Archive for the ‘TriLeaf’s Eco Tips’ Category

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tip: Filtering Out the Waste

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Know Your H20
According to filterforgood.com, the United States is the world’s largest bottled water consumer. In 2008, the U.S. used enough plastic water bottles to stretch around the Earth more than 190 times. I don’t know about you, but I find that to be a problem all of us can easily fix with little to no effort. All you have to do is stop spending so much money on bottled water and purchase a water filter instead. For those of you that believe drinking bottled water is better for you, you should know that Dasani and Aquafina are nothing but bottled, purified water. If you don’t believe me, then visit www.filterforgood.com, where I learned of this useful information. If you’re not quite convinced, their information is sure to enlighten you. Visit their site, soak up the knowledge, and let us know if you come up with a good reason not to ditch the bottled water.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tip: Ride on Two Wheels Instead of Four

Monday, September 6th, 2010

A Way of Travel That’s Better for Everyone

For this next blog, I’d like to promote an old idea instead of suggesting a new one; one you probably come across every other day when you find yourself driving to work at 15 miles an hour behind a particular eco-friendly traveler. Yes, I’m talking about riding a bicycle. Although it seems to be growing increasingly in popularity, I still have yet to see more than one person riding their bikes on the streets at a time. Riding a bike from location to location has many more advantages than disadvantages. You save on gas money, you help prevent air pollution, you get great exercise and your conscience can rest easy because you know you’ve done so much good for yourself and others just in one trip. So I challenge you to be ambitious and choose to ride your bike when you’re heading somewhere that doesn’t require an automobile.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tip – Water Conservation

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Consider a Dual Flush Kit on your toilet.

Water is our most important resource, and saving water has become an extremely highlighted concern throughout the United States. Many droughts and over taxed water treatment systems have been reported throughout the country. The water crisis in some areas has become so extreme that people are on water rations. A dual flush conversion kit will save water, and save the earth
“SelectAFlush” is a clever and unique dual flush adapter water saving device that will empower you to save water every time you flush your toilet. Retrofit your toilet into an efficient dual flush water conserving machine without sacrificing performance when you need it. NO need to retire your toilet to the landfill. Soon, you will be able to save up to 50% of your toilet water consumption by choosing to rinse or flush with the push of an included traditional lever. Basically, you can choose to use a normal flush or a light rinse depending on your needs at the time.

Imagine buying a water conservation product that pays for itself over and over again. As an example, a family of 7 can save 49 gallons a day or 18,000 gallons a year; that is a large swimming pool of water! That would be a saving of nearly $193.00 every year. You can purchase a dual flush toilet conversion kit for less than this. Yes, you save, again and again.

Written by: Chris Horn

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TriLeaf Eco Tips – Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Use indoor plants to improve your air quality.

People living in modern societies spend as much as 90% of their lives indoor. As a result, exposure to indoor toxins is much greater in terms of duration and concentration. Yet 10’s of millions of people fail to recognize the seriousness of the problem, or even worse, fail to realize that a major health risk even exists.

Plants offer a natural, energy efficient, solution to cleaner Indoor Air. Studies indicate that 1-2 medium size plants (6 inch containers or larger) per 100 square feet of living or workspace are all that is necessary to improve IAQ.

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE INDOOR AIR QUALITY:

1. INCREASE & IMPROVE VENTILATION
2. IDENTIFY, REMOVE & REMEDIATE POLLUTANT SOURCES
3. NATURAL (BOTANICAL) & MECHANICAL AIR CLEANING
4. EDUCATION & COMMUNICATION
5. GREEN PURCHASING PRACTICES OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES THAT ARE HEALTHY, SAFE,
SUSTAINABLE, & ECO-FRIENDLY

Information taken from GreenStar Eco-Enterprises

Written By: Chris Horn

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tip – Gas Guzzling Habits

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

7 Tips to save on gas

Your car can often times seem like a necessary evil.  It may get you where you want to go, but you have to deal with bad traffic, aggressive drivers, and there always seems to be something wrong mechanically.  All of those things can lead to lower gas mileage, which means more money out of your pocket.  So, here are some tips to cut down the amount you spend on gas:

•    Your gas mileage gets better as you go faster, until you reach about 60 mph, and after that, for every 5 mph faster, you end up paying about 24 cents per gallon more.  So, hit that cruise control on the highway.
•    Relax.  Aggressive driving (read: quick acceleration, hard breaking, speeding, and swerving) is not just dangerous to yourself and other drivers, it can cut your mileage by about 5% in the city, and a whopping 33% on the highway.
•    Turn that air-conditioning off! Running the A/C, especially with the windows open (or even just cracked!) can cut your mileage significantly.  HOWEVER:  at speeds over 55 mph, leaving your windows down means your car is less aerodynamic, so your gas mileage drops.  If you’re on the highway and cruising along, you can improve your mileage by as much as 20% by rolling up the windows and turning the A/C on a bit.
•    Don’t idle your car.  Ever.  In winter, it takes about a minute for an older car’s engine to warm up.  If you have a new car, you don’t need to bother idling in the morning unless you live in a particularly frigid place like North Dakota.
•    Make sure your car is in tune.  If something’s not working right, you’ll be a gas-guzzler, even if you’re driving a sedan.
•    Make sure your tires are fully pumped up.  Tires with low pressure are both dangerous and they’re bad for gas mileage.
•    Move your life back where it belongs: in your home, not in your car.  Extra stuff weighs down on a vehicle of any size, so the less junk you keep in your car, the less your engine has to work, and the better mileage you’ll get.

