Eco-Friendly Products

Every day we hear the term "go green," but what does it mean?  We have been having Earth Day for years but how much do you think the average person considers our environment for the remainder of the year?  At almost any store today we see reusable shopping bags.  How may people actually buy one? It looks like a quick and easy cure for the soul; buy a reusable bag and I'm green.  How else can you really be green?

When you hear green, it actually means a variety of things.  Anything, be it object or activity, can make an impact on our environment. For instance, the water in our houses can be made green with some simple changes.

Many people run water in their sink while washing dishes without thinking much about it.  However, it is easy to use twice the amount of water needed to hand wash dishes if water use isn't carefully regulated.  Essentially, your water should only run when you are rinsing dishes or filling up a bucket or sink for washing.  Leaving the faucet running while actually scrubbing dishes is extremely wasteful!  Instead, fill a sink with water, and then turn off the faucet.  Wash all of your dishes in this water, then turn on the faucet, and rinse your dishes as quickly as possible.

To make it easier to control water, many companies now sell on demand water faucets for the home.  On demand faucets were originally designed for public restrooms to prevent sink overflow from a faucet that had been left on.  There are now designer look faucets for the kitchen and bathroom that turn water on when hands are in reach of the faucet, or bby simply touching the faucet.  Turning off the water is as simple as touching the faucet again.

Newer faucets are installed with a flow restrictor valve that keeps the amount of water flowing down the drains "down". Flow restrictors will only allow three gallons of water to flow per minute. In fact, many states are passing laws to have these installed. Older made faucets can be retrofitted with an aerator/flow valve. Bear in mind that aerators do not save water but it gives the feeling that more water is flowing because more air is expanding the water stream volume. Some home kitchens have a bypass valve that allows pasta pots to fill up in a sensible amount of time.

Dishwasher use is another area that can improve your water efficiency.  Studies have shown that modern water efficient dishwashers use about half the water of hand washing.  This is because these appliances reuse much of the water throughout the various cycles and then use a small amount of fresh water to rinse the dishes.  Of course, dishwashers aren't always efficient.  Unless your model has load settings to indicate the size of the load, then it will always use the same amount of water.  This means you should only run it when it is completely full of dishes.

These simple tips for saving water are as easy to use as those reusable bags in the checkout aisle, so live green and save green.