How to reduce our energy consumption is partly common sense, but is also being smart about our purchases.

Using some of the following ideas will not only help to reduce our energy consumption, but may put more money in our pocket.

1) Install or increase insulation in our homes -check for areas which were never insulated.

2) Regularly replace air filters in our furnace. Dirty filters will reduce the efficiency of a furnace.

3) On an annual basis, schedule a professional furnace cleaning and maintenance call.

4) Replace caulk and/or weather stripping to seal air leaks in doors and/or windows.

5) Research and buy the highest rated energy star appliances.

6) Switch out all light bulbs to compact florescent light bulbs

7) When leaving a room, turn the lights off.

8.) Keep our computer turned off when it’s not in use. Using the Smart Strip LCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection or unplugging it, will save even more.

9) Unplug all small appliances when not in use.

10) At home, dress in warmer clothes to avoid turning up the thermostat

11) When sleeping, lower our thermostat to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

12) Install an energy star programmable thermostat

13) When sitting, watching TV, and/or reading, have blankets and/or throws handy to use .

14) Use styrofoam vent “plugs”, to keep cold air from entering the crawl space of our home. When spring arrives, remove the vent plugs to allow air movement under our home. Save the vent plugs, as they are reusable for the future. (The can be purchased at most home improvement stores)

15) LED lights use very little energy. Use them where ever possible, e.g. Christmas or holiday lights, under the counter lights, etc.

16) Close heat vents in rooms that are not being used. Then, close the door to avoid heating an unused room

17) Purchase and use ceiling fans to push warm air down….heat rises. Reverse the fans in the summer to cool a room.

18) Take advantage of natural heat. Close window blinds when the sun sets. Open them in the morning to let the sun shine in. This will produce more light and natural heat.

19) On older windows, install storm windows, or use a protective barrier

20) Use cold water to wash clothes.

21) When shopping for a new washer, consider a front loading HE (high efficiency) model. They use less water, less detergent, and energy.

22) When drying clothes, use the automatic sensor. The dryer will shut off when the clothes are dry.

23) Turn down the temperature of our hot water heater

24) Use an insulating “blanket” for our hot water heater. They can be purchased in home improvement stores.

25) Use heavy drapes in the winter months to avoid cold air from “seeping in” from windows

26) For the summer months, adjust the thermostat on our air conditioner so it runs less often.

27) Planting shade trees will also help to keep our home cooler in the summer months.

28) Clean and/or change filters in our air conditioner to keep them running at their highest efficiency level.

29) Have our air conditioner professionally cleaned and serviced on an annual basis.

30) Close window blinds in the summer to keep our home cooler.

Using these tips could potentially lower our energy costs as well as reduce our energy consumption.

The savings are good for us and the reduction of energy consumption is good for the environment.

“the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product”.

Ironically, carbon footprints are often the result of how much time we spend in our car. Hence, making our miles count and practicing efficiency is a great way to reduce our carbon footprint.

Some simple ways to save money as well as reduce your carbon footprint with your vehicle are:

1. Take a few extra minutes to plan your trips. Combine trips to the grocery store, with dropping the kids off at school, or with another set appointment. As often as possible, run your errands in circles, thus eliminating back tracking. Drive only when necessary.
2. Keep your tires properly inflated. If you’re not sure how to do this, most tire stores offer this service for free when you buy your tires from them. A hand held tire gauge is another great tool to keep handy.
3. Remove any car carriers you may have attached on the top of your vehicle. Keeping your vehicle as aerodynamic as possible can help to increase your miles per gallon.
4. Keep your car tuned up An improperly running car may cause an excessive use of gas as well as unnecessary wear on operating parts.
5. If possible, carpool with others and share the expense. Or, if you are running errands, ask friends and/or family if they need you to pick up something for them, or vice versa.
6. Use public transportation. Instead of driving, take the bus or train. Use this time to listen to music, read, write, etc. Many public services also offer discounts to seniors.
7. If time permits, walk instead of driving. With walking being such a great form of exercise, instead of driving to the corner store, put on your sneakers and enjoy the fresh air.

