RALEIGH - The conservation group American Rivers says the city of Raleigh could cut water use up to 40 percent and save millions of dollars by improving water efficiency.
But a city environmental coordinator says Raleigh has already adopted many of the policies the organization recommends.
American Rivers issued a report Wednesday in which it analyzed how four cities in the Southeast could benefit from water efficiency, as opposed to building new dams and reservoirs. It concluded that Raleigh could save $30 million to $60 million by pursuing efficiency as compared with building dams and reservoirs.
“I don’t know how they developed the numbers,” said Ed Buchan, the city Utilities Department’s environmental coordinator. “We think that a lot of the things we’ve already done have saved us some money.”
Buchan noted, however, that cutting consumption also reduces the city’s revenue from water and sewer charges. And Buchan said that even with efficient use of water, growing communities such as Raleigh must still plan new reservoirs.
Read More:News & Observer
(ARA) - As Halloween approaches, the seasonal “to-do” list, typically marked with finding the perfect costume and trick-or-treat route, is a bit more complicated with the growing need to protect the environment and manage household budgets. In preparing for your neighborhood ghosts and goblins, try these easy tips and tricks to “go green,” and spend less on your families’ spook-tacular celebration.
Howl to be Green
Incorporating small changes into your holiday preparation will go a long way to create an eco-friendly Halloween. Whether you’re hosting a party or adding colorful flare to the home or office, take inventory of your decorations and go back to nature by using locally-grown pumpkins, apples or fresh gourds to create tabletop and front porch accents. Organic, pesticide-free produce is widely available at farmers markets, grocery and specialty stores and leaves little waste once the celebration ends.
Also look for ways to “re-use” your Halloween accessories. Cloth or canvas shopping bags and pillowcases are great alternatives to paper, plastic bags and more traditional plastic jack-o-lanterns used by many trick-or-treaters to collect candy. Gather fall-colored scraps of fabric, ribbon, buttons or food coloring and spend the afternoon with the kids decorating a recyclable trick-or-treat bag. Use the custom creation to hand out candy at your door and your house will be the hit of the neighborhood.
Howl to Save
Spend less this Halloween by using old or outgrown clothes, sports equipment or dress-up items to make one-of-a-kind costumes. Unpack your graduation gown and buy a gavel at a thrift or prop store to transform your trick-or-treater into a judge. Dust off a wedding gown or bridesmaid’s dress, polish an old pair of pumps and grab a wig from a costume store and you’ve got a princess. Host a costume trading party and make sure everyone comes with old clothing or accessories to trade. Let the kids use their imaginations and see how many new and different costumes come to life.
You can also save by using recyclable household materials to decorate. Bed sheets hung from the ceiling or tree branches make convincing ghosts, as do balloons covered with a white sheet, tied with a ribbon around the neck and black felt tapped on for eyes. The sheets can be taken down, laundered and returned to the linen closet once Halloween is over.
Howl to Have Fun at Home
Consider baking at home this year to get everyone in the Halloween mood. Find unique recipes for Halloween treats that can be used as decorations or centerpieces before you indulge.
Gather everyone around and make creepy “edible eyeballs” with mini white powdered donuts, Life Savers Gummies, red icing and chocolate chips. Cover the hole in the center of the donut with a thin layer of icing and top with a gummy. Next, dip the bottom of a chocolate chip in icing before layering it on the gummy. Make the eyeball scary by drawing lines from the center of the donut to the outer edge with red icing. Finish the treat by poking each donut with a lollipop stick and arranging them in a bowl of candy corn to make a freaky yet tasty centerpiece.
Howl to Be Safe
Set the seasonal mood by decorating trees and sidewalks with lights and lanterns while making it easier for trick-or-treaters to find their way from door to door. Neat, well-lit landscapes make everyone feel more comfortable and confident.
Another simple way to help ghosts and goblins find their way door to door is to use makeup to finish a costume as an alternative to masks. Face paint makes it much easier for trick-or-treaters to see … especially at night
With food prices rising, consumers could be hit hardest when crops like corn experience drought. Every step possible needs to be taken to conserve water.
