Start Summer Early With Beach Ball Lamps

Now that April showers have brought May flowers, summer is finally just around the corner.  Unfortunately for us heat-lovers, we’ve still got some time before we can unpack the short shorts and get out our bathing suits.

If you’re having troubles getting rid of the winter blues and think you may not make it until the warm weather finally hits, you can add a touch of summer to your home with these adorable Beach Ball Lamps.

Designed by Toby Sanders, these lamps with their bright blues, reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows will brighten up any room and give you that fuzzy, summer feeling. Made from reused beach balls and non-toxic materials, these lamps not only bring vibrancy to the home, but they’re great for the environment, too.

No matter how glum you are about the rainy weather outside, it’s impossible not to feel good when lounging under these fun and creative Beach Ball Lamps.

These Are Not Your Grandmother’s Eco-Appliances

Eco-friendly products are becoming mainstream as consumers demand greener versions of everyday items. Manufacturers have finally begun to meet the challenge as more and more eco-friendly products hit the marketplace. And these are not your grandmother’s “green” products that used to be back-breaking and labor intensive. These are cutting-edge products that combine environmental concern and modern day convenience.

2-Slice Eco Toaster

The Eco Toaster cooks your toast quicker and with 34% less electricity than conventional toasters. The innovative, auto-close lid keeps the heat in, which makes your toast cook faster. The toaster also has a variable bread width function which means that you don’t have to give up versatility to go green.

ECO Kettle

Don’t waste energy boiling water that you are not planning to use. The ECO Kettle is composed of 2 separate 8-cup chambers. The first reservoir is a holding chamber which can release anywhere from 1 cup to 8 cups of water into the boiling chamber. This means that you will only boil the exact amount of water you need. The Eco Kettle uses over 30% less energy than regular kettles and could potentially save 50kWh of electricity each year.

Presso Espresso Coffee Maker

Most espresso machines are designed to be left on for long periods of time, thus using lots of electricity. The Presso Espresso Coffee Maker only uses enough energy to boil one cup of water.

The Presso works by filling the steel filter with coffee, attaching the filter to the Presso and pouring boiling water into the cylinder on top of the machine. The water is then forced through the coffee at a high enough pressure to produce café-style coffee within seconds.

Water-Powered Clock

The water-powered clock uses absolutely no electricity or batteries. Instead it runs on water or any type of electrolytic fluid, e.g. soda or coffee. Once the reservoir has been filled with liquid, the numbers appear on the clock like magic. What really happens is the internal converter extracts electrons from the fluid which provides a stream of electrical current that powers the clock.

The only maintenance required is to change the water once in a while.

Babyliss Eco Hair Dryer

The Eco Hair Dryer uses half of the energy of typical 2000W hair dryers. In fact, if you normally use your hair dryer for 10 minutes a day you will save enough energy to make 7 cups of tea or 11 pieces of toast each day.

Eco Heater

The Eco-Heater is designed to be a low-cost heating alternative to traditional space heaters. It uses convection technology to heat an entire room while only using approximately the same amount of electricity as four 100 watt light bulbs.

The eco-heater mounts on your wall, can be painted to match your décor and can be left on for long periods of time without worry.

Ecolectric Slow Cooker

The Ecolectric Slow Cooker uses up to 44% less energy than competing slow cookers and 66% less energy then a full-size conventional oven. The insulated lid is the key component of the slow cookers low energy usage since it keeps the heat inside the cooker providing more efficient performance.

Enviro Vac Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner

The Enviro Vac uses 30% less energy and picks up 20% more dirt than competitive vacuums. Its super efficient motor was designed to work as well as or better than competitive cleaners and only use 800 Watts of electricity compared to the norm of 1600+ Watts.

Donvier Eco-Friendly Ice Cream/Sorbet Maker

Make your own delicious ice cream or sorbet in 20 minutes with no ice, salt or electricity required. First freeze the Chillfast® cylinder overnight, then add your ingredients and turn the handle. The handle doesn’t even call for constant motion; an occasional turn is all that is needed.

