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A few years ago, we visited a relative who had recently purchased a mostly-updated 1890s home. The upstairs rooms were always cold, even with the new furnace. A quick trip into the attic revealed that the attic contained only about three inches of old insulation sandwiched between the attic floor and the ceiling below. After a trip to the building supply store, we installed thick batt insulation over the attic floor. That night, the upstairs rooms were much warmer and the furnace operated less frequently. Many homes that are much newer than this one might benefit from more insulation in the attic.
I found a link to a detailed article on how to evaluate and select insulation for your attic. According to this article, “the Department of Energy estimates that a properly insulated attic can shave 10 to 50 percent off your heating bill. And it works the opposite way for warm climates; in summer, it helps stabilize your house's indoor temps to keep cooling needs in check”. This makes evaluating your attic insulation an important step in reducing your energy use. Here’s the link to the full article. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/read-you-insulate-your-attic
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Today is Earth Day. It’s a good time to think about the beautiful planet we live on and how a healthy earth takes care of all of us. We cannot exist without the resources provided by the earth. Can you find one more thing you can do to reduce your impact on the earth and its resources?
I want to close with a quote that I like. I have seen it attributed to many different people, so I don’t know who first said it, but it says a lot in just a few words. “There is no planet B.” In the US, April 29 is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. You can take unwanted prescription drugs to designated collection locations for disposal. The organization will ensure the drugs are properly managed. The link below will describe the program and let you search for locations near you. For a sustainability bonus, combine nearby errands or carpool with friends, relatives, and neighbors to these locations.
https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/ Many cleaning products contain chemicals that are not healthy for us or for the earth. I found an article with information and links to help chose less harmful products. Check it out here:
www.nrdc.org/stories/get-dirt-nontoxic-spring-cleaning Grocery stores throw food away every day. Sometimes this is because something is damaged and sometimes it’s just that nobody buys it before it nears its sell-by date. Many grocery stores have a last-chance area near the back of the store. On these shelves, you will find perfectly good food items with marked-down prices. A lot of bakery items end up on these shelves because they don’t sell quickly enough. Dented cans or discontinued items also end up on these shelves. You can also find these kinds of items in the meat section of the store. One way to help the planet is to rescue and eat some of this food. This avoids waste of the resources that went into producing and transporting the food, and it also avoids sending the food to a landfill. And, you save money.
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