We're getting closer to our August 1st start date of this Challenge! Today Anne and Sonya from ENACT came to visit our home and give us some pointers to help us reduce our eco-footprint. They spent about an hour and a half with us going over some standard questions. We talked about our current living situation and our goals for improving our lifestyle and our home. Before ENACT left we did a short walk through. Short-because our place is so perfectly small!
ENACT recommended a few quick things that we can do right away to reduce our water and energy consumption.
They recommended that we clean the coils on the refrigerator. I was not aware that dusty/dirty refrigerator coils can make your refrigerator work harder (less-efficiently) and thus can be a huge drain of energy. The refrigerator is one of the largest energy hogs in your home behind your furnace and air-conditioner units.
They also recommended that we install a low-flow shower head and a dual flush component on the toilet. Sustain Dane (a local non-profit in Madison) sells the dual flush for $55 if you're willing to install it yourself.
http://www.rainfordane.com/about/index.php?category_id=4223
And I've found multiple low-flow shower heads online for under $30.00.
We are also thinking about replacing all of our paper towels and napkins with cloth napkins (that we will make ourselves) and installing a compost bin and clothing line in the back yard.
I will post more details as we take on some of these projects!
I'm so excited to get started!
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