Of course, the best thing you can do for your wallet is to take public transportation, bike, or walk to your destination.  With urban sprawl, that’s not always possible, in which case, carpooling becomes a fantastic option.

Does anyone else have tips for saving on gas?  Have you tried any of these?  How well have they worked for you?

Written by: Erin

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tips: Warning Reusable bags

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Environmentally friendly people should heed this warning
Most people who are environmentally friendly choose to use the reusable grocery bags as they have become widely popular. However, I came across an article that featured a study that found a dangerous amount of bacteria can grow in these bags.
If you think about the things you buy at the store, vegetables, fruit, etc, you can probably figure out why this is dangerous. A little drop of raw meat, a leftover grape that separated itself from the others, will transfer to the fresh food you buy if left in the bag. The obvious solution is to make sure you wash them! You’d be surprised how many people do not do this and might not even think of it.
Stay Green, but stay healthy too!

Written By: Mary Jo

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TriLeaf’s Eco Tip – Stop using so much water

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

How to use less water

Water is expensive, especially in places like the southwest, where it’s particularly scarce.  It’s also better for the environment to use less.  Here are some easy ways to conserve:

•    Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
•    Don’t fill the sink with water to rinse your razor when you shave.
•    Invest in a low-flow showerhead.
•    Put a water-filled plastic bottle in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water you use when you flush.
•    Leaks can cost you big.  To check for leaks, put a little food coloring in the toilet tank.  If the color appears in the bowl without flushing, you’ve got a leak.
•    Make sure all of your sink faucets are in good condition and don’t leak.
•    Water your lawn at night so the water doesn’t evaporate during the heat of the day.  Don’t water your lawn when it rains.  (You’d be surprised how many people do this; their sprinklers are on timers, and they forget to turn them off.  Not only does this waste water, it’s bad for your lawn and can kill the grass if it gets too flooded.)

Here’s a handy water use calculator to help you with your conservation efforts:

Written by: Erin

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Posted in Everything Environmental, TriLeaf's Eco Tips | 1 Comment »

TriLeaf’s Eco Tip – Paint your Roof

Monday, August 9th, 2010

How Painting Your Roof White Can Help Save Energy

This year in Santa Monica, on June 16th, two brothers launched a campaign through their company, Akomplice, to help save energy and reduce climate change.  Their idea, taken from a quote from Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy (“Making roads and roofs a paler color could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years…”), was to promote painting the roof of your home white.  The reason behind this is that white and other light colors reflect more light and heat than darker colors (think about that time you wore a black T-shirt out on a 90-degree day, and compare that to a day you wore a light-colored one).  What that reflectivity translates to is a much cooler environment, especially in the city.  If city roofs were painted a light color, it would help cool the city and drastically reduce the need for air-conditioning during the summer months.  The impact would be even greater if roads were also painted.  So what do you think?  Would you paint the roof of your home to help reduce your energy costs?  Do you think that also painting roads could be dangerous to drivers due to glare?

Written By: Erin

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TriLeaf Eco Tips – Produce

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Store Your Produce without Plastic

I came across a really cool website that offers tips on how to store your fruits and vegetables without using plastic.  The Berkeley Farmers Market, which went plastic-free last year, is doing everything it can to encourage customers to not only bring their own bags and containers but also to skip the plastic when they get home as well.  They have put together a huge list of ways to store all of your produce.  Check out the link, you can browse all the different ways to store anything from carrots, asparagus, and green beans, to strawberries, sweet potatoes, and melons.  Or you can do what I did and download the pdf version of How to Store Fruits and Vegetables: Tips and tricks to extend the life of your produce without plastic. By reducing the plastic we use, we not only decrease waste but also decrease our dependency on oil, as petroleum chemicals are used to produce plastic.

Written by: Chris Horn

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TriLeaf Eco Tip – Dig Out Your Library Card

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Check out a book from the library instead of buying your own copy

One of my favorite things about summer is the chance to finally sit down and catch up on all the reading I wish I had time for during the school year.  There are always fun reads coming out in the summer and it’s just a great way to relax.  I haven’t been to the library recently, but it really is a green way to get all my summer books check off the list.  Borrowing books cuts down on paper use which of course is always helpful to the green movement.  If the library is too old-fashioned for your taste, there are of course the portable reading devices like the Kindle or iPad.  Downside is they are a considerable investment.  So if you’re on a budget, grab your library card, or go get one if you don’t already have one, and get your summer reading done for free.

Written By: Meredith

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