| Dear Live Green in Plano Volunteer,
Join us for two fieldtrip opportunities in November. Kim Soto has arranged for a tour of the Republic Services material recovery facility where our recycling is sorted for shipment. Mark your calendar for Wednesday, Nov. 18 at noon and send Kim a note you are interested in joining the tour. Also see Melissa Baird's article about the Timber Creek Zero Energy House tour on Saturday, November 7.
I'm pleased to report twenty-four spirited new volunteers are working their way through the twelve hour Live Green in Plano volunteer training and many are already jumping into activites and getting involved.
Save the date of November 12 for the next Learn Green to Live Green program at 7:00 p.m. at Haggard Library. Bring a friend and neighbor. Green Links will begin at 6:15 with snacks and a chance to network with other volunteers. We're trying a book swap-o-rama this evening. Bring some gently-used, family-friendly books you are ready to discard and pick up some others to take home. Any books left behind will be donated to the Friends of the Library annual book sale.
Thank you to our guest writers this month: Melanie Faulkenbury, Maria Gant, Clyde McManus, Lois Schafer, and Patti Sipe. These timely tips on living green will surprise you. There might be some new Halloween traditions in your home after considering some of Maria's suggestions. Patti provides important tips on water conservation indoors and out. Clyde reports on the impact of his energy-saving home improvements. Check out his utility bill graph at the end of the article. Melanie's list of green apps for your phone are apt to expand your world view. Lois Schafer raises our awareness of our daily exposure to chemicals in her review of Experimental Man. Live Green in Plano Volunteers are making a difference in our lives in many ways!
Deb Bliss
Sustainability Volunteer Coordinator |
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Green Your Halloween by Maria Gant
As you start to plan for Halloween this year, we hope these tips will help you to think green, in addition to black and orange. To treat this precious planet of ours as gently as possible, integrate concepts like these to reduce, re-use and recycle into every aspect of this holiday. · Buy treats that have minimal packaging. · Eliminate the use of crepe paper and balloons in favor of more creative decorations. For example, make ghost decorations using sheets or pillowcases; make the head with a ball or crumpled newspaper. Make little ghosts by tying a tissue over a lollipop. Use fresh leaves, berries, and pumpkins to decorate your table and compost the leftovers (make a pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread before composting the pumpkin shells). Be sure to roast (325 degrees, 25 minutes) and enjoy snacking on the seeds from the pumpkin. Decorate with re-usable posters or re-usable window clings. Hang up some black and orange LED light strings. · Use solid color clothes or sweats as the base for a costume, then just add a hat, mask or face paint. Do a Google search for "Halloween make mask" or "Halloween face painting" for lots of examples to do-it yourself. · Create decorative food items for your party. Check out this site for great pictures and recipes: Halloween Recipes like the Halloween Veggie Skeleton above. |
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Fieldtrip: Tour the TimberCreek Zero Energy House by Melissa Baird
We invite Live Green in Plano volunteers to join us on a special tour of the TimberCreek Zero Energy House from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 7th. Chris Miles, award-winning green builder and owner of GreenCraft Builders, will lead our tour of this "net-zero" home.
According to the TimberCreek Zero Energy House Web site, "The TimberCreek Zero Energy House is a 2,500 square foot demonstration project for the Department of Energy's Building America program to encourage homeowners and builders to take the next step in living and building in a more fiscally and environmentally sensible manner. This home will incorporate renewable energy resources as well as eco-friendly materials and building practices to achieve a high-performance 'net zero' home with minimal impact on the environment." (Visit TimberCreek for more information about the house.) Please join us for the tour! We will meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Parkway Service Center located at 4120 W. Plano Pkwy. and vanpool together to the building site. Please RSVP by Monday, Nov. 2nd, to Melissa Baird at (972)769-4132 or send an email to Melissa by clicking here. |
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Water Conservation Checklist by Patty Sipe
Saving water is like any other habit. The more you do it, the more natural it becomes. Become water-wise, it's fun to find more ways to conserve.
Be sure to save this check list. Hang it in a handy place - like your utility room. Use it to do a full leak check on your house four times a year. Just seeing it will remind you that conservation pays and preserves precious water.
Sometimes a small investment can pay large dividends. For example, buying a low-flush toilet can save over 18,000 gallons of water a year! It's up to all of us - individuals, businesses, industry - to save the earth's resources. So remember, wherever you go, take your water-consciousness along. What works at home, works at the office!
In General
· Watch for leaks. Pay attention to the signs and symptoms of plumbing, pool and spa leaks as outlined below. Do a routine indoor/outdoor check every three months, or call professionals to do one for you.
· Check all faucets for drips. If a drip fills an 8-ounce glass every quarter hour, it will lose about 180 gallons per month. That's 2,160 gallons a year, enough for 30+ showers or baths! Drips can usually be fixed by replacing inexpensive washers or valve seats.
· Install flow restrictors or other conservation devices on all faucets. With these in the shower alone, you can cut your water use from about 5 to 10 gallons per minute to as low as 1.4 to 3 gallons per minute.
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Return on Investment: One Homeowner's Energy Efficiency Analysis by Clyde McManus 
In January of last year, I started a series of green improvements for my home. Our house is 25 years old, and approximately 2150 square feet. The air conditioning system and ducts are in the attic. The house has gas heat and aluminum frame double pane windows. While attending the Live Green in Plano volunteer training I wanted to see if some of the things discussed in the classes would help improve my home's energy efficiency. So here's what was done:
1. Added a foil radiant barrier to my attic. Approximate cost $400. 2. Resealed air conditioning ducts with tape. Approximate cost $50. 3. Sealed all openings into the attic with spray foam. Caulked and added insulation behind all switch plates and outlets in the house. Removed all air conditioning registers in the house and caulked and sealed the openings around the vents. Installed air tight fixtures in recessed lighting. Approximate cost $150. 4. Had a contractor add attic insulation. Approximate cost $1200.
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Green to Go by Melanie McCabe Faulkenbury
As mobile phones have become increasingly sophisticated, developers have found new and inventive ways to utilize the new available technologies to enhance our productivity, entertainment, and lifestyle. Of course, "green" is the new buzzword, and there are hundreds of "green apps" (or applications) for mobile phones.
Some to note are:
Locavore (iPhone, iPod Touch): Trying to reduce the distance your produce travels to get to your plate? Locavore uses data from LocalHarvest to find farms and markets near you. Additionally, it lets you know what fruits and veggies are in season for your area. Information can be changed easily if you travel or change locations. Available from iTunes.
3rd Whale Mobile (iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Android): Finds green restaurants, stores and travel destinations in 100 cities in the US & Canada. Provides you with map and directions to what's close to you. Available on iTunes and from 3rdwhale.com. Click here to read more. |
Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals About his Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World by David Ewing Duncan
A Book Review by Lois Schafer
Curiosity began David Ewing Duncan's quest for an answer to what environmental chemicals are inside us. The science journalist for NPR, Discover, and National Geographic, reports on his human guinea pig experiment in Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals About his Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World. Duncan had 250 labs test 1.4 litres of his blood, spent 22 hours having MRIs, and had genetic marker studies to determine his body's levels of 320 of the most common environmental chemicals.
His aim is to explain and humanize a new wave of science that is likely to profoundly change our vision of health and who we are through personalized medicine - the tailoring of diagnostics and health care to individuals.
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