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Posts tagged EPA

Eco-friendly Plumbing

Nov27
2009
2 Comments Written by Carrie

Water Faucet

According to Mindfully.org, “the average [American’s] individual daily consumption of water is 159 gallons,” while people in other countries live off of a small 25 gallons. Americans use a lot of water by performing everyday activities like bathing, going to the bathroom, washing dishes, cleaning the house and doing laundry.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also reports that 36 states could experience water shortages as a result of increased water usage by the year 2013. Why not try to reduce your water waste in an effort to help improve upon the problem? There are plenty of eco-friendly plumbing fixtures out there that will reduce unnecessary amounts of water consumption.

  • Aerators for the kitchen and bathroom faucets may cost anywhere between $10 and $20 and easily attach to your existing faucet. You control the water pressure by pushing down for a multiple steam spray or up for a splash-free bubble steam.
  • Low-flow showerheads work the same way as aerator faucets. They have been designed to reduce the droplet size of the water and instead focus on steam, which still gives you the same sensation as would a huge blast of water as it cascades down your back. However, one issue people run into with low-flow showerheads in scalding, usually if a toilet in the house is flushed while they’re taking a shower. This problem can be fixed by hiring a plumber to install an anti-scald valve. You could even try to take matters into your own hands by lowering the temperature of your water heater to 120 F.
  • Dual flush toilets give you a choice between two flushes, with one for solid waste and one for liquid waste. Essentially, you’ll use less water to flush less waste. You can achieve this by lightly (and quickly) pushing the lever to flush the toilet. If you were to push the lever all the way down and hold it there for a brief moment, the second, more powerful flush would activate. Although this may sound like a complicated process, it’s not. And you’ll be used to the whole dual-flush concept after just one use.
  • Multi-spray nozzles can easily be attached to a garden hose outside the house. Some of them are equipped with up to seven different settings, allowing you to choose the amount of water pressure used. A mist mode is generally the lowest setting on the nozzle, and you may find that it is all you need for washing exterior windows or even a vehicle.

By making simple, and sometimes inexpensive, changes, you can help to alleviate the problem of excessive water consumption in America. As the EPA suggested, it’s only a mater of time before more than half the country may suffer from a lack of this precious resource.

Posted in Green Living, Tips and Ideas - Tagged aerator, dual flush toilet, eco-friendly plubming, energy-saving tips, Green Living, low-flow showerhead, multi-spray nozzle, water conservation
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Eco-Friendly, EPA-Approved Fireplaces

Sep03
2009
Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

Fireplaces

While they add warmth and coziness to a room, especially on cool fall and winter evenings, fireplaces aren’t all ambiance. Did you know that, according to some experts, fireplaces are often bad for the environment?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the smoke you see coming out of a chimney indicates that the fuel in the fireplace below has not burned completely.

Chimney smoke is a mixture of gas and particles that can cause health problems, especially when the particles typically measure anywhere between 2.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter. Some of the gases emitted from wood smoke include sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. When inhaled, these gases can infect the heart and the lungs, causing such illnesses as asthma, coronary artery disease and cancer, sometimes even resulting in heart failure.

With Washington being the only state in the country to enforce fireplace emissions testing, the EPA created a voluntary Low Mass Wood-Burning Fireplace Program geared toward manufacturers located throughout the rest of the United States. It is the hope of the EPA that factories distribute cleaner, low-mass fireplaces in order to improve the air quality all over the country. Essentially, if a given state won’t do it, it’s up to the EPA and the fireplace manufacturers to help the environment.

When a fireplace passes the EPA’s test, its packaging is stamped with either an orange or white tag. The orange tag means that the fireplace meets the Phase 1 (above average) emission levels and the white tag signifies that the fireplace meets Phase 2 (better than above average) emission levels. No matter which tag has been placed on a fireplace, you will know that those specific models were tested by an EPA-accredited lab, and they are cleaner (and greener) than other models.

For a complete guide to eco-friendly, EPA-approved fireplaces, visit www.epa.gov/woodstoves.

Posted in Green Living, Tips and Ideas - Tagged eco-friendly, Environmental Protection Agency, fireplaces, Low Mass Wood-burning Fireplace program, voluntary, Washington state, wood-burning stoves
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