When someone at work said there was a month left until Christmas I nearly crapped my pants. It is coming up way to fast and I feel like I am behind the 8 ball. I am attempting to be as sustainable as I can possibly be when buying for 18 people. The past 2 days I have been looking for eco friendly toy ideas and frankly getting frustrated. There are not many affordable options out there. I mean I could spend $200 on a handmade organic doll but that is well over the budget for what we spend on our nieces and nephews.
So far I have bought a lot of wooden toys. I'm also trying to buy from a Canadian store and where possible items that are made in Canada. When looking around I have found the best selection of wooden toys with the best prices at Chapters. I have also found second hand toys on my local Mom 2 Mom page on Facebook. I am also trying to find presents for the older kids (okay they aren't that old...they are 4.5) that are more activity based
The gift I am the most excited to give is my doll cradle from when I am a little girl. It needs a little bit of TLC and a non $200 non toxic doll to go with it but I am seriously excited to hand this down to my niece.
Here are some tips that I have learned over the last several days:
* Buy practical and useful gifts rather than flash in the pan "top toys".
* Stick with eco friendly brand names that you can trust.
* Etsy is the holy grail for home made eco friendly gifts.
* If you have a child and they are younger put practical items in their stocking...they are too young to hate you for putting bamboo toothbrushes or biodegradable shampoo in there.
* Buy as close to you as possible to reduce emissions from transportation. Sure you could buy something from a big name store online but then your purchase is cris-crossing across the country or even internationally which negates any positive impact you had by purchasing an eco friendly toy.
* If you can buy second hand. There are loads of groups on Facebook but also check out Kijiji and Craigslist.
* Make presents! I am making a fort kit for my nephew and can't wait to see how it turns out.
How are you doing with your shopping list?
Tomorrow you won't see me on any social media. No blogging, twitter, BBM, personal email, facebook (I only have a personal one...not one for the blog...don't worry you aren't missing out on something). I will only be checking my work email. Tomorrow is the Vow of Silence which is an opportunity of people around the world to raise awareness and stand up against children who are silenced by poverty, disease and exploitation. They are denied the right to have a voice in their own lives so let us stand in solidarity with them and help Free the Children to raise awareness and funds to help these children.
So I got asked by Jen to comment on what it’s like from my perspective whether or not I’m “green”, or what it’s like living this lifestyle?
Well in short, in my opinion I knew what I was getting into. Jen is VERY passionate in what she believes in…yet she is “somewhat” still understanding that I don’t see everything the same way she does. We are two different people living our lives the best way we can, providing each other with different angles on life, hopefully guiding B down a road that will empower him to make the proper decisions in life that reflects BOTH of our opinions.
Hey, I will be the first to admit that Jen has opened my eyes to many great things, things I’ve never really paid attention to but now do. There are the obvious ones such as the recycling, reduction, reuse; but what I’m talking about are the bigger life lessons. The ones that have an impact not on us as adults, but the ones that have an impact on our Son or his kids for the many years and decades to come.
Now there are many times that I still give her the stink-eye for the smaller choices we make….you know the one! Like “Really Jen, are you kidding me. Do you know how long it takes the freaking cable box to load all the data when I plug it back in after you unplugged it when I go to bed!!!” Or when I come back from shopping (hells ya, I CAN grocery shop…..on my own even) and I pull out the roll of Saran Wrap or re-sealable plastic sandwich bags and get the look of death. Don’t even let me begin to explain the wrath that’s forthcoming when she sees the little plastic produce bags, or worse yet the paper towels.
To get back to the point and the question, “am I Green”? The answer is No. Have I made a lifestyle change, absolutely yes! I am comfortable admitting that Jen has had a profound influence on how I think when it comes to certain circumstances; I now look for bio-degradable options, I’m reading labels and looking for certain chemicals. I'm looking if there are more eco-friendly options, can I buy local (LOVE the farmers market now and would never have said that before), do I really need to by new or is there a second hand option, and so on.
Are Jen and I going to agree on everything….you can forget that!! Am I still going to make decisions that are not the most environmentally friendly…..more than likely. Am I still going to be “wasteful”….in certain ways probably (just don’t ask Jen about my ability to be water-wise). What I can tell you with certainty is that I have a choice, and on most occasions that choice is to think smart and to think sustainably. Not for just my personal and greedy reasons, but for the future of our Son and his friends. And for the ability to know what those options are, all that I owe thanks to my wife.