(NewsUSA) - Crops are struggling, and lawns are turning brown. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 36 states anticipate water shortages by 2013.
For the millions affected by drought, every drop makes a difference. Personal water consumption remains a serious issue -; the EPA states that the average American consumes the equivalent of 1,600 glasses of water a day. Extended dry spells impact consumers, who are now turning to smart products that save water without sacrificing performance. Here are some products that help conserve water:
- The Shark Steam Mop cleans a 1,000 square foot floor surface with one pint of water, compared to the four gallons used in mop-and-bucket cleaning, according to the company. By turning a small amount of water into powerful steam, the Shark Steam Mop outcleans other solutions, and because it does not use any chemicals, nothing needs to be diluted or rinsed like with traditional mopping -; saving gallons of water.
- The Energy Star-rated LG SteamWasher uses TrueSteam technology to enhance cleaning performance and conserves water usage by up to 97 percent.
- The ASKO Encore Dishwasher uses dramatically less water than hand-washing and other dishwashers. The dishwasher uses only four gallons of water per load. According to the American Water Works Association, most dishwashers use nine to 12 gallons, while hand-washing dishes consumes approximately 20 gallons.
- In general, 30 percent of water consumption goes down the toilet each year. Gerber’s Ultra Dual-Flush Toilet features a pressure-assist flushing system to save water. The toilet uses 1.1 and 1.6 gallons per flush, saving 12,000 gallons of water each year, according to its manufacturer.
The U.S. is expected to account for more than 10 percent of the world’s household water consumption by 2025, according to the 5th World Water Forum. As the situation escalates, consumers and manufacturers continue to reduce household usage with more efficient products.
A running hose can expel 50 gallons of water every 5 minutes. Pistol-grip nozzles help save water.
(NewsUSA) - If water prices were $4 a gallon, the typical American household would spend roughly $1,452 each day.
Water waste doesn’t strain wallets quite like gasoline. People filling up their gas tanks these days wouldn’t dream of wasting five gallons.
But a running faucet wastes five gallons of water every two minutes, and people let their faucets run while they shave, brush their teeth and wash their dishes.
Water is a vital resource. Many areas in North America face water shortages. Summer droughts only amplify an already existing water-supply problem.
But saving water doesn’t have to cause migraines. Homeowners can easily reduce their daily water consumption by 100 to 150 gallons each day. HouseMaster, home inspection experts for nearly 30 years, offers these tips for the water-savvy:
- Check for leaks. A dripping faucet can waste two gallons of water an hour.
- Review your toilets’ water consumption. Don’t use toilets like ashtrays or wastebaskets. Flushing a tissue or cigarette wastes gallons of water.
Toilets often leak.To find a toilet leak, drop food coloring into the tank. If colored water appears in the bowl after 15 minutes, the toilet’s leaking and needs to be repaired.
- Install low-flow showerheads and bathroom faucets. High-flow showerheads use 6 to 10 gallons of water a minute. Flow restriction devices can cut flow in half without reducing water pressure.
- Don’t waste water on the lawn. Water your lawn and plants early in the day to help reduce evaporation. During the summer, water plants slowly and infrequently. Consider using drip irrigation, which adds water only where needed, in garden areas.
- Wash the car without water waste. Use a pistol-grip nozzle on your hose, and shut off the water after each hosing. A wide-open hose can discharge more than 50 gallons of water in just 5 minutes.
Homeowners in different areas face different water-conservation challenges. To find more information or to locate a professional, visit www.housemaster.com.
A running hose can expel 50 gallons of water every 5 minutes. Pistol-grip nozzles help save water.
(NewsUSA) - If water prices were $4 a gallon, the typical American household would spend roughly $1,452 each day.Water waste doesn’t strain wallets quite like gasoline. People filling up their gas tanks these days wouldn’t dream of wasting five gallons.
But a running faucet wastes five gallons of water every two minutes, and people let their faucets run while they shave, brush their teeth and wash their dishes.
Water is a vital resource. Many areas in North America face water shortages. Summer droughts only amplify an already existing water-supply problem.
