9 Ways to Make an Environmental Difference

Start Composting

Many communities and cities within Ontario have started a green bin composting program. All organic waste is then used as fertilizer for public parks etc. Many kitchen organics can also be disposed of in your own yard composter. In addition to using a composter it is great to have a rain barrel to collect rain water, this will cut down on the cost of watering your garden through those dry summer days.

Walk To The Store

If you can get into the habit of walking to the store instead of driving you can make a big difference in the impact of your cars emissions. Also when using a car plan your trips out before hand to minimize the amount of driving you do. These are not only good tips to help our air quality but they will also eliminate the need for your local gym membership and you'll have a few bucks left over from the gas you'll save.

Unplug AC Power Adapters (when not in use)

Our world is filling up with hand held electronic devices, most of which have one of those block style AC power adapters. When these block style adapters remain plugged in without charging or powering anything they still use electricity called phantom power. If you think this is a myth it's not. Go find one that has been plugged into the wall for a while without powering anything and put your hand on it . You'll be able to feel the warmth from the electricity being used.

Weather Strip Outside Doors And Caulk Window Sills

Heating a home is a huge use of electricity, and at the moment Ontarios powered mainly by nuclear and oil burning power plants. So any energy we can save will reduce the need for the generation of power by these plants. The biggest heat loss of a home are through windows and doors of the house, If your doors weather stripping is old then you will want to replace it also caulking around window sills to prevent draft will drastically improve the heat in your house.

Turn Down Your Thermostat

Most people are out of there homes, or sleeping for over half time that they are occupied so why pay to heat a home when, you can turn down the thermostat a few degrees when your not needing it. Programmable Electronic thermostats are very efficient and can be used to turn your furnace off (or to a minimum temperature so that house water pipes dont freeze) after you leave the house for work, and back on just before you get home.

Switch To Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

It's pretty easy to see the advantage of switching all of your incandescent light bulbs to compact florescence. One 60 watt light bulb is equal to six 10 watt compact florescent. In power consumption that means you could potentially cut your lighting costs by 1/6 of what it was with using incandescents. And the price difference is compensated for with the longer life of the compact florescent. To go one step further LED light bulbs for standerd bulb socket are becomming more widely availible and use even less energy than the compact flourecents and output a stronger light efficiancy per watt.

Properly Dispose Of Old Items

Computers, batteries, Paint cans, tires, refrigerators are all very harmful for the environment they leak toxic chemicals into the ground and pollute your drinking water. There are many drop off zones where you can dispose of these items safely at no cost.