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April 22, 2009, Earth Day helpful tips on the environment how we have an impact and can we do to help save our planet Earth. We are constantly bombarded with negative information about the environment, finances and natural resources? Feeling overwhelmed?

Here are some more useful tips to help your families and our beautiful Earth!

Each and every one of us can do something to help our world - starting right where we are, right now. Though not everyone can afford to donate cash or time to a cause, there are endless tactics that will decrease an individual’s contribution to the landfill and their resource consumption.

• Mirrors, placed strategically in a room can be used to make use of natural lighting more efficiently, and reduce energy use as well. When placed near indoor plants, mirrors act like a second window creating better growing conditions while giving the illusion of increased space and greenery to the ambiance of a room.
• When loading the clothes dryer, fluff the wet and tangled laundry before tossing into the machine. This allows for immediate and more efficient use of dryer energy. Very hot settings (which can actually shrink clothing) can thus be avoided.

Typically, the heated air from a clothes dryer is pumped outside and wasted. Consider purchasing a dryer vent converter - available at most hardware stores. These are little boxes that divert the heated air from the dryer into the house during the cold and dry winter months – making better use of your energy dollar while saving a little on heating costs. Be warned that this air is moist, and this may not be appropriate in all situations. Homes with dry static air or wood heat would benefit from the moisture, but buildings that already have a moisture problem (evident by mould and mildew or sweating and frosted windows) will only have their issues compounded by doing this.

• Instead of buying disposable dryer sheets for static control, consider using a liquid fabric softener with a reused rag or sock. Pour a Tablespoon of the liquid on the rag, roll it up and squeeze (to soak up all the softener) and toss in the dryer. Wash the rag periodically by throwing it in with a normal load. Just imagine the number of dryer sheets, the packaging they came in, along with the costs, energy and resources to produce them that can be avoided by this one simple act.
• There are many other little things we can do around our home, to save money and reduce waste. Instead of purchasing a plastic drip tray for potted plants, reuse plastic lids from peanut butter or mayonnaise. Often, just the right size of lid can be found for each potted plant, and most of these are dishwasher safe. Foil food trays also serve this purpose.
• Plastic containers that fresh herbs are sold in make useful storage packages in the kitchen. Dried herbs and vegetables store well in these containers as long as the seal is airtight. We once bought some very nice fresh ginger in Vancouver’s Chinatown and could not use it all in one recipe. Dave placed the peeled and sliced root in the herb containers covering it with red wine vinegar. Stored in the refrigerator it kept for months this way and made it easy to add fresh tasting ginger to any dish.

These are just a few ideas to demonstrate how easy it is to make a difference while saving some money. Imagine how many other small things you can do around the home or office. Once the ideas have begun to flow, they will cause a ripple effect cascading into other aspects of your life. Then, hopefully, you will think twice before throwing anything into the trash.

When we all do things together we are sharing this beautiful plant earth we all can make a huge difference together worldwide! Earth Day is Everyday!

The 39th anniversary of Earth Day will take place on April 22. Through the combined efforts of government, grassroots organizations and environmentally minded companies, Earth Day has evolved into a worldwide campaign to protect the global environment.

In the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) is also concerned about protecting our environment and resources. To address these issues, the DOE recently issued a mandate that now requires all new, central air conditioners manufactured after January 23, 2006, to have a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) of at least 13. SEER is a number similar to miles-per-gallon in cars; the higher the SEER, the more efficient your air-conditioning system.

According to the DOE, the 13 SEER standard is forecasted to save the nation 4.2 quads (quadrillion British Thermal Units) of energy over 25 years (2006 through 2030). This is equivalent to the energy consumed by nearly 26 million American households in one year. The standards are also expected to save consumers $1 billion over the same period.*

Manufacturers like the Unitary Products Group of York-a Johnson Controls Company, haven’t stopped at 13 SEER. York® also offers new home-cooling systems that reach 15 and even 18 SEER.

Much of the improved efficiency associated with 13 SEER units is the result of an increase in the surface of the coil found in a system’s outdoor unit, which is used to transport refrigerant. As a result, these outdoor units can be 50 to 90 percent larger than 10 SEER units and require as much as 40 percent more refrigerant than many indoor coils are capable of holding. It becomes very important, then, to match the size of the indoor coil with the new, larger outdoor unit.

A mismatched system can lead to lower comfort levels, a higher utility bill, increased stress on the system and large repair costs. A qualified dealer can make sure your system is matched and installed correctly and is efficient and economical to operate.

So, if you are considering replacing or upgrading the HVAC system in your home, talk to the experts at York. They can help you select a qualified dealer, who is equipped to maintain, repair and/or replace the components of your system.

Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. If one person can change things to reduce their Carbon Footprint and make a positive difference on the environment, imagine the difference a whole office can make.

The things we do in our everyday lives have a huge impact on our environment. Whether we realise it not, everyday, we are adding to the problem of global warming.

The idea of this article is to offer some tips which can help you reduce your office carbon footprint and help the environment by not adding to the global warming issue.

Did you really need to print that?

So, you’re sitting at your desk and receive an email, you decide you want a copy of the email, so you print it off. Was that really necessary?

Statistics show that we use over 11 million sheets of paper a year. That’s a lot of paper!

By reducing the amount of paper you use for printing, you are not only saving money, but you are having a positive effect on the environment, because the less paper we use, the less trees need to be cut down and the more oxygen we have.

Whose turn is it to water the plant?

Talking about trees and oxygen, by having a plant or two in your office, you are infact helping your office environment.

Imagine all those systems running in your office; computer, fax, printers, photocopiers and scanners, all these things make the air too dry, so by having plants in your office, you are infact increasing the humidity in the air.

Printer cartridge has run out again

So what do you do when the printer is ready for a refill? Infact, the question should be, what do you do with the empty cartridge?

In the last 10 years, 250 million print cartridges have ended up in either landfill sites or have been incinerated. It would take 1000 years for one cartridge to biodegrade.

With the amount of cartridges thrown away, if laid out, they would stretch across the radius of the moon!

There is now no excuse for anyone to throw an empty cartridge in the bin. More often than not, when you open the box of a new cartridge, there is a bag supplied for you to recycle the old one. All you need to do is put the empty cartridge in the bag and post it off for recycling.

Did you turn off your computer before you left?

Leaving your computer switched on, leaving the lights on, leaving the windows open and leaving office equipment on standby all burn up unnecessary energy.

All computers come with a power saving device, so there is no excuse to leave your computer on standby when you leave work for the day.

By changing your office equipment to power down systems, you are making massive savings to the energy we waste everyday.

You can also change your light bulbs to energy saving light bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs will greatly help you reduce the amount of energy you use in your office on a daily basis.

Did you know that by leaving a window open overnight; you are wasting enough energy to drive a small car for 35 miles?

It isn’t necessary to leave windows open or lights on in an office overnight, or over a weekend for that matter. So makes sure the lights are off, the equipment is off and no windows are left open when you leave your office.

Whose turn is it to do the stationary order?

Did you know, in the UK we throw out enough rubbish every 2 hours to fill up the Albert Hall?

There is now a wide range of products that we can buy that come from recycling, so it isn’t always necessary to buy brand new products that have not been recycled.

Next time you are flicking through the stationary catalogue, watch out for products that you can buy that have been recycled. Buying recycled office stationary and equipment helps reduce the amount of rubbish we need to throw away, which means less rubbish ends up in landfills.

So there you have it. A few tips to help you help your environment which gives you an environmentally friendly office.

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