Efficiency

I hate to say it but, Compact Fluorescent Lights are not the end-all and be-all of home lighting choices. However, CFL's are much more efficient and long-lived than regular incandescent bulbs and have become reasonably priced. Yet not everyone loves the light quality of compact fluorescents. So, how do you find a CFL with good color and light output?

I'll admit it, I love my clothes line ... when it's warm out. But, in the middle of winter when the high temperature for the day stays below freezing heading outside to hang wet jeans on the line is a bit tough. Yes, I could set up an inside clothes line or rack. But I've found another option, I can use my clothes dryer to heat and humidify the house.

Starting January 14th, 2008 the city of Santa Fe, NM will begin weekly pickup for residential recycling. The hope is that a weekly schedule will increase recycling participation compared to the somewhat confusing bi-weekly pickup schedule. I know that I occasionally forget which week is the recycling pickup week. So, I think this could help encourage some forgetful folks to recycle.

Leading a more ecologically sustainable life isn't always chock full of new and exciting changes. Sometimes a simple, even mundane, tweak makes a real difference. Weather stripping and weather proofing your home and office is one of those meaningful changes that makes a difference, even if it doesn't seem very 'sexy'. Weather stripping is all about increasing home efficiency and energy conservation which is the easiest way to reduce your heating and cooling bills.

Eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables is one part of living a healthy lifestyle. Eating all of those fruits and veggies produces a lot of seeds, cores, peels and husks. Some people think that leftover fruit and veggie bits are trash and don't realize what they could be - fertile, organic soil. Composting may be the perfect use for fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea leaves, spoiled foods, yard waste and other organic materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Landfills are A) An increasingly expensive strategy for solid waste disposal. B) A potential source of groundwater contamination and methane pollution. C) A possible source of raw materials for manufacturing in the future. D) All of the Above.
My answer was D.

Recycling is one way to reduce many of the problems posed by landfills. While recycling isn't perfect, it diverts valuable materials and toxic substances from being buried in an unreliable grave.

Fresh water is a precious, highly valuable resource, doubly so in the American Southwest. The last thing in the world we should do with it is to pour it down the drain. But outdated plumbing fixtures do just that by wasting many gallons of water when only one or two are needed. If you don't have low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures in your house yet, then now is the time to swap them out.

A NM to CA Road-Trip Comparison

Choosing between traveling by airplane and traveling by car is usually pretty simple. The questions one answers are usually 'How far am I traveling, how much time do I have, how much will a flight cost compared to driving costs, Is there an ocean between me and my destination?' One new factor that some of us are starting to take into account when making travel choices is 'Which mode of travel produces the least CO2?' I've made a direct comparison of two trips between New Mexico and California, one taken by air and the other by car.