Posted by Rene.Bross on 13. July 2010 12:51
Curbside composting comes to Spokane, WA this week beginning July 12th. If you live in Spokane and have a green yard waste bin that's picked up weekly by your curbside garbage service, you can now throw food scraps and food soiled paper products- paper towels, pizza boxes, napkins etc. into your green yard waste bin for composting. No you won't get the nutrient-rich dirt for your own garden, but you don't have to foot the expense of an expensive composting bin either. According to the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, recycling your food scraps could potentially reduce the amount of material you place in your regular curbside garbage bin. You may then be able to "downsize" that cart and save money on your monthly bill! You'll also be saving water and electricity by not using your in-sink disposal unit as much.
For a full list of acceptable and non-acceptable items for your Food Scrap/Yard debris bin click here.
Posted by Lorna.Doone on 17. December 2009 22:24
Oh, my, but it's been so cold here in the Northwest. For about a week the temperatures hovered around 18 degrees every day. We live in a 100+ year-old house with lots of windows, and those cold temperatures let us know just how drafty our home is. In addition to worrying about rising heat bill costs and the loss of energy, I found myself perplexed by just where some of those drafts were originating.
I was quite surprised to discover that a fair amount of that 18-degree air was entering through the outlets on the walls. I guess it had just never occurred to me that there really isn't much between those switch plates and the elements, save for a thin exterior wall. But, once I unscrewed the first plate, it became completely obvious that a lot of our draft problem was from cold air rushing in through those little boxes.
The reason we took the switch plates off was to experiment with "outlet insulators" (also called "outlet gaskets"). They were easy enough to install and didn't take anything more complex than a screwdriver for removing the outlet cover. Once one is slipped over the outlet (or switch), you simply replace the cover and are done.
The difference was immediately noticeable. So much so, that I again marveled that I hadn't thought of this earlier!
The insulators are super-cheap, with a ten-pack costing about three dollars, and it was a really easy way to keep the cold air out and lessen the strain on our furnace this winter. I guess that's just one more tiny little way to lessen our ecological footprint!