder by your front door in the winter
Plant trees and shrubs to reduce noise, dust, and direct sunlight at your property.
Get a free home energy audit from Northwestern Energy to find out how you can make your home more energy efficient. They offer an on-site audit as well as a mail-in survey audit. You may even qualify for some free energy-saving equipment installation. Learn more here, http://www.northwesternenergy.com/display.aspx?Page=Home_Audit_MT
Insulate exposed pipes in the basement and in cabinets under sinks.
Use fans to move cool air in summer and warm air in winter.
When cooking on the stovetop, cover your pots. Use glass and ceramic pans when baking. They retain heat better than metal.
Don’t use pilot lights on gas burners. Pilot lights not only waste gas 24/7, they add heat to your home. Eliminating pilot lights means lower costs for cooling because you will run the A/C less. Going pilotless will use 40% less gas than normal. If your existing stove already has pilot lights, turn them off and use a clicker-lighter to light the burner when you’re cooking. (Turning them off requires tightening the set screw. You can’t just blow the pilot out, because then gas will still be leaking out the unlit pilot hole.)
Don’t put aluminum foil on the bottom of a gas oven to catch drippings. The foil blocks the heat that the oven is trying to produce. It’s fine to put foil in an electric oven, as long as you leave the heating elements on the side exposed.
Don’t open the oven door when you are cooking. Use the oven light. When you are done using the oven, turn it off and leave the oven door slightly open. It can help heat up your kitchen on cold days. Don’t let that heat go to waste.
Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Skip the dry cycle. Just open the door when the washing cycle ends and allow dishes to air dry.
Use a crockpot and a microwave oven for cooking. These are the cheapest and most efficient ways to cook.
Don’t stand in front of an open refrigerator. Letting the cool air out causes the fridge to work extra hard. Also don’t put hot/warm food directly into the fridge. Let it cool on its own first. Again, your fridge has to work harder to cool the food down, thus using more energy.
Install energy efficient window shades on all of your windows.
Create a compostable pet poop system in your backyard. With a buried trash can and a little septic tank starter, which is non-caustic, you can actually compost your doggy’s daily doings. Find the step-by-step process at http://www.cityfarmer.org/petwaste.html. NOTE: you cannot use pet waste compost on your vegetable patch, but can be used for ornamental gardens.
Take advantage of natural light sources. Don’t turn lights on during the day if the sunlight through the window is sufficient.
On cool days and nights, open your windows instead of using an air conditioner.
YARD/GARDEN
Grass is the largest non-edible irrigated crop. Keep watering of grass to a minimum. Water only in the early morning or evening to reduce water loss due to evaporation. Water deep, not often. And make sure the placement of your sprinklers is the most efficient. In other words, don’t water the sidewalk or the driveway.
If you have grass, when you mow your lawn, let the clippings mulch into your yard rather than bagging them. It’s better for your lawn and saves on the waste of bagging.
Plant native shrubs and grasses that are more drought resistant than traditional grass and thus require less water (and less work). If you prefer a lawn, look for grass that is appropriate for Montana’s climate.
Grow a vegetable garden. Plant a fruit tree. Make your backyard your own personal grocery store.
Make your fresh foods last longer. If you can’t eat all the fresh produce you have right away, puree and freeze some it for use in winter soups and sauces. If you have veggies like carrots and celery or fresh herbs, immerse them in water to keep them fresh longer. Herbs like basil will last quite a long time in water, in fact they may even continue to grow.
Put rain barrels under your gutters. Use drip irrigation rather than sprinklers.
Consider the benefits of backyard chickens. They provide fresh eggs and keep your soil aerated. In the winter, make sure their coop is well-insulated.
Use those old egg cartons as seed starters. Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill about 3/4 with potting soil, plant seeds and set in a sunny window.
To get fresh produce in the winter, build a cold frame or a greenhouse using LED grow lamps that produce a photosynthesis wavelength.
Start a compost pile. You can put “green” items such as kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and fresh manure or “brown” items like dry leaves, wood chips, saw dust, paper products, hay and ash in your compost. Avoid putting fatty wastes from meats, dairy products or other oils in your compost. These can attract animals. Compost is a natural process that can reduce household waste. It returns nutrients and minerals to the soil, improves soil aeration, texture, and drainage. It makes great mulch that controls weeds and erosion.
Use worms to break down food scraps. It works indoors or out, doesn’t smell funky, can be quicker than regular composting methods, and is fascinating for all ages!
SCHOOL/WORK
Turn off your computer at the end of the day. “…if all the world’s 1 billion PC’s were powered down for just one night – it would save enough energy to light up New York City’s Empire State Building – inside and out – for more than 30 years” Source: 1E Energy Awareness Campaign. If you can, switch to a laptop. They use less energy.
Complete the cycle. If you recycle your paper, always buy recycled paper. Look for paper that contains the highest percentage of post-consumer recycled material.
