Helpful Tips

Here are tips (mostly green, energy and cost saving) about parenting, organizing your life, home improvement, relationships, health and nutrition, and more..

Tips for the Kitchen:

*Limit food waste- use perishable items before they spoil and save leftovers for another meal.  If we reduced the amount of food waste by 25 grams per day (the equivalent weight of a slice of bread) we would save 20 lbs. of food annually which is equal to 16 meals!

*Microwave and limit your oven’s preheat setting- Microwaves are 3.5 to 4.8% more energy efficient to use than an electric oven and the cost to cook an item in a microwave is 4.8% less than a standard oven.  If cooking an item in the oven for over an hour, there is no need to preheat the oven.  If you reduce the time your oven is on by one hour per year, you’ll save an average of 2 kilowatt- hours of energy.  If 30% of the households in America did this, we would save 60 million kilowatt hours of energy a year!

*Stove- use the right size pot on your stove burners it can save you $36 annually for an electric stove and $18 for a gas range…who would have thought?

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*Energy Saving Tip- Turn off and unplug computers and small appliances.  Even when your computer is turned off, if its plugged into a power strip it uses energy.  Small appliances like toasters and coffee pots also use energy as long as they are plugged into an outlet.  If there is a light on the appliance, it uses power and is costing you on your energy bill each month!

*Travel Tip- By packing your own toiletries (like shampoo, body wash and toothpaste) instead of using those found in hotels, you will cut down significantly on plastic waste.  One 300 room hotel in a major city can use over 150,000 bottles of shampoo or lotion a year. 

*Household Tip- Did you know that if you add a tennis ball or two to your dryer you will cut down on your dry time by up to 25-50%?  The balls separate the clothes so they dry faster and the noise isn’t as bad as you might think. It also reduces the amount of energy you use which is a great way to be eco- conscious.