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Today started off hard. Anyone who has had a kid wean knows what an emotional roller coaster it is. There is that moment where you realize that you area finally through it and that you have made peace with the fact that a pretty kick ass chapter in your life has ended. I had that moment just a few nights ago. I finally came to terms with the fact that I am no longer a breast feeder and never will be again.
But then this morning I walked into B's room to wake him up and he happily greeted me with 'Hi Mommy' which was followed by a soft little cry and 'Mommy's Malk??' I tried to explain to him that there is no more Mommy Milk left but that we could go downstairs and have some Airplane Milk (he drinks his almond milk out of an airplane cup) but B was not buying what I was selling. He cried and asked for Mommy Malk over and over again. He didn't understand that there was none left. I tried to comfort him but seriously it was so hard to not be able to give him what he wanted and to see how confused he was. He was probably all 'Yo Homeslice I have been coming to this buffet for over 27 months. So now you are saying there is no food left?? Homie don't play that' (because this is totally how I think my kid talks).
It gets easier and better right???
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I get asked a lot for tips on how to help someones partner be more comfortable with adopting a more eco-conscious lifestyle. My advice usually goes something like this: You can't make someone be green, they have to want to make that change themselves. But the easiest way to helping them understand how easy it can be to be green is to make small changes over time. If you go balls to the walls right out of the gate chances are you will scare the crap out of them and they will revolt until they are hiding in a corner covered in paper towel and eating Big Mac's.
I don't always get full support for making green decisions in our life but I also don't have to put up with a lot of push back...the occasional eye roll or side eye yes but never a full on revolt. No Joey is not as eco-conscious as I am and I don't think he ever will be. He will always run the water while he is cleaning the kitchen or while brushing his teeth. Nothing I do or say will change that....not even putting a post it note on the mirror letting him know how much water goes down the drain each minute and how many kids that could help in another country. Not that I have done this...but I have thought about it.
Joe has grown along with me on our eco journey and he is supportive of most of the ideas I bring up (he is not supportive of this month's eco-challenge because it takes a good 5 minutes for the cable box to ramp back up). There are these awesome moments too where he suggests that we think outside of the box and find an alternative greener solution.
So if you are looking for a magic way to make your partner be fully supportive of your green initiatives I'm sorry to say there isn't one. I am fortunate that Joey is supportive of my ideas and the changes I want to make in our life. I am also fortunate that he throws in his own ideas of how we can make improvements. But he will never be as green as I am and no amount of blogging, research, post it notes or arguments is going to change that. And that my friends is A-Ok with me.
Stay tuned for a post from Joey this week on his take on this subject. I wonder what life is like on the other side of the crunchy coin?
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Okay, now you are taking this too far
Okay my American friends I have done all I can to Respect the Turkey but our Thanksgiving was a long ass time ago and so I am feeling the need to talk about Christmas. Your Thanksgiving is less than a week away anyways so I'm not breaking the rules by too much right? Besides our Santa Clause parade was tonight, radio stations are playing Holiday music and I am currently watching a Holiday movie.
What???? You don't decorate your tree with soccer balls?
This year I have started to look at the holidays differently. As an adult it was never about the gift receiving for me. I do love giving gifts and seeing people's reaction as they open them. This year I am trying to make it even less about presents and more about traditions and memories. I don't think B gets Christmas but that doesn't mean that we can't start to instill in him that the holidays are about family, having fun and giving back.
When it comes to presents we are looking for something in particular and are looking to buy it used. Yep, the big gift for B under the tree will not be something new from a store. It will be something that another child has loved and then outgrown. I do draw the line at buying used toys for anyone other than B because I am not sure what the reaction would be and honestly I don't want to upset anyone.
There are lots of benefits to buying used toys including:
* Extending the life of toys to prevent them from ending up in the landfill.
* Hello cash monies savings!
* Less natural resources being used up in producing new toys.
* No waste from packaging.
I'm excited for the holidays this year! Over the next month I will be sharing with you the new traditions we are starting that will help to make our holidays as green as possible.
Have you ever bought second hand toys for the holidays? What about other gifts?
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A disgusting discovery yesterday (top of our fridge hidden under a cabinet)....that is an impressive build up over 4.5 years Stay tuned over the next few weeks for an exciting series of posts on having a Healthy Home.
I remember the last time like it was the first time. I was sitting in probably the least comfortable chair possible. I was exhausted yet so incredibly awake and present in the moment. I was instructed to basically pretend B was a football so that he wouldn't put pressure on my abdomen. Her voice was soft and caring as she told me what the perfect latch would look it. I visualized it in my head and I am pretty sure I mimicked it with my own mouth as I tried to figure out how to get him to latch. That first latch is weird and awesome. I remember the next few days being filled with moments of awe and putting my ear as close as possible to my boob to try and hear if he was gulping down milk. My midwife told me that when my milk came in I would know. Oh boy was she right..there was no mistaking that sound!