Use scratch paper for notes.
Set up a recycling program at work.
Avoid overloading the energy use in you personal office space with lots of electronics. Resist the urge to have a space heater. Bring a warm sweater to work if your office is cold.
There’s no rule that the lights in your office bathroom need to stay on. Turn them off when you leave or encourage your office to install auto sensor lights.
If you have the means or influence in a company, consider a flexible work schedule. A four-day work-week decreases energy use and carbon emissions.
Pay your bills online. Paying your bills online not only reduces the amount of paper you use but also eliminates the use of fossil fuels needed to deliver and return the bills, plus saves you money on envelopes and stamps!
Reduce your junk mail. According to greentimes.com, approximately 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to send junk mail in the US every year. If you register on the Direct Marketing Association website for a $1 fee and stop 75% of your unsolicited mail.
Print double-sided. When you do need to print a document, try to print double-sided whenever you can.
Support Recycling in the Schools. Home Resource and Missoula Valley Recycling have teamed up to bring recycling and education about recycling into several local schools. With added support, they can expand the program to even more.
Walk your kids to school rather than driving. Or have them take the bus. This helps with parking, traffic congestion, and emissions of running cars. Plus you’ll probably get home faster than those waiting in the pick-up line.
TRANSPORTATION/ RECREATION/TRAVEL
Start your run, hike or bike ride from home. Don’t drive to a trailhead.
Get to your next vacation spot via bus or train travel.
Become a WWOOFer. Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) started in the UK in 1971. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.
Become a “voluntourist.” There are plenty of opportunities to help while recreating or vacationing. Volunteering while traveling allows for cultural immersion and educational experiences for the entire family. Find out more at voluntourism.org
Travel the world with alternative lodging. CouchSurfing is a hospitality exchange network and website. With almost 2.5 million members in 245 countries and territories. The mission of CouchSurfing is to create “a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.” From couchsurfing.com
Opt not to have your towels and sheets washed daily at hotels. Most hotels encourage you to do this anyway.
Use MUD Truck Share for moving across town.
Go on a Staycation. There are plenty of opportunities to recreate close to town.
When renting a car, always choose the most fuel-efficient vehicle available.
Carpool to the ski hill.
Buy carbon off sets when you travel by airplane.
Walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation to work. Encourage your office to install a shower at work for those who walk or bike.
Take the stairs wherever you go. It saves on energy for powering the elevator and it’s good for you.
Change the oil in your car only at facilities licensed to safely dispose of used oil.
Keep your tire pressure at the recommended level.
Keep air filter in your car clean.
Have your car tuned up once a year. This will not only help you get better gas mileage, but can also help your car to run smoothly during the cold Montana winter.
Check your car battery because a dead car battery in the winter is no fun!
Use a lower grade oil (depending on the vehicle). It is lighter and can be lifted into your vehicle’s engine more easily thus preventing premature wear down of parts. Lighter grade oils are also less viscous resulting is less sludge build up in your engine.
Consistently check and maintain your vehicle’s antifreeze levels.
Drive the designated speed limit and don’t accelerate too hard. You will get better gas mileage.
Turn off engine at lights, when waiting in line at a bank, drive through, etc.
FOOD
Eat locally. Eat seasonally. Consider how much energy it takes to import foods that are not in season or don’t grow naturally in Montana. Plus, when you eat locally, you’re getting the freshest source of food and you’re supporting the local economy.
If you eat meat, buy non-over harvested meat and try to buy locally. Participate in steer shares through local ranchers or 4-H members.
Participate in Community Shared Agriculture (CSA). By purchasing a share of a community farm you are helping support its daily operations and you will receive a portion of a farm’s harvest. Help a local farm grow and receive fresh produce (and sometimes other items like cheese, eggs, and fresh flowers) weekly in the summer.
Shop at the Farmer’s Market for fresh, locally grown or made foods and other items. Find less traveled goodies in a fun environment.
Become a food co-op member. It’s a relatively small investment of your volunteer time to help keep the co-op running and you’ll have access to affordable local, natural and/or organic food that’s affordable.
Stock up for the winter. Learn how to do your own food storage. MUD offers workshops for canning you own food, but drying and freezing are both simple options that virtually everyone can do.
Plan your trips to the grocery store. A once-a-week trip with a well thought-out list will decrease your impulse purchases and will help you to avoid buying too much. The last thing you want is food to go to waste in your refrigerator.
Bake your own bread. A loaf of bread from at the grocery store costs anywhere between $2.00 and $4.00. You can bake your own healthy bread at a fraction of the cost. The ingredients for 6 loaves of homemade bread costs approximately $5.00 and your house will smell like fresh-baked bread.
Foraging is fun. Take advantage of local wild food sources. You can find elderberries and chokecherries near Missoula. Hunt for morels and other edible wild mushrooms. If you’re going to pick huckleberries, just make sure you watch for bears (and leave some for the bears to eat as well.)
