when was the last time you vacuumed your refrigerator?

NEVER, probably.
At least that was true for me until recently, when I cleaned the heat-exchange condenser coils, which are what cool your refrigerator by releasing heat. If the coils are covered in a blanket of dust, the refrigerator has to work harder. You’ll hear the motor kicking on often and for a long time.
Refrigerators [...]

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10% water use reduction: what does that mean?

Here in drought-reality California, we’re being told to reduce our water usage, voluntarily. I’m all for water conservation, but what does a 10% reduction look like?
My household of two uses 145 gallons per day*, so 10% means 14.5 gallons per day, which is equal to, daily:

9 toilet flushes (at 1.6 gallons/flush)
7 minute shower (at 2 [...]

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earth day: pick your battles

Today is Earth Day, so lots of attention is being paid to earth-friendly efforts. Fortunately, the interest in energy-saving and CO2-reducing efforts is increasing every day.
But really, isn’t it Earth Day every day?
Since the topic of this blog is “Everyday Sustainable”, I want to reflect on what is truly sustainable, everyday. It’s true that until [...]

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line drying: good for the earth, good for your clothes

90-degree April days, a perfect time to inaugurate my new clothesline.

Did you know your clothes dryer accounts for about 10-15% of your house’s energy consumption?
Do you know where all that lint comes from? YOUR CLOTHES!
Have you noticed how nice sun and air-dried clothes and sheets smell?

For all these reasons, I love to line dry my [...]

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water audit

Take shorter showers!

That’s the big take-away for today’s Water Wise House Call. The Ssnta Clara Valley Water District offers it free as part of their water conservation program. I signed up a few weeks ago as part of my own effort to maximize energy/resource efficiency in my new rental house.
Some things the surveyor did:

Calculated our [...]

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water: how hot is too hot?

138ºF  water. Scalding hot. Waste-of-energy hot. Hurts-my-hands-to-wash-dishes hot. Risky-to-jump-in-the-shower hot.
Sure, it’s better than the other way around–no hot water–but my guess was the water heater in my house was set too high.
The recommended temp is 120 F. It’s good from a utility perspective (for dishwashers and clothes washers) and for safety, especially for children. Also, [...]

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fill your fridge, save energy and money

Two climate change-fighting volunteers from Green@Home came by for a housecall today. I learned, among other things, that my refrigerator is too empty.
Why is this a problem? Because –here comes my simplified explanation–an empty(ish) fridge has little to “hold” the cold when the door is open and closed. Which means that all that warm air [...]

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drafty doors: plug them up

This house is drafty. It’s 90-years old. It has beautiful original but super-leaky windows. Inside doors look like they were cut to pass trays of soupy dinners.

As part of my continuing effort to increase comfort and decrease the energy bill, I made some draft dodgers. My goal was to make something that is effective, simple, [...]

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save money with the heating vent dance

I just got the utility bill at the house I moved into a month ago. YIKES! (It’s not apartment-living, that’s for sure. Another check in the high-density housing column.) Of the utilities, the gas bill was the highest, and I’m assuming that’s from the heating.
So, I’m doing the heating vent dance. I go around flipping [...]

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