I was hooked on breastfeeding right from the start. What I didn't know was that I was headed down the path to being an extended breastfeeder. I have nursed in public and private in 6 different countries but last Monday was the last time that B would nurse. We nursed for 27 months and 3 days. I remember the last time perfectly as I had started to be more aware of each time we nursed. I was more present in the moment just in case it was the last time. I planned on writing about that moment but I can't seem to bring myself to type it out. Not that I don't want to share but I also just want it to be something between B and I.
Nursing B in Bahamas when he was 7 months. He always hated being covered.
Last Monday a chapter in our lives ended and I would be lying if I said I am not sad. But I am also happy that we ended it in a way that worked for us and that we got so many wonderful moments together...just the two of us (and family....and the random people in public places).
I had grand plans to pump after B weaned so I could donate my milk to another parent through Human Milk for Human Babies (check them out on Facebook for the group near you). I sat down with my pump last week and after 30 minutes had 1/100th of an ounce. It is embarrassing really since I used to get like 6oz with one pump of the pump.
I mean seriously look at this....30 min both breasts. He was obviously more efficient than this pump.
I was given some Honey Suckle breast milk storage bags to test out so I will be donating those to a local Mom who pumps to donate milk to another family. They have all the traditional features that storage bags have but they are also the first breast milk storage bag that is biodegradable (within 18 months of disposal). Pumping and storing milk always made the tree hugger in me cringe so these are a fantastic solution that will produce less waste when pumping and storing is required.
I received the Honey Suckle breast milk storage bags to review but all opinions expressed are my own.
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Today B and I went for a walk which lead us through a new housing development. There are houses still being built, houses people are living in and lots that are a dumping ground for construction debris. As we walked I was reminded of when Joe built our backyard patio. We found so much crap when we excavated...bricks, coffee cups, chucks of concrete, siding, paper, insulation, water bottles. It really is no wonder that after 4 years we still have been unable to get our lawn to grow. Hell we can't even get it to be grass...it is just patches of weeds and sharp pointy plants.
Our house was the access point for all the other houses on our side of the street. Construction equipment drove all over our backyard to get to our neighbours houses. In doing so they used our backyard as a dumping ground. Today I saw it happening again and it is always the house on the corner that it happens to. I contacted the 2 main builders in that new development to find out what they do with their debris and the one who did get back to me told me that their debris goes into bins and then ends up as fill. But it appears that not every builder has this policy and that sometimes debris and waste ends up buried under the thinnest layer of "topsoil" possible.
The environmental impacts of these activities include:
Increased water, seed and fertilizer usage - When we first moved in we watered our lawn as often as we were allowed (once a week) in order to try and save the lawn. We also spend every spring and fall seeding and fertilizing in an attempt to stimulate growth.
Sod replacement - We have 2 neighbours who have had to replace their lawn twice in 6 years. There is really no other option for us as well and so it looks like we will have to rip up the "lawn" and lay down new top soil and sod (or seed).
Now if you are building a new home there are some things you can do to prevent this from happening.
* Look for a builder with a history of green initiatives
* Visit the builders current work sites to see their practices in action
* Ask exactly what they do with all the waste being generated during the build
If you already live in a home where you have a similar problem to what we have there is hope!
* Try to save your lawn for 1 season. Seed in the fall and winter and see if you can bring it back.
* Look for grass alternatives like building gardens or sitting areas or laying down clover.
* Install a sprinkler system. This will ensure you use less water than a traditional sprinkler
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How does someone so small produce so much snot? And why is it running one minute and the next rock hard? And who taught my kid to pick his nose AND EAT IT????
Last weekend was pretty rough in our house. B had a runny nose, sounded like he smokes 50 packs a day and had a fever. I try to not give medicine right away by using some more natural methods. I think it is easier to go the natural way when your kids are young because typically they are not old enough for a lot of the medicine on the market.
Coughing
For coughing I gave B 2 tablespoons of honey. I didn't have the buckwheat honey that is recommended so instead I just used the organic honey that I had in the pantry. I gave it to him before his nap and before bedtime. Both times his coughing was not as bad and didn't wake him up nearly as much as it did the night prior where I had not given him any honey.