Solar Mosquito Guard

The Solar Mosquito Guard is a pocket-size, rechargeable personal mosquito repellant. It works by emitting a high frequency sound wave that repels pregnant female mosquitoes (which are usually the ones that bite). This means that you no longer need to purchase DEET-filled products which are harmful to you and the environment.

Eco Mini Fridge

The portable, 6-liter Eco Mini Fridge is energy efficient and can be powered by your car adapter. It consumes an average of 33 Watts of electricity and uses no refrigerant which means that it is completely recyclable at the end of its lifespan. It also converts from a mini fridge to a portable oven with the flick of a switch. And the oven is capable of heating food to 65 degrees Celsius.

The Greenest Professional Sports

As world leaders pledge to reduce carbon emissions and the importance of protecting the environment continues to grow globally, individuals and businesses are searching for ways to decrease their impact on the environment. It’s no surprise then that professional sports leagues are beginning to develop and encourage ways in which they can become more environmentally friendly, too.

This comes as a great relief to environmental critics, especially considering one baseball game can produce 760,000 bottles and cans that are discarded in the trash rather than recycled, one football stadium can produce about 100,750 tons of carbon dioxide per game, or that NASCAR’s total fuel consumption for an entire season has been estimated at 2 million U.S. gallons.

The decision for national sports teams to promote green initiatives is an important step. Not only will it positively effect the environment while the teams are on the field, but it also has the potential to influence their millions of fans to be green off the field.

1.    Major League Baseball

With 30 teams, 162 games per season, and on average, 80 million spectators, Major League Baseball (MLB) certainly provides its fair share of the negative environmental impact caused by professional sports.

However, due to initiatives over the past few years, the MLB is quickly becoming one of the greenest professional sports leagues. Last year, the MLB partnered with the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) to create a Team Greening Program.

This was the first league-wide environmental protection program and aims to organize and support environmentally sensitive practices. The Team Greening Program plans to:

• Create club eco-committees.
• Provide information on how to offset carbon emissions from the team and fan transportation, as well as, facts and resources to assist each team in assessing their environmental impact and how to reduce it.
• Create an official environmental policy.
• Add environmental policies and language to contracts.
• Reduce the use of paper in offices and switch to recycled paper products.
• Work towards renewable energy use.
• Encourage fans to make environmental changes in their own homes.

The MLB has also made significant changes to their baseball parks across the country. They now have recycling bins for plastic cups and bottles and the vending machines are being made more energy-efficient. Solar panels have been installed to provide some of the energy used for games and even the grounds crew is switching to more environmentally friendly cleaners.

Not only are changes being made for the league as a whole, but individual teams are taking the green movement into their own hands. The Atlanta Braves have built the first ballpark stadium that meets standards created by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Pittsburgh Pirates are using corn-based cups, soy-based ink, and recycled toilet paper, the Boston Red Sox have installed solar panels and the Seattle Mariners recycle food waste, paper and plastic.

2.    National Football League

The MLB is certainly tackling the environment dilemma from all angles, but the National Football League (NFL) is also doing their fair share to make football a green sport.

Although the NFL has had an environmental program since 1992, it wasn’t until recently the league has begun making key improvements, particularly when it comes to the Super Bowl. The program has been working to:

• Improve solid waste management at all NFL facilities.
• Develop environmental guidelines for all contractors and vendors.
• Donate food and leftover building material, office supplies, and sports equipment.
• Make any Super Bowl event carbon neutral.

For the 2008 Super Bowl, the NFL committed to planting 2,700 trees to help offset gas-emissions and the Tampa Electric Company provided renewable energy for 100% of the electricity needs for the game.

At the team level, the Philadelphia Eagles have taken the greatest responsibility for the environment and developed ways to decrease their environmental footprint.

In 2007, the Eagles developed an ambitious program that rewarded all Eagle employees who signed up for Wind Energy. The employees are then reimbursed by the team so there is no out of pocket cost. In 2008, the Eagles purchased 14 million kilowatts of wind power to help the team run on 100% renewable energy at both their Lincoln Financial Field and their training facilities.

