Simple things you can do in day to day life to help improve our environment

• Reuse, Renew, Recycle: Clean out your attic, drawers and shelves. “Craft, Bits and Pieces” at the Village Landing in Fairport accepts all types of craft supplies and decorations, old and new; lovingly begun projects and leftover materials or those old boxes labeled "Mom's crafts". Your unused “stuff” is likely to end up in a breathtaking scout or Sunday school project.

• Eat your Veggies: This is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint quickly. Livestock use massive amounts of grain, water and fossil fuel energy to supply us with meat (and they give off lots of methane, a potent greenhouse gas). Going meatless a day or two per week (or more) is not only good for your health, but great for our planet.

• Change a bulb each month: If you still have some old fashion light bulbs around, resolve to change one per month with the much more energy efficient Compact Fluorescent (CF) bulbs. If every Transfiguration family each replaced just four incandescent light bulbs in their house this year with CF’s, we could eliminate more than 1,200 tons of greenhouse gases!

• It’s the coldest part of the year, save on heating.
  Make sure the air filters are clean. Have your furnace serviced so it works at peak efficiency. Learn how to use that fancy programmable thermostat- allow house temperature to drop 60 degrees when there is nobody in the house and when folks are sleeping. Close vents to unused rooms. Open curtains wide to let the sun shine in (OK, it’s Rochester) and close them at night to retain the heat.

• Share a Ride. The 1st Sunday of each month is “Carpool Sunday” (also works for 4:30 Saturday mass!). Next weekend ask some friends or neighbors to travel to mass together. We can cut gasoline usage in half while catching up on the latest happenings and discussing the wonderful sermon.

• Pray for our new leaders: Please pray for all our new leaders as they take office in these turbulent times. Pray that they keep caring for the environment high in their priorities. Pray that the US becomes the world leader in combating global climate change. Also, add a quick daily prayer to St. Francis (patron saint of the environment) on behalf of our elected officials.

• Reconnect with Nature: So the New Year’s resolutions aren’t going very well (you’d think we’d learn!). Here’s a fun one for the whole family. After a long week of work and school our bodies need some fresh air and exercise. Resolve to get out into nature for at least a couple hours each Saturday or Sunday- this time of year is great for cross country skiing, skating, bird watching, hiking, etc.

• Save on heating your home:  Make sure the air filters are clean. Have your furnace serviced so it works at peak efficiency. Learn how to use the programmable thermostat- allow house temperature to drop to 60 degrees when there is nobody in the house and when folks are sleeping. Close vents to unused rooms. Open curtains wide to let the sun shine in (OK, it’s Rochester) and close them at night to retain the heat.
  Reusable water bottles- a great gift idea: Monroe County is promoting the use of reusable water bottles over disposable plastic water bottles. The County cited a 2006 article published by the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental organization based in Washington D.C., that showed nearly 40 percent of bottled water started out as tap water with minerals added to it, which the group concluded had no extra health benefits.  “Studies have shown that the quality of water in these containers is no healthier than, and is not held to the same stringent standards as the water that comes from your tap at home,” said Monroe County Water Authority Executive Director Edward Marianetti. So, look in your cupboard or go buy a water bottle and keep filling it up! If you have to use a disposable bottle, please recycle it, not landfill it.

• Make sure the air filters are clean. Have your furnace serviced so it works at peak efficiency. Learn how to use the programmable thermostat- allow house temperature to drop 60 degrees when there is nobody in the house and when folks are sleeping. Close vents to unused rooms. Open curtains wide to let the sun shine in (OK, it’s Rochester) and close them at night to retain the heat

• Let your dishwasher breathe: Skip the energy-intensive drying cycle on your dishwasher and chose the “air-dry” option, or open the door overnight for some zero-energy action! Why? The dry cycle uses a lot of energy - up to 5% of your total electricity usage!

• Turning trash to treasure:Now you can even recycle chip bags, energy bar wrappers, juice bags, yogurt cups and wine corks. TerraCycle is an eco-business committed to “upcycling”- turning this trash into useful products like office supplies, totes and flower pots. Even better, they will pay a small amount to the charity of your choice. Check out www.terracycle.net  to learn more

• Don’t drug Lake Ontario: Flushing unused medicines down the toilet endangers wildlife in our rivers and lakes. Our waste treatment facilities do not completely remove them. Monroe County is sponsoring a collection of any controlled substances, outdated or unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter medications on Thursday October 2nd, 2-7 PM at the County Operations Center, 444 East Henrietta Rd. Clean out you medicine cabinets and keep our waterways drug-free!

• Rein in your kitty; protect native wildlife: Cats kill 39 million birds annually in Wisconsin alone (according to US Fish and Wildlife Service). Topped only perhaps by habitat destruction, cats are the biggest, worst bird killers of all time. While you may poo-poo high cat-related bird-mortality rates as collateral damage in the great Circle of Life, domestic cats do have an unfair advantage. Unlike wild predators, house cats are always well fed, well rested, and in tip-top fighting shape. They’re also present in more concentrated (and rapidly increasing) numbers than say, the Northern Bobwhite or Ruffed Grouse. Visit www.audubon.org to learn more about declining bird species.