Cool Baths
I think I confused B when I took him up for a bath mid morning. His fever was sticking around so I thought a cool bath was in order to help to bring the temperature down. He kept saying 'No No No' when I was running the water but once he got in there he just played with his toys and I made sure to keep pouring some cool water over his body. Now you don't want the water to be too cold because it will be a shock to the system. I just run it a bit cooler than what his normal bath would be. It brought his temperature right down and his spirits were up again (so much so that he just wanted to play baseball).
Dehumidifier
For congestion we use a dehumidifier. I keep it on at night time and it helps to keep his chest and nose a bit clearer. One important thing to remember is to regularly clean your dehumidifier so that it will operate properly and not propel any bacteria or spores into the air.
Comfort Food
I often wonder if what I give B now when he is sick will end up becoming his comfort food later in life. Mine is tomato soup and grilled cheese. Joey's is chicken noodle soup and peanut butter sandwiches (which he dips into his soup). When B is sick I always try to give him some soup but sometimes he isn't in the mood for it. I also continue to nurse him or give him almond milk. Some milk products can increase mucus build up so be careful what you give if you are trying to prevent congestion.
What natural remedy do you use when you or your child is sick? What is your comfort food?
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This is what happens when your husband "forgets" to take the produce bags to the grocery store to be reused when he does the grocery shopping.
In June 2009 a plastic bag at the grocery store started to cost us a shiny nickel. At first I wondered how I would survive without these bags. I didn't need them for carrying our groceries but rather for use around the house. I used them to put our cat litter in, for bathroom waste, for my lunch bag (seriously WTH Jen). I remember wondering what I was going to do when my "stash" of bags ran out.
Oh silly 2009 Jen. 2+ years later and I don't even know why I would need a plastic shopping bag. I use paper bags (like wine bags, bags from chinese food take out, mushroom bags) for our cat litter, which we can now compost. I don't use a bag at all for our bathroom waste. 99% of it is recycled or composted now so we just throw it right in the bin and then sort it when it is full. For my lunch bag I take a reusable bag. I may occasionally still use a plastic bag if I don't want the milk for my protein shake to spill all over the place but I reuse that bag over and over again.
We still have room for improvement though. Any plastic bags that we do have I have put away to take them to be recycled. Lots of stores take them back now (grocery stores, Walmart etc) and use them to make other products. I also would love to get to the point where we don't put our garbage into a kitchen sized bag and then into a black garbage bag. We fill up a kitchen sized bag every 2 weeks so it is feasible to just put that out on the curb but I always seem to rip the bag pulling it out of the trash can. So instead it goes into a black garbage bag in the garage and once a month that bag goes out to the curb. I either need to improve my skills at pulling it out of the trash can or don't use a bag at all in there and then dump it straight into a black garbage bag. I am pretty sure I like option 1 better (and I am sure Joe would agree).
Obviously the best thing we can all do is look for products that do not contain plastic bags but sometimes this is just not realistic. Here are some other plastic bags to think about:
Water softener/cat litter/milk/bread bags - check if they can be recycled in your city.. I thought that the water softener bags could be in our region but they didn't get take the 2 times I put them out. Instead I used them the following weeks in the place of a garbage bag. If you can't recycle them at the curb look for a store run recycling program. If you have really cut back on your waste production you can use a bread or milk bag to hold your weekly garbage.
Ziplock bags - we have no need for the sandwich sized bags. I have 2 reusable bags instead. We do however use the freezer bags still for our meat. I wash and reuse them over and over again though.
Produce bags - I reuse the same ones over and over again (plan on buying reusable ones soon). Make sure if you do this that you do not tie a tight knot in them or else you may have to rip them open.
Cereal/cracker bags - I think these would be great to use for crafts. They are crinkly enough that you could use them for stuffing inside of something (just make sure it isn't something that a young kid will put in their mouth).
What do you do with plastic bags? Does your region have a fee for plastic bags at stores?
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Environmentalist (myself included) are always talking about alternative modes of transportation. Like riding your bike, walking or taking public transportation. But what I wonder is are there misconceptions about taking the bus? Do people look at those on or for a bus and think that they are doing it because they are concerned about the environment and trying to reduce their impact or do you think that they are just too poor to afford a car? Is taking the bus not cool?
