Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Green Workshops

I've been attending a "green" workshop each month for the last year and a half.

Its been extremely interesting and fun to participate in these workshops. Over the course of my "green awakening", we've covered energy efficiency, green cleaning, home energy audits, fair trade purchases, water conservation, etc. Next months' topic will be "greening" your lawn-care.

I am still not good to the environment, but I'm trying to make small changes. Over the course of the last couple of years, I've been able to make some improvements at home and at the office.

After all, who doesn't want to be more efficient/ a better steward of the resources we've been given? Its only wise to make the most of everything we've been given.

Home Improvements:

-CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs replaced incandescent bulbs. (around 24 replaced)

-Energy Audit performed that analyzed energy efficiency of my apartment. My appliances, plugged-in-devices, lights, windows, insulation, heating&A/C sources, etc. were evaluated. (Subsequent caulking done to cut down on an outside draft).

-Aerators installed on shower head, kitchen faucet, and bathroom faucet for water conservation.

-Recycling

-Green cleaning products made and soon to be used.

-Still to be done: I am borrowing a tub and would like to put soil and red worms to quickly compost organic food waste like fruit peelings.

Thankfully, my landlord pays for heat and water. But it also means that I can't have a programmable thermostat (radiated heating) and I can't help him save money and reduce our collective carbon footprint.


Office Improvements:

-CFL bulbs replaced all available incandescent bulbs

-Old, non-functioning refrigerator replaced by a high energy efficient one, saving WMF several hundred dollars in electricity each year.

-Some green purchases made: paper

-Green cleaning products made and soon to be used.

-Recycling


Since last months' workshop was about "greening" your cleaning, I've included the following recipes.

Some recipes for your own green cleaning products:

All-Purpose Cleaner:

Mix 2 1/2 tsp borax; dab of liquid soap, and 2 cups hot water. Mix and shake in a spray bottle for use on counters, etc.

Window Cleaner:

Mix 1/2 tsp liquid detergent, 3T white vinegar, and 2 cups water. Keep in a spray bottle.

Spray the windows and wipe with wadded up newspaper or 100% cotton cloths (old t-shirts, etc.). These newspapers, once used, can still be recycled.

6 comments:

rebecca said...

i'm proud of you!

Liz said...

i think you should also start using bioware for wmf events instead of paper plates. it's a bit more expensive, but you could try out composting those in your new compost bin.

Brent Anderson said...

i want to use bioware. i'll ask the planning committees about it.

::athada:: said...

Try "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof is you're going to really get technical with worms. We use an old terrarium for our household. Works ok.

Where are these workshops? How are they funded, etc? These are things I'd like to do at our community center... I just keep thinking that this is only stuff that white people like :) Are cigarette butt-flickers going to take the extra space and time to recycle? Not likely. But I guess they might put in CFLs if I can convince them it saves money.

Brent Anderson said...

The workshops started with just a few people coming each month. Last month it merged with a much larger "green" network in Omaha. This seems to have corporate backers and a website. Its high on structure but I don't know its history of "education".

The workshops I've been attending have been funded by the organizer, a friend of mine. He invited different experts (where part of their "jobs" are educating the public...about ride sharing or bicycling to work, about water conservation, etc.)

My understanding is that he recruited these folks from city initiatives and university programs mostly.
He wrote himself a grant that involves home energy audits and he works in a building with lots of other community/city non-profits and government entities.
This provided good networking skills and also the space.

Brent Anderson said...

i forgot to mention carpooling.

Jara helped us get that started about a month ago.