Five Percent: Conserve Energy

My lawn is beginning to turn green. Several years ago I realized that I could have a green lawn, with very little effort, much less energy used, and no smell or nasty chemicals. Oh, and I also saved a ton of money.

Lawn Aerator Shoes

It’s hard to say if aerating my lawn by walking over it with spiked plates strapped to my shoes was helpful. It was not hard to do, involved a very small cost for the shoes, and did not result in noise or stench from gas-powered equipment. All I know is, my lawn was nice and green for the last several years.

Rechargeable Electric Mower Review

The electric (battery) lawn mower is awesome. It is quiet, effective, and has way more juice than I need to mow my suburban lawn. It doesn’t stink, and charges in a short time, after which it’s ready to go for the next time I need to mow. I highly recommend a battery electric mower for anyone inclined to get rid of their gasoline model. It’s a better change for the environment, too (gas mowers, like most small gas motors, are terribly inefficient and spew forth great amounts of greenhouse gasses.

I set the mowing height to 3 inches, which is pretty long but still makes for a nice, lush lawn. Better yet, this means I mow very infrequently, and there’s plenty of room for the clippings to fall in between. All that nice organics material falls back into the ground, traps moisture, and I don’t have to rake or bag clippings. The lawn also grows more slowly, so in the last few years, I mowed maybe 8 times total.

Best Organic Fertilizer for Your Lawn

Because most of the organic material is going back into the lawn as compost, you need very little fertilizer, and maybe no weed killer. The lawn is robust enough to keep down most of the weeds (I do pull a few dandelions and crabgrass by hand, but not a lot). So a little organic fertilizer in spring is enough to give the grass a great boost.

Don’t Water Your Lawn Too Much

Last year, I didn’t use my underground automatic sprinkler system at all. This was not a great idea, since it was a very dry summer; I should have watered a few times. As a result, I now need to resurrect one patch of lawn, and I am pretty sure our shrubs and flowering trees would have been more able to fend off pests with just a little watering.

The grass itself does better if you cut it long (see above). The beds do well with mulch, but still, a little water when needed goes a long way.

On the bright side, my water bill went way (way!) down. Keep an eye on the moisture level of the soil, and water only when necessary. Two years ago, I needed no extra water; last year I should have given a little. It depends.

But watering every day, or other day, or more is totally unnecessary, and incredibly expensive. A lot of water once every few weeks (if nature doesn’t provide) is much more effective.

Best Landscaping Services

It’s a little work, but doing your own landscaping and gardening is good exercise and very easy if you follow some basic rules.

I no longer have any gas powered equipment. I shoveled my driveway all winter, eschewing the snow blower in favor of a good old shovel. It snowed a lot this winter, and it wasn’t that hard.

I especially hate the whiny leaf blowers used by landscapers, mainly. They are noisy, smelly, useless, and terrible in all ways. Just rake! It’s far better for the lawn, too.

Ride a Bike To Work

I am back on my bike again, commuting to work, now that the roads and weather are more benign. It’s good for my muscles, and good for the environment, and reduces congestion, and takes less time. And my wife likes what it does for my legs.

There are many, many small ways you can upgrade from the old way of doing things we never though about. These are just a few. What changes have you made?

My recent windfall from the water company reminded me that I could not possibly have known how much water I was using. I am not so tied in to our heating bill. I am very aware of my electricity bill. I am aware of my vehicle usage. They are all important—why the difference?

When it’s in your face, it’s harder to ignore

I have some proposed solutions that should help get our consumption in our faces. (more…)

When I started this blog in 2005, I quickly realized that the only way to conserve energy was to know how much of it I used. We have had continued success reducing electricity use. And finally, I can quantify how much we have reduced our water use.

We finally got our adjusted water bill, and we are getting more than $2,400 back from Newton Water and Sewer. Wahoo! (I need the money: we’re not getting a tax refund this year :-| )

Our water savings came from conservation. Here’s how: (more…)

A friend pointed me to this site, MetaEfficient: The Optimal Green Guide. The focus is on efficiency, which is generally a “green” idea. This site is more of a newsy blog, but there is a reasonable assemblage of products.

My whole family is very impressed with the Evolve Roadrunner shower head. Evolve Roadrunner provides a very, very nice shower experience that is comparable to regular shower heads. To my surprise, I really like the “ShowerStart” feature.

And yes, the Roadrunner also uses a lot less water than typical shower heads, although you would never know it. We recommend the Roadrunner. If you’re worried about the price, don’t: the payback could be a lot faster than you think.

Greenwashing, or Washing Green?

A few weeks ago, I was bashing this company’s marketing message (more…)

Ok, I’m just an iPhone fanboy. This post is entirely off-topic — it has nothing to do with the environment, energy, conservation, or any of that. I should hate the iPhone. But wait. I love the iPhone, and thus, must rationalize my purchase, as I have done in the past with my TV, TiVo, and laptop computer.

Stick with me. Going a bit out on a limb, I believe the iPhone embodies something that gives me (some) hope that us humans will manage to think ourselves out of our global warming issues in three ways (more…)

Our Favorite

Not to be outdone by GreenGear’s high-tech bathroom videography, I made my very own movie using a digital camera which you can view below. I should have shaved, and who knew I had such a big bald spot on my head. Oh, and next time I’ll brush my hair. (more…)

I purchased a Delta water saving 1.6 GPM shower head. It is not a good bet. See this good review at GreenGear, and I added a comment describing the painful needles that sting into your back and face. Ah, engineering at its finest. I’ll try something else and report back

We’re looking for a good low-flow shower head. I have found some good options and am looking for suggestions. But in my hunt, I found one of the more egregious examples of green-washing I have seen recently. I found a shower head whose feature is that it turns off automatically when the water is warm. Hmm, I thought, how could that save water?

In my search, I came across the “Evolve” shower head. This shower head doesn’t actually use less water when you’re in the shower. Instead, this company has made the alarming (although probably true) assumption that the following series of events takes place:

1. Turn on water
2. Wait for it to warm up
3. Walk around the house doing other things
4. Get in the warm shower
5. Take a shower as normal

They had me up until step 3. (more…)

Sorry for the suggestive title — yes, you can conserve energy by turning off the lights. But don’t turn off the light for romance (candles, which are apparently a horrible source of global warming, alas, are the lighting of choice :-). But in the other 99.999999% of your life (your number of 9′s may vary), there are some real, regular activities

you can do without turning on the lights.

My List of Daily Activities without Light

• Shower. Oh, and in the winter, don’t bother with the bathroom fan.
• Run down to the basement to get something.
• Go outside. Turning on lights actually reduces your ability to see.

(more…)