When I see someone waiting for the bus I will admit that my first thought is not that they are doing so to reduce their environmental impact. My first thought it usually that they do not have access to a vehicle at that time. I don't know why I think this way. I have been thinking about it for weeks after my friend Sam suggested I blog about this subject. What I have realized is that I don't think this all the time, just when the public transit system isn't user friendly. When I think about the transit system in Toronto, New York City or San Fransisco I think that people take the transit because they want to save time or money or because they want to reduce their environmental impact (or all of the above!). But when I think about the transit system where I live I can't imagine someone wanting to take it. There are much needed improvements coming to the overall system but right now it seems very inefficient. For short routes it is easy but for longer routes (say from my home to work) it is complicated and take a long time (2 hours). So I guess I think that if someone is taking the transit system here they must be doing so because they have to...not because they want to.
What are your perceptions of public transit?
This idea for this post came from my friend Sam. If you live in Virgina you totally need to stop by her blog and facebook and check out her Pollinator Plates.
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Today's blog post is brought to you from inside this kick ass fort I built. I didn't built it for me per-say but B is making me sit in here and has blocked all the exits so I have no escape route. Note to self - next time build a secret escape route or add a bathroom. At least this fort has wifi right?
Every parent wants their children to struggle less than we did, to have a better life. For me that doesn't revolve around money, vacations or 'stuff' it is about B being able to enjoy this world in the same way or better than Joe and I did growing up. I want B to be able to enjoy nature, go for hikes, camp, observe wildlife in their natural habitat and buy food from local farmers. I want him to have options. I do not want him to be surrounded by the concrete jungle with no means to escape.
I believe a lot of the way that I am now as an adult is because of how my parents raised me. We spent a lot of time outside in nature and learning to appreciate it. I hope I can instill these same values in B so he will grow up respecting the awesomeness that is Canada and how lucky we are to have nature a few steps away from our home.
Here are some quick wins for how you can start to raise green kids:
* Teach your kids about waste. Most importantly focus on Reduce...if they don't create the waste in the first place then they don't have to figure out how to manage it.
* Donate toys to the less fortunate. We will be using the 1 in 1 out rule and letting B pick which organization the toys can go to.
* Buy used. Kids (and adults) can sometimes think that buying second hand isn't cool. Teach your kids that it is cool and show them how many awesome things you can find or how you can re purpose something just for them.
* Spend time outside. Yes this means putting down the Wii and turning off Treehouse but there is so much more value in going outside then there is in sitting in front of the TV.
* Recycle materials for craft time.
* Attend local environment events. Most events will have activities for kids that are geared at helping them learn about the environment and the role they can play.
* Tour local farms and show the kids where their food is coming from. Tour landfills to show them where their waste is going.
* Walk the walk. Kids learn by example so live the life you want them to live.
* Get your kids involved in creating their own litterless lunch.
* Have fun! Being green certainly isn't boring so show your kids this.
If you don't have kids there is no reason you can't do these same things with the kids in your life (friends kids, nieces, nephews etc). As adults we can be influential on all the kids in our life. This is our opportunity to make the world a better place for them.
What are you doing to raise green kids?
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Last year I bought a steam mop because all I ever heard from people was how awesome they are...that they made sliced bread look like unsliced bread. Such dirty dirty lies. Today as I was washing the floors I didn't have my usual struggle to push the mop along. Now either bootcamp is working and I am super strong now or maybe this steam mop is actually working like it should! Normally I get a steam mop facial when I use it but today there was very little steam coming out of the top. I assumed this meant that it was coming out of the bottom...like a steam mop should and that this was sign #2 that it may actually have decided to start working. But then I realized how much water I was going through. About 3 times what I normally would. And the floors were not warm to the touch...they were cold.
My Nancy Drew skills determined that perhaps my steam mop was not working at all and was instead just dripping water onto the pad thereby making it easier to push but not actually doing any real cleaning. Funny enough I think it was actually easier to get the floors clean. Food came up with very little work compared to when there is steam billowing out of the mop.
Now here is where it gets really weird. When I was done cleaning and unplugged the mop it started to generate steam. And it kept generating steam for a good 10 minutes. Spooooky.
Today I realized I have no idea how a steam mop should function because I clearly thought mine had finally started to work when in fact it appears that it is completely broken. Or haunted.
It feels like such a waste to throw this one out and buy another one (different brand obviously) so I am going to try a few things first. First step will be cleaning it with vinegar in case there has been any calcium/hard water build up.
Do you have a steam mop? Which one do you have and do you love it? If you don't have one what do you use to clean your floors?
