Rocky Hill Congregational Church

January

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• Chewing gum is not biodegradable!  Consider switching to mints. 

• Use washable reusable masks.  This will reduce the number of disposable masks in our landfills.

• When shopping online, combine  your purchases to eliminate the number of deliveries and packaging.

• Utilize your microwave when possible.  The microwave oven uses 50% less energy than a conventional oven.

• Fully load your dishwasher.  A dishwasher uses 8.7 gallons of water per load while washing the same dishes with running water uses 20 gallons.

• Add indoor house plants to help clean toxins In the air.

 

February: Some ideas to reduce your Trash

 

• Print on both sides of paper

• Read/subscribe to online newspaper

• Switch to paperless bills

• Reduce your junk mail

• Implement tray-less lunches in the cafeteria

• Eat ice cream only in cones!

• Buy items that you can recycle

• Use reusable bags when you shop

• Avoid products with excess packaging

• At work, use a reusable coffee mug

• Practice GrassCycling; Leave grass clippings on the lawn

• Write your favorite company to rethink how they package their products

• Reduce food waste by eating leftovers and/or prepare only what you will eat

• Buy in bulk

• Avoid using single-use packages

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March

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• Dry two or more loads of laundry in a row to take advantage of extra heat in the  dryer.

• Skip the tub and take a shower.  It takes 35 - 50 gallons of water to fill a bathtub versus 25 gallons used during a 10-minute shower.

• Do some sponge bath days in between the shower days.

• Switching your outdoor porch light to an LED bulb, especially one with a motion sensor will help save energy and cut down on costs.

• Put lamps in the corners of rooms so that light reflects off two walls.  This way, you won’t have to use as many light sources.

 

April

 

• Buy in bulk and in concentrated form--it saves you money and uses less packaging material.

• Avoid disposables--they're almost always unnecessary.

• Avoid over-packaged products.

• Borrow or rent things you seldom use, such as power tools.

• Give preference to items made from recycled materials or to those which are recyclable--then to be sure to recycle them!

• Write to manufacturers and to your elected officials and express your concern for our environment

 

May

 

• After mowing, let the grass cuttings remain on the lawn where they are. They quickly decompose into the soil, eliminating the need to add chemical fertilizers.  This is a great way to be eco-friendly.

• Soil needs oxygen to thrive. To manually aerate a lawn  every season spread worms throughout the lawn or garden, water thoroughly, and allow them to work their way into the soil.  Ants also aerating the soil, so unless you’re having problems with an indoor infestation, leave them alone.   Ants also feed on harmful insects, pollinate flowers, and distribute seeds.

• If a sprinkler system waters your lawn, to minimize wasted water, program the system to come on after midnight. Leave the sprinkler on for an extra five minutes and reduce watering to three times a week instead of every day. If there is rain in the forecast, turn off the system until the rain is over.

• Switching your outdoor porch or post lamp to an LED bulb, especially one with a motion sensor, can help save energy.

 

June

 

• Grow Flowers:  Besides making your home and yard beautiful, they also attract birds, butterflies, and bees.  Native wildflowers and grasses also provide food for birds.

• Natural Insect Repellant:  Mosquitoes hate garlic.  Scatter cloves of garlic or chopped up garlic in areas where mosquitoes flock or cut a clove of garlic on exposed area of body.  

• Herbs and Flowers also repel mosquitoes:  Citronella, lemon balm, lemon grass, lemon verbena, geraniums, eucalyptus, rosemary, anise, mint, marigolds, catnip, wormwood, lavender, cedar, and cloves.  

• Use Grass Clipping as Mulch:  Fresh or dried grass clippings adds nutrients and prevents some weeds.  When mulching with fresh grass clippings, use a layer that is 1/4 thick or less.  

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July/August: Environmental Cookout Ideas

 

• A cookout celebrates the natural world, so it's sort of pointless to have a cookout that destroys that world. Some ways to keep your cookout green:

• Use reusable plates, cups and utensils. Plastic utensils allow you to avoid washing up, but their utility ends there. It's cheaper (and greener) to bring metal utensils from home. Toss the dirty ones into a used dish, so you can take them home for easy washing.

• Choose cloth napkins, not paper. Ditto for the dishtowels.

• Buy local produce from farmers' markets. In general, the less your food has traveled, the less pollution it has created.

• Try for an all-vegetarian spread. Modern mass production of meat has high energy costs and creates a lot of pollution -- more global-warming emissions than all oil-based forms of transportation put together.

• Instead of driving, bike or walk to the park. Or, if your city offers it, take mass transit or use a car-share program.

• It should go without saying, but pick up all your trash. Abide by the camper's tradition of leaving the cookout site cleaner than it was when you found it. Better still, try not to create any trash at all. Don't use disposable containers. Recycle whatever you can, and collect food scraps for composting.

• Don't set off fireworks such as bottle rockets, which create litter that you can't always find.

 

September

 

• Ride bike and/or walk more to run errands, take bus, and/or carpool if possible.

• Avoid eating frozen foods because most of the packaging is plastic, even those that appear to be cardboard are coated in a thin layer     of plastic.  

• Make freshly squeezed juices or eat fruit instead of buying juice in plastic bottles. 

• Make your own cleaning products to eliminate need for multiple plastic bottles of cleaner.  

• Use a razor with replaceable blade instead of a disposable razor.  

 

 

October

 

• Candles:  We all love the coziness that candles provide during the cooler months, but did you know that most candles on the market are made from paraffin wax, a product of petroleum refining? A more environmentally friendly choice is candles made from beeswax — even better if you can find them at a local market or craft fair to avoid the carbon costs of shipping. Be sure to do your research before you stock up on products that make you feel cozy during the fall and winter.

 

• Use your slow cooker. For those fall and comfort foods like soups, stews, casseroles, roasts, even lasagna, try a slow-cooker version instead of using the oven. Even though a slow cooker stays on longer (4-6 hours or more), it will still use less energy overall.

 

• Eat seasonal produce, local if you can. Foods that are grown and harvested in their natural time frame require less energy to produce, and if you can get them from local sources, their travel footprint will be much smaller than produce that’s been hauled in from across the country or world.

 

• Choose hand-powered or electric tools over gas. As homeowners tackle the job of raking leaves, clearing gardens, and cleaning yard debris, they create a lot of noise and pollution. In fact, one gas-powered leaf blower can emit as much pollution as 80 cars! Instead of leaf blowers, use rakes; use hand-powered garden trimmers, and a push mower if your yard allows it. If you must use motorized tools, go for electric over gas-powered. 

 

• Plant trees. By the time autumn rolls around, summer heat waves are long past, rainfall is usually more plentiful, and new trees, bushes and flowers have a greater chance of surviving than they would if they were planted during a hotter season. Choose species native to your area as well as those that are drought and pest resistant and can grow in the kind of soil and amount of sunlight available on your property.

 

 

November

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• Change batteries in all smoke detectors 

• Check the pressure of your tires

• Preserve your garden before frost hits your garden - can or freeze, do not waste

• Bring in houseplants 

• Compost leaves

• Clean & test you’re furnace

• Energy prices are estimated to significantly increase - every degree the thermostat is lowered saves an estimate 4% of monthly bill

• Make sure all heater vents and returns are not blocked and are free of dust

• Vacuum coils of refrigerator

• Check chimneys and have cleaned as needed

• Ceiling fan direction should be reversed

• Before packing away summer clothing go through items to determine what to keep, what to repurpose into rags, and what to donate.

• Increase gas mileage 

• Check the pressure of your tires

• Drive steadily  

• Remove any additional weight from inside and outside your car -  unused bike racks, luggage racks, ski racks, etc