These a just a few ways to reduce our carbon footprint. For more great ideas, just search online for, “how to reduce our carbon footprint”.

That’s where the water bath classifier or stationery trommel with water bath (float tank) comes in (see photo above).

The brand we’ve used is a Wittco stationary screening plant with a 6000 gallon water bath. As shown in the photograph, the process begins at the hopper.

A mix of wood and rock (dirty material) is loaded into the hopper. A conveyor, or feed belt then carries the product into a 28 foot long trommel screen which rotates. Different size screens can be installed into the trommel and the screens which are located at the bottom of the trommel determine the size of the product that is produced. As the wood, dirt and/or rock products pass over the screens, that which is small enough drops through, and the large pieces of wood and rock are carried through the trommel and drop into a 6000 gallon water bath (float tank).

The water bath which is attached to the trommel encompasses two conveyor belts which are partially positioned beneath the surface of the water. The wood will float, be picked up by the upper conveyor (wood belt -see photo on left), carried out of the bath and disposed of in front of the classifier. The rock and/or heavily saturated wood products will sink to the bottom of the bath and will be carried out by the lower belt (rock belt -see photo on right) and dispensed to the rear of the classifier (behind the bath).

The wood which is expelled from the bath can then be picked up with a piece of machinery, taken back to the tub or horizontal grinder and be reground into wood chips. The rock can often be reused in other parts of the recycling operation, or be sold.

The classifier runs on either a diesel or electric powered engine. The controls for the trommel are located in a tower directly across the bath in line with the trommel. In the event any product gets hung up inside of the trommel, the classifier operator can stop the trommel with the flip of a switch.

The classifier can also be used for blending products such as compost and topsoil, creating a topsoil blend enriched with nutrients. It’s perfect for resizing bark products, as well.

In our wood recycling operation, learning how to separate wood from rock involved a lot of experimentation until we purchased the stationary classifier with trommel and water bath (float tank). Not only did our production increase, but we were able to reduce labor and heavy equipment costs, plus eliminated all other screening equipment.

Need more information on the Wittco trommel with flotation tank? Just drop a comment or use the contact form.

One thing is for sure, we don’t have to be mathematicians to calculate buying bottled water can be expensive.

Let’s do some simple math.

We’ll say a 16 ounce bottle of water costs $1.00
One gallon of water contains 128 ounces.
One gallon divided by 16 ounces = 8

Result: To purchase one gallon of water in 16 ounce bottles would cost us $8.00 per gallon.

And we thought the price of gas was high?

Consider this: If we buy two bottles of water each day, five days a week, in a year’s time, we would have spent $520.00 (52 weeks x 5 (days a week) x $2.00 (price for two bottles of water))

Let’s say we buy water by the case and only pay $0.35 per 16 ounce bottle.

We’ll reapply the same formula: 8 times $0.35 equals $2.80 per gallon.  And the annual cost for our bottled water becomes $182.00.

If we have more than just ourselves drinking bottled water, all we need to do is multiply our annual cost by the number of people in our household. What we spend can be shocking.

The good news is, we do have options other than buying water in disposable bottles?

1. If you don’t mind the taste of your water, drink tap water
2. For removing chemicals from all of the water in your home, filtration systems such as the Aqua Filter Plus WW20CS Whole House Filtration System are available.
3. For removing chemicals from your kitchen sink tap water, a system such as the  Kitchen Under-the-Sink Reverse Osmosis System 50GPD make be worth a look.
4. For removing chemicals from small quantities, purchase something similar to the Brita 42378 Deluxe Water Pitcher
5. If your refrigerator has a filtration system on the water dispenser, that will make having filtered water even easier.
6. Buy reusable water bottles such as the New Wave Enviro Stainless Steel Water Bottle (1-Liter)and bottle your own.

By drinking and bottling the water we have available to us (filtered or not) we not only save money, but will be saving the environment by reducing the amount of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills.

Other Great Resources Worth Reading:
Container Recycling Institute.org
Seven Misconceptions about Plastic and Plastic Recycling
Plastic bottles pile up as mountains of waste