• Replace an old fridge (especially that really old one in the basement): A refrigerator uses about 14% of a home’s energy budget. Pre-1993 models use 30% more energy than a new one. A new one will pay for itself in energy savings in just a few years. The most energy efficient ones have “Energy Star” label and come with the freezer on top and fridge on bottom. Remember to recycle the old one (about 80% of the material from the old one gets recycled).

• Don’t Trash the Junk mail: An incredible 16 Billion catalogs are sent to American homes each year. That works out to 2 mature trees worth of paper used for every man, woman and child in the land! Get yourself off many of the lists at www.dmachoice.org and www.newdream.org/junkmail. Don’t forget to recycle all junkmail, magazines and catalogs that still clutter your mailbox.

• Turn off the lights: Your mother was right! It is an urban myth that it takes more energy to turn on a fluorescent bulb than to just leave it on. The bulb does draw more current for a fraction of a second when it is turned back on, but this equals the electricity of about 5 seconds of operation. CF’s do wear out slightly faster if turned on and off frequently, so to maximize cost effectiveness, a general “rule of thumb” is to turn off the lights if you are leaving a room for longer than 15 minutes.

• Pedal or walk to an errand this (and every) week: Many of our car trips are less than 2 miles. These are actually the most polluting and gas guzzling trips as your car hasn’t warmed up when you first start going. Biking and walking not only save you gas, but also are great for your heart, blood pressure, cholesterol and stress levels. If it’s less than 2 miles away, keep the car in the garage and try using foot power instead.

• Compost your pet waste: American dogs and cats create 10 million tons of waste a year. Most of our pets’ poop either winds up in a landfill purgatory, where it’s embalmed practically forever in plastic bags, or sits on the ground until the next rainstorm washes it into the sewer where it can drift on down to our creeks and Lake Ontario beaches. You can compost the waste—just don’t use it with your vegetable garden, because the compost doesn’t heat up enough to kill pathogens such as E. coli., which could contaminate your homegrown produce and land up in your (very unhappy) belly. If you have room in your backyard, you can bury an old garbage bin (note: far away from your vegetable garden) to use as a pet-waste composter. Or check out the Doggie Dooley.

• Recycle your E-Waste.: Imagine 20 million televisions pitched into a landfill.  It's an e-waste nightmare, right? Especially when you consider that a single cathode-ray tube television can contain hundreds of highly toxic chemicals, including mercury, brominated-flame-retardants, and PVC plastics, as well as up to eight pounds of lead. When you purchase a new television, make sure your old one isn't simply carted to a landfill.  The Basel Action Network provides a list of recyclers who have pledged not to export hazardous e-waste.  Also, Sony is offering a free take-back program for all Sony electronics in the US.

• Turn down (or better- turn off!) the AC.: Remember this “necessity” has only been widely available since World War II. Try a siesta under a shade tree, jump in the pool, use a fan (uses >75% less energy than AC), etc. If you chose to use AC, remember that you save about 10% of the energy for each degree warmer you set the thermostat- aim for 78 degrees. It is silly (and wasteful) to walk around in a sweater during a heat wave!

• Reduce, renew, recycle: Help save the world one hoodie at a time.  Donate your used Polartec fleece products- any brand- to Patagonia (www.patagonia.com/recycle).  The company will turn them into new clothes.

• Hold a swap meet. You may be tired of your clothes, but your neighbor, work colleague, or girlfriend might love them. Invite a group of friends over who are about the same size (or in a couple of close size ranges). Ask each to bring three to five items they're ready to rotate out of their wardrobe for something different. Each person could leave with at least five new designs that they've swapped for their own old clothes.

• Try Carpooling: The 1st Sunday of each month is “Carpool Sunday” (also works for 4:30 Saturday mass!).  Next weekend ask some friends or neighbors to travel to mass together.  Also carpool to the store, to your kid’s/grandkid’s sporting events, to dinner with friends, etc.

• Buy “Fair Trade” coffee and chocolate: For a few extra dollars, you can make a huge difference in the well-being of communities and the environment.  The difference means landless workers who often endure appalling conditions can actually own their own land, have enough to eat, create thriving democratically run communities, support local schools and micro-businesses, etc.  Do good while getting your daily caffeine fix!

• Treat Mom to a green Mother’s Day: It’s time to get creative.  Make a personalized card from reused materials instead of paying for a new one.  Make sure the flowers are locally grown, not flown in from who knows where.  Take Mom to a local park and reconnect to nature while spending time together.  Moms wants time with you, not more “stuff”.

• Purchase Energy Star products. Energy Star products are certified to meet energy efficient standards.  The EPA estimates if every home and business in the US turned to Energy Star products we would collectively save $200 BILLION in energy costs over the next decade.

• Reduce, renew, recycle: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them on Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org. IReuse.com will also help you find a recycler when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle.

• Welcome to Spring project time- use “Certified Sustainable” Timber: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber comes from timber operations that provide for essential soil and water conservation, preservation of wildlife and habitat, and maintenance of forest composition and function.  Look for the FSC stamp when you buy lumber.

