February 2010

Dear Living Green 365 readers,

What do your water bottle, dishwasher, and mattress have in common? They are items you use every day and, just like most of our stuff, their creation, use, and disposal make a big impact on our environment. You'll find ideas for "going green" with these everyday items in this month's newsletter.

[Small actions, big impacts] 

Use a reusable water bottle

Have you ever doubted that your decision to recycle a bottle or bring a reusable container makes a difference? If so, here is some news to keep you going.

Compared against a single-use water bottle that is tossed in the garbage, drinking from a reusable water bottle filled with tap water will reduce energy consumption by 85 percent and greenhouse gases by 79 percent! 

A 2009 report by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality compared life-cycle energy used by different drinking water options. They found that drinking tap water in a reusable bottle is the best environmental choice--by far. Based on their report, here are our recommendations for living green and staying hydrated:

· Drink tap water. Bottled water costs as much as $10 per gallon compared to less than a penny per gallon for tap water. In addition, federal water quality standards are usually more rigorous for tap water than for bottled water. Those concerned with taste or quality can also add a filtration system. Types of filters are outlined in this EPA document called Filtration Facts (pdf).  

· Buy only 1 or 2 reusable water bottles and use them frequently. Reusable water bottles are "in" right now, and come in fun colors and patterns. If you buy too many, though, you'll reduce the benefit of using a reusable bottle.

· If you host an event, provide a tap or pitcher for water. Encourage guests and attendees to bring a bottle or cup.

· If bottled water must be purchased, choose the thinnest bottle and purchase water that is bottled locally. This will reduce packaging volume and energy for shipping.

· Last, but not least, continue to recycle any bottles you buy. We should all continue to recycle bottles and other materials. Recycling that same single-use water bottle we referred to above will reduce life-cycle energy consumption by 24 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 16 percent.

You can learn more about tap water and watch silly videos about the benefits of drinking tap water at www.tapmpls.org. Drink up! 

[Time for an upgrade?] 

Trade-in & Save Appliance Program

In March 2010, the Trade in & Save Appliance Program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will offer approximately 25,000 Minnesota homeowners a rebate for replacing their old appliances with a qualifying Energy Star model purchased from a Minnesota retailer. Minnesota's program includes rebates on clothes washers, dishwashers, freezers, and refrigerators. Funds are expected to move quickly.

Additional residential rebates for energy-saving products can be found on the Office of Energy Security website.

[Live green, sleep green]

Mattress recyling

Minnesotans purchase more than 600,000 mattresses a year. If you plan to buy a new mattress in 2010, and your old one can't be donated for reuse, look for a mattress recycling program. In this recent news story, you can see how the mattresses are recycled. Once disassembled, 82% of the material can be reused.

• PPL Industries collects mattresses in Minneapolis for $15.   
• The NE Minnesota Mattress Recycling Project has 14 drop sites across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Contact your county recycling coodinator and ask if your county has a drop site for mattresses in this program.

[Days of our green lives]

Community events and resources

 
Wood Lake Nature Center is hosting Solar Power 101 as a part of its winter speaker series. The talk will cover the two basic technologies for harnessing power from the sun: solar-electric/photovoltaics and solar-thermal. February 4, 7-8 p.m. (Richfield).

Learn about solar energy at one of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society's February classes. The first will cover photovoltaic panels--creating electricity from sunlight--and the other will cover solar water heating, February 13 and 27, 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Century College (White Bear Lake). 

Do you have a plot of land that you've thought about restoring to a prairie or native landscape? This presentation at St. John's Arboretum will help you set realistic expectations for your project. Budget, site conditions, and plant selection will be discussed. February 16, 6:30-8 p.m., St. John's University (Collegeville).  

Learn the basics of planning your garden, at Happy Dancing Turtle's winter workshop: Green Up Your Winter: Garden Planning, Greenhouse Growing, & Root Cellaring, February 16, 6-7:30 p.m., Pine River-Backus High School Library.

The Elk River 2010 Energy Expo will host exhibitors regarding sustainable living practices and energy conservation, new children's activities, and more, February 19, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Elk River High School.

The MPCA recently released a new resource called The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior. This handbook introduces research-based tips from psychology to help you in efforts to empower sustainability in your personal life, community, and workplace.

Does your community group want to do an environmental project? Community POWER has grant funding available for non-environmental organizations and schools to conduct community-based waste reduction, toxicity reduction, and recycling projects. 

The Minnesota Environmental Partnership is coordinating the 2010 Living Green Expo, May 1-2 at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. Learn all about this year's Expo at www.livinggreenexpo.mn.  

Look for more events on the SEEK and NextStep calendars.

[Quick links to other MPCA resources]

· The home of Living Green 365 on the web: livinggreen.org
· Our web site about reducing your trash: reduce.org

· Resources for people teaching about our environment: SEEK
· A clearinghouse for sustainability tools and initiatives: NextStep