But saving water doesn’t have to cause migraines. Homeowners can easily reduce their daily water consumption by 100 to 150 gallons each day. HouseMaster, home inspection experts for nearly 30 years, offers these tips for the water-savvy:
- Check for leaks. A dripping faucet can waste two gallons of water an hour.
- Review your toilets’ water consumption. Don’t use toilets like ashtrays or wastebaskets. Flushing a tissue or cigarette wastes gallons of water.
Toilets often leak.To find a toilet leak, drop food coloring into the tank. If colored water appears in the bowl after 15 minutes, the toilet’s leaking and needs to be repaired.
- Install low-flow showerheads and bathroom faucets. High-flow showerheads use 6 to 10 gallons of water a minute. Flow restriction devices can cut flow in half without reducing water pressure.
- Don’t waste water on the lawn. Water your lawn and plants early in the day to help reduce evaporation. During the summer, water plants slowly and infrequently. Consider using drip irrigation, which adds water only where needed, in garden areas.
- Wash the car without water waste. Use a pistol-grip nozzle on your hose, and shut off the water after each hosing. A wide-open hose can discharge more than 50 gallons of water in just 5 minutes.
Homeowners in different areas face different water-conservation challenges. To find more information or to locate a professional, visit www.housemaster.com.
The garden year is defined by many words and, as circumstances change, they change, too. This year’s garden word, it pretty much goes without saying, is “drought.”At this point, that’s no revelation, but as the buds burst on the dogwoods and green tips push up through the soil, many of us are considering how we want to garden in this year of water restrictions and drought-weakened gardens. Here are a few ideas for getting by when the going gets dry.
First, find some way to collect rain water. You have options at all price points. Whether you piggy back a bunch of retrofitted garbage cans together, buy pre-fabricated rain barrels, or have an above or below ground cistern installed, you can and should try to collect water. Even if you don’t plan on doing a lot of planting, your existing plants may be quite weakened from the drought last year and will be much more susceptible to giving up the ghost this year.
In your container gardens, use water-holding granules or mats. The mats can be cut to fit containers, placed in the bottom, and planted over. During the heat of summer, it’s helpful to keep saucers under your containers so that when it rains or you water, you have a little reservoir of water for the plants to draw from over the coming days. Deep saucers are even better than the standard shallow ones for this. This is a temporary technique, however. Do this in winter or during a wet season and you could have plants rot out on you if you don’t dump the excess water periodically.
Many people are asking about drought-tolerant plants, and with good reason. Just bear in mind that, with few exceptions, drought-tolerant plants are not drought-tolerant the first year in the ground. If you plant them this year, make plans to water them regularly, too. Next year they’ll reward you with their toughness and durability (probably just in time for a record wet year).
Make sure you get a nice 3-inch layer of mulch layered over your garden beds, as well. Mulch isn’t just a nice way to pretty up the garden; no, mulch is your friend. It will help keep water from evaporating from the soil. It will smother emerging weeds. It will help keep soil and soil-borne diseases from splashing back up onto plants during what we hope will be frequent rainstorms. It will keep plant roots cooler in the heat of summer and nice ‘n’ toasty during winter.
Read More:News & Observer
The thunderstorms that swept the region Tuesday night dumped 2 inches or more of rain and gave a much-needed boost to area reservoirs Wednesday.”It’s quite frankly just a godsend,” said Ed Buchan, Raleigh’s water conservation specialist. “This is very timely when it came, and we can only hope for more.”
Falls Lake, which supplies drinking water to Raleigh and six Wake County towns, rose more than a foot as a result of the storms and could rise more. Buchan estimated the increase could add two weeks or more to Raleigh’s water supply, which stood at 124 days before the storms.
Mike Moneypenny, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Raleigh, said Tuesday’s showers were the Triangle’s most significant rain since the last week of 2007, when storms raised Falls Lake more than 2 feet.
The rainfall was heaviest north and west of Raleigh. Lake Michie, Durham’s reservoir, was overflowing for the first time since May 18, and Little River Reservoir rose more than 4 feet. In Orange County, Cane Creek Reservoir and University Lake rebounded, giving the Orange Water and Sewer Authority a 248-day supply.
Read More:News & Observer
