Green Tips

Energy
Water
Food
Work
Miscellaneous

Energy

• Go with local alternative energy. Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have created the Green Power Switch that produces electricity from renewable sources.

• Consider using renewable energies in your home such as solar panels, residential wind turbines, geothermal heat pumps, and so on. They are better for the environment and some qualify as tax credits 

• Buy energy efficient vehicles and appliances  that help the environment and possibly qualify as tax credits.

• Lobby your local government to increase spending on sidewalks and bike lanes. With little cost, these improvements can pay huge dividends in bettering your health and reducing traffic.

• Walk or bike to work. This saves on gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity.

• Switch to a programmable, digital thermostat that allows you to have greater control over settings. Set the temperature a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer to save on heating and cooling costs.

• Install compact fluorescent (CFLs) or light emitting diode (LED's) light bulbs when your older incandescent bulbs burn out.

• Unplug appliances when you're not using them. Or, use a "smart" power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts "phantom" or "vampire" energy use.

• Install motion activated lighting in your home that goes on and off as you move in and out of rooms.

• Use rechargeable batteries and recycle one time use batteries. Batteries Plus (270-393-8880) on 31 W By-Pass in Bowling Green recycles all types of batteries for free.

• Evaluate your homes energy efficiency and then consider insulating your homes windows, doors, attic space,   and other areas that may have air leaks.

• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible.  As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.

• Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.

Water

• Install a low-flow shower head, faucet, toilet, and/or bidet. They don't cost much, and the water and energy savings can quickly pay back your investment.

• Make sure you have a faucet aerator on each faucet. These inexpensive appliances conserve heat and water, while keeping water pressure high.

• Turn the water off while brushing your teeth.

• Use a water filter to purify tap water instead of buying bottled water. Not only is bottled water expensive, but it generates large amounts of container waste.

• Bring a reusable water bottle, preferably aluminum rather than plastic, with you when traveling or at work.

• Install rain barrels around your home to collect rain water to be used at a later time.

• To further conserve water, consider installing a grey water system.

Food

• If you eat meat, add one meatless meal a week. Meat costs a lot at the store-and it's even more expensive when you consider the related environmental and health costs. To learn more about where your food comes from check out the documentary Food Inc.

• Buy locally raised, humane, and organic vegetables (SKY Farmers' Market or BG Farmers' Market), meat (The Fatted Calf-31W Bypass), eggs, and dairy ( The Nutrition Center Health Food Store  ) whenever you can. Purchasing from local farmers keeps money in the local economy. For a full listing of local, “green” businesses and organizations, see our Green Directory, located on the home page.

• Plant a backyard, rooftop, or planter garden and grow your own produce.

• Buy fair trade items, whenever possible, like those offered at Greener Groundz on Broadway.

• Set up a compost bin. Composting is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to reduce the amount of garbage your household produces. Through composting, yard waste such as leaves, grass clippings and food wastes such as vegetable scraps can be turned into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that reduces the need for commercial chemical fertilizers in home gardens.

Work

Make it a habit to turn off your computer—and the power strip it's plugged into—when you leave for the day. Otherwise, you're still burning energy even if you're not burning the midnight oil. (Check with your IT department to make sure the computer doesn't need to be on to run backups or other maintenance.)

• During the day, setting your computer to go to sleep automatically during short breaks can cut energy use by 70 percent. Remember, screen savers don't save energy.

• Make it a policy to invest in energy-saving computers, monitors, and printers and make sure that old equipment is properly recycled. Look for a recycler that has pledged not to export hazardous e-waste and to follow other safety guidelines. Old computers that still work, and are less than five years old, can be donated to organizations that will refurbish them and find them new homes. (You may even get a tax deduction.)

• Go paperless when possible and when it's not possible, conserve paper by printing on both sides, buying recycled paper, or use old documents and faxes as scrap paper.

• Recycle everything your company collects, from junk mail to envelopes.

• To reduce or stop the flow of junk mail, go to www.catalogchoice.org.

• To reduce or stop the flow of junk faxes check out this informative article.

• Make it a policy to purchase office supplies and furniture made from recycled materials.

• Bring your own glasses, dishware, and utensils for use when eating at work and/or provide reusable ones for everyone. Also use reusable containers to pack your lunch instead of throw away items such as, paper bags, plastics bags, and so on.

• Provide filtered water for employees and encourage them to use reusable water bottles.

• Join a car pool, use public transportation, bike or walk to work, or consider investing in a more fuel efficient vehicle.

• Invest in videoconferencing, teleconferencing, and other technological solutions that help reduce employee travel.

• Create a pleasant work environment by using nontoxic cleaning products, adding air purifying plants, using low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC's) paints, carpet, furniture, and other fixtures. 
  

Miscellaneous

• Recycle, Reduce, Reuse-oldie, but a goody.


• Bowling Green has several ways to recycle:
• Utilize the service (if you live in the city limits you are charged $2.50 on your BGMU bill for recycling every month regardless if you use the service or not) provided by Southern Recycling
• Drop off your recyclable goods at WKU's Recycling Center located across from Creason Parking lot and softball field, close to railroad tracks at Services and Supply Parking lot, corner of University Blvd. & Russellville Rd. All they ask is that you sort your own stuff, break down your boxes, and clean up the area before leaving.
• Best Buy will take most of your unwanted electronics and properly dispose of them for free unless it is a TV or monitor, which they will take for a $10 fee, but will give you a $10 gift certificate to use in their store. For more information click here 

• Think about what you are buying and what happens to the discarded packaging. Try to buy items that have recyclable packaging, are truly biodegradable, or that can be reused, like an empty spaghetti jar to organize and hold nails, crayons, or other household items.

• If you smoke consider changing to an electronic cigarette. You will help to eliminate the the over 4,000 different chemicals, of which at least 50 are known carcinogens (cause cancer in humans) and many are poisonous, released by traditional cigarette smoke. Thereby creating better air quality for yourself and     others.

• Use organic dry cleaners when possible because most dry cleaners use a solvent called perchloroethylene (perc) that has been linked to cancer, liver and nervous system damage, infertility, and hormonal disruption. In addition, many “dry clean only” garments will do just fine when hand washed and air dried or machine-washed using the gentle cycle. Remember to air out your dry cleaned garments outside.

• Use cloth diapers for babies.

• Go online to find new or gently used secondhand products, many great items can be found at these local consignments stores. Also, consider a service like Craigslist , Freesharing , or Freecycle to track down furniture, appliances, and other items cheaply or for free.

• Borrow from libraries or friends instead of buying personal books and movies. Also consider buying used books, movies, games, etc. like those sold on Amazon or Ebay.

• Keep your cell phones, computers, and other electronics as long as possible and when you are finished with them, donate or recycle them like with Barren River Area Safe Space (BRASS). Click here for drop off locations.

• Making your own non-toxic cleaning products saves money, time, and packaging-not to mention your indoor air quality.

• Go paperless with bank statements, monthly bill statements, etc...

• Send e-vites instead of paper invitations.

• Use your own shopping bags.

• Bring your own to go boxes when dining out.