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Time for an Audit... of Your Home

We've covered a number of strategies you can implement to use less energy in your home. If you really want to find out what kinds of improvements you can make that will increase your house's overall efficiency, it may be time for an audit: an audit of your home's energy usage.

While many utilities offer free auditing services, if you're serious about cutting energy usage (as well as your utility bills), you'll want an audit that takes a "wholehouse" approach. Wholehouse audits look at overall energy usage, identify issues that may be increasing usage, and prioritize improvements you can make to achieve higher efficiency. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy division of the US Department of Energy describes the wholehouse process, and provides tips for conducting one yourself, or for hiring a contractor to complete a much more extensive one.

Over the next few days, we'll cover some actions you can take to identify and even fix some of the major energy gobblers in your home. This is a good way to start (and to learn more about your home). Hiring a professional can give you more detailed information, and help you prioritize repairs and upgrades in terms of both costs and results.

Your Action for Today:
Take a Look at Some New Tools

EERE's page on home energy auditing has a series of questions to ask yourself about your current energy usage and goals (under "Formulating Your Plan"). Answer those questions to the best of your ability in your Green Journal.

If you think you might be interested in hiring a contractor, the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) has a directory of certified home energy raters in your state.

Tomorrow: Looking for leaks

Sincerely,

The GO Team
GreenOptions.com

1.  Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

2.  Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.

3.  Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women's shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer them up at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.

4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.

5.  Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes  – then donate the rest.

6.  Compact fluorescent bulbs:   Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling:  www.ikea.com. 

7.  Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won't be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

 8.  Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html

9.  Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.

10.   Eyeglasses: Your local Lion's Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need.

11.  Foam Packing peanuts: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept these for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html

12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each. 

13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com.  iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle. 

14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org.

15.  Phones: Donate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com.

16.  Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com.

17.   “Technotrash”: Easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, cell phones, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk's Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com.

18.  Tennis shoes: Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com.

19.  Toothbrushes and razors:  Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber.  Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms' yogurt cups.  888/354-7296, www.recycline.com.

20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.

21.  Stuff you just can't recycle:  When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.