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Today was a brutal day for traffic. A flipped over truck on the 401 (our major highway) caused traffic in both directions and on pretty much every local street within a 10km radius to grind to a halt. Joe was stuck in it for an hour and a half when it normally would only take him 15 minutes. Stop and go traffic can significantly increase vehicle emissions vs a steady speed (even if driving slow). Add sitting idle on the road to the equation and you are looking at a significant increase in CO2 emissions over the usual emissions for that time.
There has to be some way to prevent this or at least reduce the worst case emissions scenario. Here are some ideas that can help:
* Listen to the radio or check online to check out your route prior to leaving. If you hear of an accident then find an alternative route. Google, Beat the Traffic or other Apps are great at showing real time traffic patterns based on speed. Look for the route with traffic moving at a steady speed.
* Get a hybrid when you buy your next car. At lower speeds your car will run on electricity. When you are idling your engine will shut off and not start again until you start to move again.
* Take public transit. Now if there is an accident you may not be able to avoid sitting in traffic but the more people who take public transit the less cars there will be on the road leading to less congestion over all. Bonus points if you can take a train or subway and get off the road completely.
* When you do start moving accelerate slowly. Don't step on the gas and then break hard when you need to stop.
* Put your car in neutral when you are stuck sitting on the road and not moving. If it is a major traffic jam and you are not moving at all for long periods of time just turn your car right off.
Got any other tips to share on how we can reduce our CO2 emissions while driving/sitting/crawling in traffic jams?
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I recently read a report by the National Resource Defense Council about how cable boxes are a massive energy user even when turned off . When I say that they consume a lot of energy I mean that they use more energy than a fridge. Mind blowing right? A typical household set up is one PVR and one HD cable box which combined use 446 kWh/year of electricity. A 21 cubic foot Energy Star refrigerator uses 415 kWh/year.
When I heard this my first thought was that it shouldn't be a problem for us because we turn the cable box off when we are not using it. But it turns out that they still pull a lot of energy even when turned off. The only way to stop this is to unplug them or turn off the power bar they are plugged into.
Some more stats:
* In 2010, cable boxes consumed the same amount of power as the annual output of 9 coal fired plants.
* The energy required to run all the cable boxes in the US is equivalent to annual household consumption of the entire state of Maryland and resulted in 16 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
* PVR's use 40% more power than the non-recording cable boxes.
* Nearly 2/3 of energy usage from cable boxes is when they are not in use.
Okay on to the challenge. This month we will be unplugging our cable boxes (we have 2) to determine the impact we can have on our electric bill. We do not have a PVR so our energy consumption is lower right out of the gate. The NRDC report shows that the average consumption of our HD box is 171 kWh/year.
I am really interested to see if this eco-challenge will have any impact on our bill.
Our front door sucks. It is probably the cheapest one that the people who built this house could have selected. To make matters worse they had some dude who was driving around with windows in the back of his truck cut a hole in the door and install a window. I don't know if there is insulation in it, I have bent it while trying to open it and just this week Joey knocked something off the bottom of it. When we picked it up we realized it is what our weather stripping should be attached to but there was nothing there. Maybe it was an upgrade to include weather stripping with your door...when you live in Canada.
See this is what happens to our front door in the winter.
Our windows are crap. Again I think they went with the most basic model ever. They are cold, drafty and cold....and drafty. Thankfully the Building Code in Ontario is changing January 1 to incorporate increased energy efficiency. But obviously that does nothing for us now and we are stuck with the choices that we made when the house was built.
The nights are getting longer and the temperatures are dropping so for those of us with winter on the way that means it is time to look at our houses for preparations we can do to save energy (and money).
These are quick wins that you can do to prepare for winter:
* Clean/replace the filters on your furnace. The cleaner the filter the more efficient your furnace will work.
* Clean your duct work. Blockages will prevent hot air from getting where it needs to go.
* Repair and replace weather stripping on all doors. Drafts suck and weather stripping is a quick fix.
* Bubble wrap your windows. Keep the wrap to use year after year.
* Set your programmable thermostat. Have 'home', 'away' and 'night' settings. We have ours set at 72 when home, 68 when away and 65 at night.
* Clean your chimney. Again it will burn more efficiently if it is clean.
* Wash your blankets...time to cuddle under a blanket rather than cranking the heat.
* Open your curtains when the sun is shining in and close them when it is not. This will allow the heat in when it is sunny and keep it in when it is not.
* Bleed out your exterior water lines and bring all accessories inside. Seriously do this one.
* Stock up on eco-friendly and pet friendly de-icer and traction materials.
I plan on tracking the energy savings we experience this winter by winterizing a bit so stay tuned for that.
What are you doing to prepare for winter? Do you track your energy consumption season to season?
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