Avoid eating fish from over-harvested species or fish that contain high levels of mercury. Check online at thefishlist.org for more information about the types of fish that are most sustainable to eat.
Take reusable food storage containers with you when you go out to dinner to box your leftovers rather than taking their disposable boxes.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS/PERSONAL CARE
For home furnishings, you don’t have to buy new. Go to the Good Will, antique marts, garage sales, or Craig’s List for furniture and other household furnishings.
The manufacture of paper products such as facial tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels contribute greatly to the destruction of virgin forest. By purchasing recycled paper products (and using less of the products – i.e. replacing paper towels with a rag or sponge) you are saving trees. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if every household in the United States replaced just one box of virgin fiber facial tissues (175 sheets) with 100% recycled tissue, we could save 163,000 trees. And for one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) replaced with a 100% recycled roll, we could save 423,900 trees.
When something breaks, don’t assume it’s unfixable. Repair broken items and replace only what’s needed. Often times manufacturers will sell parts to replace the broken part. Always explore this option first.
There are resources for recycling broken electronics rather than sending them to the landfill. In some places, you can sell broken cell phones back to reuse components. Some non-profits will take cell phone donations as well. Missoula County offers information about disposal and reuse options for a variety of electronics from cell phones to large appliances. Visit their website to find out more here, http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/wq/hhw/disposal/electronics.htm
Make a resolution to bring your own reusable shopping bags every time you go to the store. Most grocery stores sell their own cloth bags and some stores even offer a discount on your purchase for using them.
Buy bulk items to reduce packaging. Many staple items can be purchased in bulk – from dish soap to honey to pasta. Bring your own containers from home for these items. Another way to reduce packaging is to fill a growler at your local brewery instead of dealing with empty cans and bottles.
With daily technological breakthroughs, it’s easy to understand the perception that your personal computer is obsolete. However, you can save money and the planet by making an old computer new again. Upgrade software, memory, hard drive space, etc. rather than buying a whole new machine.
Buy rechargeable batteries to reduce the amount of batteries that end up in the landfill. Rechargeable batteries will save you money too. If you have old batteries, you can recycle them at just about any place that sells batteries
Wear seasonally appropriate clothes. Layer in winter to retain body heat.
It takes about 500 years for a disposable diaper to degrade in a landfill. The average child will use 5000-7000 disposable diapers before becoming toilet trained around 2 ½ years of age. Nearly 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills every year. If you have a little one, consider cloth diapers. Cloth diapers have come a long way – there are options that include washable inserts and Missoula even has its own affordable cloth diaper service.
Support clothing and personal care companies that use recycled/sustainable materials.
Use concentrated products, like soaps. This reduces excess packaging.
Purchase bio-degradable pet waste bags or re-use bags (newspaper bags, bread bags, etc.).
Purchase environmentally safe kitty litter. There are many brands available in both clumping and non-clumping varieties. You can even find some that are biodegradable, made from cedar, corn, pine, soybean, wheat, and even recycled paper. Some natural kitty litters can be incinerated, composted, and/or used as mulch on non-edible plants.
Break out your library card rather than buying new books. Or frequent used bookstores to buy and donate/sell your old books.
Consider that almost any consumer good you purchase from food to electronics to clothing has to travel some distance to get to you – and very likely moves by a gasoline or oil-powered conveyance. Become more aware of the oil used to get goods from Point A to Point B. Inspire yourself to buy more locally and travel less to get so much more.
Keep chemicals out of the water supply. Don’t flush prescription drugs down the toilet. Dispose of them properly. You can dump them out of the bottle into some “wet” garbage, such as coffee grounds, spoiled food, cat litter, etc. Then seal it a plastic bag or container. In addition, Operation Medicine Cabinet events will be scheduled at a couple different times throughout the year in Montana. Drop-offs are confidential and free. For more information about the next event , go to http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/HealthPromo/RxDrugConcerns/index.htm#Disposal
Share certain tools with your neighbor or use the MUD Tool Library, rather than buying new tools.
Use your own reusable coffee mug and water bottle – Every year, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups of coffee; of those, 14.4 billion are served in disposable paper cups … enough to wrap the entire earth 55 times end-to-end! Source: www.ecofriendlycup.com / Americans buy 28 billion single-serving plastic water bottles every year, and 80% of those end up in landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Meeting the nation’s demand for bottle water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year, the Earth Policy Institute estimates. Chicago Tribune
Give homemade gifts. Learn how to sew, knit, crochet, whittle, bake, paint, or forge. MUD’s workshops are a great way to garner these skills and impress your friends and family members.
Support local community events and organizations. Civic engagement connects you will people in your community. Missoula is full of volunteer opportunities, interest clubs and groups, and local gatherings. Get involved today for a better tomorrow.
