Energy Audit

Want to make your home as energy efficient as possible?A great way to make your home more efficient is to get an energy audit. You can assess how much energy your home uses, learn what measures you can take to make it more efficient and discover ways to save money.

An audit can help you pinpoint where your home is losing energy and can determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. It also may show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity

There are two ways to do an energy audit. You can do one yourself or hire a professional energy auditor. Visit the U.S. Department of Energy for more information on Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits. For information and tips on professional audits click here.

In Washington, Puget Sound Energy encourages customers to use energy as efficiently as possible. They have an online tool in which you can get customized cost-saving recommendations and you can look into grants and rebates that can work for you.

Eat Well Guide makes Eco-dining Easy

The Eat Well Guide from Sustainable Table is a great tool for finding green dining resources in your area. Discover co-ops, green wholesalers, farmers' markets and more. Sustainable Table also has kits for sale enabling anyone to spread the news about improving our food quality and the condition of our environment by making green food choices.

De-code Green Labels

Marketers have jumped on the green bandwagon. Furthermore, they're trying to steer it by utilizing a wide array of labels to boast a product's eco-friendly feature. Educate yourself by finding out what the labels mean and which are essentially meaningless. Consumer Reports teams up with Greener Choices to provide an eco-label search engine and evaluation.

For example, the label Free Range scores very poorly. According to the report, Free Range is not a meaningful or verified label. In poultry, the USDA requirement for free range chickens is that they have access to the outdoors, but there is no guideline for the duration of access.

There are some meaningful and verified labels out there. A highly rated label is Fair Trade Certified. It is rated highly meaningful, the meaning of the label is consistent, the standards are publicly available as is information about the organization.

Thrift Store Review: The Thrift Shop

Overall Rating: 3.6
Location: 3.5
Organization: 3
Selection: 3.5
Cleanliness: 3
Price: 5

A visit to The Thrift Shop at 525 Campus Street begins on the porch. There, free items lead shoppers into the hall and to the actual store. Some of the freebies were surprising, such as a beautiful antique suitcase. The store location on College Hill, Pullman, Wash. is great for college students, but not ideal for other members of the community.

The Thrift Shop is located in the bottom floor of the Community Congregational United Church of Christ and it is not very large. Because there isn't a lot of room and there are so many items, it seems cramped and a little disorganized.

The shop offers a wide selection of clothing, but the quality varies greatly. Besides clothing, the selection includes books and knick knacks, but does not include many furniture pieces.

Prices at the shop are extremely reasonable. Jeans and dresses are $3, blouses are $2 and t-shirts are $1.50.

The Thrift Shop is run by friendly volunteers and all of the items for sale have been donated. In effect, prices stay low and the proceeds go to support programs within the Community Congregational United Church of Christ including the Common Ministry- K House, Pullman Child Welfare, United Way, Community Action Center, Palouse Habitat for Humanity and the Council on Aging.

The Thrift Shop also has a voucher program for families in need. Organizations like Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, the Community Action Center and Head Start distribute these vouchers which are valid for all items at the Thrift Shop.

The Thrift Shop is open Tuesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. They accept cash and check only. Be prepared for kind customer service from lovable volunteers.

Renewable Energy Purchases on the Rise

Corporations can wreak havoc on the environment. However, their large purchasing power gives them the opportunity to make a positive effect by buying renewable energy rather than using conventional, unsustainable power sources.

Consumers in all states have the opportunity to buy renewable electricity. In areas where consumers pick a utilities provider, they have the option to select a green energy provider. In other areas, green pricing programs are available. If nothing else, renewable energy certificates (RECs) are available to offset emissions, but these are more common for businesses.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "if the typical commercial facility switched to 100 percent renewable power or used RECs to offset emissions, this could amount to thousands oftons of emissions avoided each year."

Kohl's became the new #2 purchaser of renewable energy this week. Intel is still on top and PepsiCo is #3. For more information, read the article on the Environmental Leader Web site.

Organic Affordability

With chemicals like pesticides and growth hormones in food, people often wish they could eat organically. Stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts and Christina Aguilera do it, but not all of us have celebrity incomes. According to the Washington Post, buying organic food can be up to 40 percent more expensive than conventional food.

How can the rest of us afford to eat organic? Here are ten tips for eating organically on a budget:

1. Buy locally- Shop at local farmer's markets. The food is often cheaper and fresher than grocery stores. Ask about bargains and seconds, fruits or veggies that may be discounted because they are misshapen. Shopping locally also helps sustain the local economy. Search for local farmer's markets at Local Harvest.
   
2. Buy seasonally- Fruits and vegetables that are in season are more abundant and usually cost less.
   
3. Buy in bulk- Stock up when items are on sale, especially canned items, cereals, dried fruits, beans, etc. Be careful about food expiring when storing items. Place items that have closest expiration date in the front of your cupboard.
   
4. Freeze it- Freezing is a great options for fruits and vegetables. Buy things in season and freeze them for up to six months.
5. Grow your own- Consider starting your own garden. Start with produce that is easy to grow and ask garden center employees which items grow best in your area and when to plant them.
   
6. Clip coupons- Look for coupons in newspapers, fliers, at the store and online. Many product labels also include coupons for future purchases.
   
7. Research- Look through advertisements to see which organic products are on sale at specific locations and plan your shopping trips accordingly. Research local farmer's markets and organic retailers-- Try the Organic Consumers Association.
8. Become a member of a co-op or buying club-A food co-op is a member-owned business that provides groceries and products to its members at a discount. Many products are organic and from local family farms. Joining is as simple as signing up and paying dues. In a buying club, members purchase food and other organic products in bulk and then divide the order. It is a great way to get organic food cheap--often 30 to 40 percent off the retail price.
9. Buy generic brands- Generic in-store organic brands are often much cheaper and usually contain the exact same ingredients as the name brand, just check the label.
   
10. Start slow- If you cannot afford to go completely organic here are some foods you may want to consider buying organically because of pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc: Beef, chicken and pork; Dairy products (i.e. milk, cheese, butter); Strawberries, raspberries and cherries; Apples and pears; Tomatoes; Spinach and salad greens; Coffee; Potatoes; Stone fruits (i.e. peaches, nectarines and apricots); Grapes; Celery; Peppers.

Go Reusable

Did you know that more than 500 billion plastic bags are used annually (almost 1 million per minute)? According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. alone uses 100 billion plastic bags per year, with an estimated 12 million barrels of oil going into making them. Look here for more shocking statistics on plastic bags.

Because plastic bags cause so much waste, reusable grocery bags are becoming more popular and can be found in most stores. Many are also given away as promotional items for companies, organizations and causes.

As a college student who is good at getting free stuff, I have at least five reusable bags. I keep a few in my car so I can remember to take them into the grocery store with me. And when I am only buying one item at a store, I often request no bag and either throw the item in my purse or just carry it out.

Reusable bags are made from a variety of materials and fabrics and come in many different designs and colors. Here are a few examples:
1 Bag At A Time
ECOBAGS
Envirosax

Next time you go shopping, pay a few extra bucks to purchase the reusable bag and REUSE IT!

(And if you have a bunch of old plastic bags laying around-- RECYCLE THEM!)