Five Eco-Friendly Ideas for a Great Summer Picnic

Remember These Green Tips When Planning a Summer Picnic

For many, the summer is a season to spend time outside: at the pool, beach, and/ or local park.  Read the following five tips to learn more about how to enjoy a picnic this summer while practicing a green lifestyle:

1) Prepare food from the farmer's market: Shop at local farmer's markets to get supplies for the picnic.  This will ensure that the produce and food items brought on the picnic are organic and/ or prepared in a local, chemical-free, environment.  

2) Pack reusable materials: Instead of packing paper plates and plastic cutlery, pack reusable plates, silverware, and cups.  This will reduce waste.  After the picnic, just pack up all the reusable materials to wash once home.

3) Enjoy the picnic locally: Save gas, and protect the environment, by choosing a local park or nearby location to enjoy a summer picnic.  

Love Indoor Plants? Want to Conserve Water? It Can Be Done!

One question we often encounter is how it is possible to properly maintain and care for plants while also trying to conserve as much water as possible.  It definitely can be done, and here are some tricks to caring for indoor plants:
Many homeowners love taking care of potted, indoor plants.

Be sure to care for low-maintenance indoor plants!  Some examples include:

1. Succulents- the easiest houseplants to keep alive. They like dry soil, so they almost beg to be ignored. Generally, they need to be watered every three to four days, but it depends on the humidity in your home. Aloe Vera is a particularly good choice in succulent, because the gel from the leaves can be used in a variety of ways (most notably soothing sunburn). Succulents like sunny spots, and a row of them looks charming in a windowsill.

2. Spider plants are also very easy to care for and notoriously hard to kill. These also do great as hanging plants, which is a bonus if you have pets or small children that can’t resist digging around in soil (or eating leaves). Spider plants can even survive without natural light, so it’s a good choice if you don’t have a particularly sunny home.

Four Easy Ways to Conserve Water

Water is a precious resource, and a great way to live a "green" life is to learn simple ways to reduce water use in your home!  Four easy ways to conserve water are:

1. If you have a toilet that runs or a faucet that drips, contact your property manager as soon as possible. It’s probably an easy fix, and it will save you money on your water bill, too. If the city has to go into stage three water restrictions, it’s likely that utility customers will also see a rate hike. Taking care of small leaks now will definitely pay off in the long run.

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling

Recycling is important, and the ultimate lesson is: use less whenever possible. Don't think you can't make a difference by recycling- recycling just one aluminum can saves the amount of energy required to run a TV for three hours!

Here are a few suggestions that will help reduce our use of precious natural resources:

1. Many computers, monitors, cell phones and other electronics include toxic materials that should not sit in landfills. You'd be surprised how many retailers and other companies will take your old gadgets for recycling. The Environmental Protection Agency can help you find local electronics recyclers here.
2. Say no to junk mail - 100 million trees' worth are sent out each year. Visit the DMAChoice website to opt out of the Direct Marketing Association's member mailings.
3. Packing peanuts and other loose fill will sit in a landfill for centuries, but there are many places you can bring them for recycling. Call the Peanut Hotline at 1-800-828-2214 to find out where these products can be recycled.

Simple Energy-Saving Tips!

Read some simple, energy saving tips below!  Anyone can do these in their own home to reduce energy used!

1.   Unplug the "secret energy addicts" in your home: TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cable TV boxes, computers and printers, video game consoles, microwave ovens and AC adapters for cell phones, digital cameras and other electronics. Most electronic equipment, including anything that uses a remote control, is designed to consume energy when it is turned off. That "off" setting is actually a "standby" or "idling" mode. Standby power in the average household consumes 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. That's enough energy to power an entire home for two months, or more. The solution? Unplug anything that isn't being used.
2.   Swap out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. CFs use about 66% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
3.   Turn down your thermostat by two degrees in the winter (and up two degrees in the summer). You'll save 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide this year!
4.   Switch to cold-water washing and save 80% on laundry energy.