• Plant some fruit trees: March 11th is Johnny Appleseed Day.  Think about planting a couple fruit trees this spring.  They provide not only tasty summer and fall treats, but provide shade, pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, attracts birds and will have beautiful blossoms next spring.

• Plan a park visitation this summer. March 1st 1872 Yellowstone became our first national park.  Unfortunately over the past 2 decades, visits to these national treasures has fallen (along with their funding).  Many of our children are more familiar with the “virtual world” than the “real world” of nature.  Plan a family trip to a national park and experience the majesty of God’s creation first hand.

• Reconnect with Nature: Getting cabin fever yet? Winter is a great time to take a hike, snowshoe or cross country ski at a county or state park.  Feel the crisp, fresh air.  Enjoy the awesome snow sculptures that the wind has made.   Look and listen for all the birds and animals that stay here year round.  Thank God again and again for the beauty of Upstate, NY.

• Recycling by the numbers: Americans use about 50 million tons of paper annually.  Recycling just one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 Kw-hrs of electricity.  Fill those blue recycle bins- the savings really add up.

• Skip  bottled water: Americans spent over $11 billion on bottled water in 2006.  That translates to 1.5 million barrels of crude oil just to make the bottles and huge amounts of energy to transport it.  Most of these bottles end up in our landfills.  Hydration is good, so fill up a reusable container with water from the tap (filtered if you prefer).

• Recycle your “Technotrash”:  For $6.95 and shipping costs you can dispose of 20 pounds of your “technotrash” in an environmentally appropriate way at www.greendisk.com.  Examples of what they take include: diskettes, zip disks, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs et al, video tape (i.e. VHS), audio tape, game cartridges, all other type of computer tapes, hard drives, Zip and Jazz drives, jump drives, printer cartridges, cell phones, pagers, PDAs and their chargers, cables, and headset accessories, rechargeable batteries and their chargers, cords, cables, boards, chips, etc. Very cool!

• Check the tires: Keep your cars in good condition.  Get the engine tuned up regularly, change the oil as recommended, keep your tires properly inflated, replace clogged air filter, etc.  Proper maintenance can increase your fuel efficiency more than 10% and reduce emissions.

• Green New Year’s resolutions: Live more simply.  Consume less.  Meditate/pray more.  Get to know your neighbors.  Borrow when you need to and lend when asked.  Spend more time with your loved ones.  Eat more veggies and less meat. Walk or bike if it is less than 2 miles.

• Vatican goes carbon-neutral: Did you know that the Vatican has committed to becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral state?  Talk about leading by example.  They are installing solar panels, aggressively conserving and recycling.  They are also buying carbon offsets involving reforestation projects in Eastern Europe.

• Don a Sweater. Home heating and cooling are large contributors to greenhouse gases.  For every 2 degrees you turn your thermostat down this winter you will save almost a ton of CO2 from going into the atmosphere (and save some serious $$).  Also, learn how to use the programmable thermostat features to save even more when you are out of the house or sleeping.

• Change a Bulb: If every Transfiguration family each replaced just four incandescent light bulbs in their house with Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFL), we could eliminate more than 1,200 tons of greenhouse gases.

• Plant Trees: Over the life of an average tree more than a ton of CO2 is pulled out of the atmosphere and it is replaced by refreshing oxygen.

• Bag the Habit: Globally we use as many as 1 million plastic bags every MINUTE at a cost of 2.2 billion gallons of oil per year.  Recycle your bags, but better yet go reusable whenever and wherever you can.

• Help save Africa: Are you aware that Africa is least responsible for the climate changes, but its people continue to be the most affected by these changes?  U.S. and other industrialized countries must act now to reduce their own emissions and provide financial support to ensure the sustainability of our planet’s poorest continent.

• Switch to “Green” Electricity: Renewable energy causes no smog, no acid rain, no greenhouse gases and no radioactive waste. 
  R G & E electricity customers can switch to renewable electricity with one phone call.  It costs a little more than conventional electricity- if you monthly usage is about 600 Kwh, the green option will cost about 15 cents more per day.  Isn’t our future worth it?  Learn more at www.ecny.org/greenpower.

• Aim Lower: Calculate your “carbon footprint” at www.liveearth.org and aim to reduce your individual output by at least a ton over the next year.  Many local residents are already “carbon neutral” by reducing their footprint and buying carbon offsets for the CO2 they do produce.

• Recycle, Recycle, Recycle: Did you know that every ton of recycled paper saves enough electricity to power a 3-bedroom house for an entire year?

• Eat your Veggies!:  This is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint quickly.  Livestock use massive amounts of grain, water and fossil fuel energy to supply us with meat (and they give off lots of methane, a potent greenhouse gas).  Going meatless a day or two per week (or more) is not only good for your health, but great for our planet.

• Check the label: Look for products with the Energy Star rating system by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Energy Star products often (but not always) are a little pricier up front but they cost less to power.  By using Energy Star appliances and electronics you can reduce your utility bill as much as 30%.