Tornado
(WHAS11) - Tips from whas11 Meteorologist Jaime Martin:
Everyone knows about replacing old incandescent bulbs with new compact fluorescent bulbs, thus extending the life and saving the environment. But it also starts outside with something as simple as your front yard. Instead of having a large amount of grass, which takes a lot of water and fertilizer, native plants are really good and they make for a pretty front yard and are fairly maintenance free, besides a little bit of weeding.
Once inside the kitchen, if you have a big family, you use the dishwasher an awful lot. A Bosch dishwasher is stainless steel lined, and one of the best things is that it not only does it use a lot less water than usual models, it also doesn't use a heating element at the bottom. So not only do your dishes come out clean, you don't run the risk of burning your plastics.
If you have a large family, the washer and drier are used a lot. New dryers are out with higher efficiencies and a large drum that doesn't need as much heat because it tumbles things more. The biggest thing are these kinds of washers, this is an h/e or high efficiency washer. They are front loading and use a lot less water than top loading dishwasher. They also spin very rapidly so when things come out, they are already half way dry, so they won't need to dry as much in the drier.
Now one of the first things replaced when moving into an older house was one of the toilets in the water closet. Basically, it flushed a lot of water each time. This is the higher efficiency, lower flow, definitely worth it when you have a big family.
Heating and cooling an older house can defiantly be a problem with the older windows. Instead of heating every room, use space heaters. You can position them in certain locations such as a child's room, to keep them warmer during the overnight hours, especially if they tend to kick off the covers.
Those are just a few simple steps the Martin's have taken at their house to try and save a little bit in terms of the environment and some money also. Their LG&E bill is still a little high, but they have a family of 6, so it doesn't take a lot. You can take a few steps to keep yourself a little more green, and home sweet home.
