Category — reduce

This is the weekend for the NC Appliance rebate, and if you want to take advantage of 15% off a replacement Energy Star appliance you should do it ASAP. Like right now. Like this morning! News from the trenches (i.e. when we went to our local big box hardware store to buy a new replacement washer) is that yesterday (Thursday) at 2 p.m. 25% of the rebate money had already been applied for. We predict that by Saturday morning it will all be gone.

We bought a Bosch front-loading Energy Star washer to replace our old, less energy efficient washer that dates back to 1994. Our old washer will be missed – it was our first joint purchase as a couple and washed a ton of clothes for us, including our children’s baby clothes, diapers, and 40,000 mud-stained little boy socks. But our new washer will cost us lots less per year to run – largely because the newer washers get a lot more water out of wet clothing before you put them in the dryer. The dryer, which is the real energy hog when it comes to getting clothes clean, has to work a lot less.

The only thing I’m not thrilled about in the appliance rebate is that to get the rebate we have to turn in our old washer. I know the point is to get the old “clunkers” off the street, but our washer (a Maytag) has been problem-free for 16 years. I bet a family that couldn’t afford a brand-new washer would get a lot of use out of it. And if they hung their clothes on the line instead of using a dryer, it really wouldn’t impact energy use that much. I would love to donate the washer to our local Habitat for Humanity Home Store instead of sending it off to be destroyed…

Minnesota Power is responsible for this wonderful graphic that prioritizes how homeowners can achieve energy efficiency:

I like how the arrow on the left has the equation: complexity/investment. Return on investment is exactly what we have been preaching all along. What can a homeowner do that does the most good for the least amount of money? This is what the graph says are the top 4 things you can do as a homeowner (of a preexisting home) that will get you the MOST bang for your BUCK:

#1 In-home energy audit.  This helps the homeowner understand what is going on. Hey! This is what we do here at Home Performance NC!

#2 Rid yourself of energy vampires and change habits.

#3 Look at easy, cheap fixes like switching out bulbs and getting rid of inefficient fixtures

#4 Air sealing. This is the primary thing that we suggest once we complete an audit. Please read my ode to caulk here as well as an entire category of blog posts on the necessity of duct sealing. And  A couple of blog entries back I thought of a good analogy as to why adding more insulation to an unsealed attic is stupid: it’s like adding more water to a cup filled with holes. It won’t make a bit of difference until you plug up the holes.

I’ll let you read the rest of the suggestions by yourself, because you can clearly see that the items at the top are those that cost the most for the consumer (like replacing your windows, your HVAC system, and installing solar panels, for example – none of which are bad things to do, mind you) but which clearly give the least return.

Interesting, no?

The eco-thrifty housewife in me loves that there is now a holiday all about getting rid of junk you don’t need by giving it to someone who might. I’ve been a long time lover of all things thrift, starting when I was 15 years old and sported pre-grunge styles best purchased at church rummage sales (not every teenager from the 80s had big hair and neon legwarmers; my crowd preferred plaid flannel, black trenchocoats and gas station attendant shirts, worn ironically, of course).

As a stay-at-home mom 10 years ago I discovered that the key to keeping my house somewhat tidy was to get rid of all the junk we didn’t need…and as a born and bred stingy person I’ve found that my local thrift shops are the best places to buy clothes for me and my family. In Chatham County, NC, where I live, we are lucky enough to have several brilliant second-hand and thrift shops operated by the PTA, Habitat for Humanity, and our local battered women’s shelter. If you go often enough and wait long enough you can literally find anything you need.

Naturally, National Curb Day has great appeal to me! Here’s how it works:

The first Curb Day will be on Saturday, May 16, 2009. On that day, or the night before, people are encouraged to take their valuable (but unwanted) items to their curbs. Because this is a weekend, it will not interfere with normal trash pickup. There will be treasures on neighborhood curbs all over the country. People will be out en masse picking up these free items. Kind of like Halloween!

I live in a fairly rural area and while there’s trash pick-up and curbs in the closest town (of 2500), there’s none on my road nor on the roads of the majority of people in our county. Some people pay for a trash removal service to come around and get their garbage, but my lovely husband takes our trash to the dump. So for me (and probably tons of other people around the country) Curb Day will have to be modified.

Here are some ideas for Curb Day for those of us who don’t have curbs:

• take your unwanted items to a central location as a freecycle event. No trading allowed – simply put it on display as ‘free for the taking.’ This would take some organization, but I can’t see why it couldn’t be done for next year’s Curb Day. (Note to self: in your free time organize this!)
•  take your unwanteds to your local thrift shop. The items won’t be free once they enter the shop, but it’s better than throwing them into the trash
•  investigate what your community has in place for unwanted(but still decent) items. Our dump/recycling center has a swap shop area, where people can leave items that are in decent shape. I have a friend who finds tons of clothes at the swap shop – no lie! If you always get your trash picked up, either by the town or by a service, you might not realize that something like this exists.

I think this is a brilliant idea and I hope it catches on. A big thanks to Mike Morone, the guy who invented it! We are of like minds, you and I.