As a result of their initiatives, the Eagles have managed to switch 25% of the team’s energy use to renewable sources, avoided 65 tons of greenhouse emission and 2 billion BTUs of dirty energy generation, and also saved 100,000 trees.

3.    National Hockey League

Although hockey is sometimes considered a cleaner sport than others due to shorter schedules and smaller arenas, there is a still a huge footprint left behind from this sport.

In 2007, the National Hockey League (NHL) partnered with The GreenLife Organization to develop solutions to help the league go green. The program focuses on:

• Creating green initiatives.
• Identifying areas that need improvement.
• Offsetting carbon emissions.
• Switching to renewable energy.
• Generating public awareness and promote green living outside the sport.

Like the MLB, the NHL has also been working with the NRDC to provide advice and resources to reduce each NHL club’s impact. The league has also had much success with the NHLPA Carbon Neutral program that encourages players to take action to decrease their footprint on and off the ice.

The program was developed by the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and the David Suzuki Foundation. So far, the program has helped offset more than 4,200 tonnes of carbon emissions this season and 420 NHLPA members have signed on for year two.

4.    National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association has also teamed up with the NRDC to develop programs and events that will help generate awareness and funding to protect the environment.

While the NBA’s partnership with NRDC isn’t as extensive as the MLB or NHL, they are still taking positive steps toward preserving the environment.

The inaugural NBA Green Week, which was held between April 2 and April 10 2009, is a week-long event that engages all 30 teams in auctions, community service programs, and public service announcements. They are also working to create a new micro-website, www.nba.com/green that will feature green tips for fans.

Noted environmentalist and actor, Robert Redford was involved, as well as Addidas, who pledged to outfit players with 100% organic shirts. The NBA store will also host Recycling Dreams, a footwear drive to collect gently used athletic shoes.

Beyond public awareness events, the NBA is working with NRDC to offset energy usage and waste in offices and arenas. Green modifications that are currently underway include:

• Installing solar panels and wind-powered energy sources.
• Installing water-saving fixtures.
• Using organic food in concessions.
• Encouraging public transportation.
• Creating a recycling program.
• Purchasing energy credits.
  

  

5.    NASCAR

Understandably, a sport that involves very fast cars with low miles per gallon, circling a track 500 times is a hard sport to make environmentally friendly.

However, where others may choose the easy road, NASCAR has decided to take the green road and make an effort to reduce their negative impact.

In 2007, NASCAR partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency and announced that they would switch to unleaded racing fuel by the start of the 2008 season. NASCAR’s environmental services provider, Safety-Kleen has also begun collecting the 240 million gallons of used motor oil to re-refine and reuse. Beyond the obvious benefit of reusing the oil rather than throwing it out, re-refined oil also uses 85 percent less energy than making new oil.

NASCAR also participates in National Car Care Month where they help promote better car maintenance, which in turn increases vehicle performance and reduces fuel consumption.

Even some speedways are getting involved to help make a difference. The Michigan International Speedway preserves 200 acres of wetlands and is looking to use wind and solar energy within the next 10-12 months.

While many argue these steps don’t entirely negate the negative impact professional sports can have on the environment, the initiatives do make a difference. If you consider how many professional sports teams there are, simply making even the smallest step can have a massive affect not only on the environment, but also on the millions of fans who watch them.

Color Your Home Happy

Not long ago, I did a post on New Year’s resolutions for your home, where I discussed how to make yourself feel better by making your surroundings happier. I briefly touched on the importance of color and how different hues can make you feel certain emotions.

Since the influence of color is a pretty powerful thing, I thought I’d come back and discuss it a little further.

The symbolism of color can actually be a very complex topic but I’m going to keep it light today and just talk about how color can influence your home.

When picking out a color scheme or palette to decorate with, it’s smart to do a little research and understand what the colors you’re choosing mean.

Color can pretty much be broken down into two categories: cool and warm. Let’s take a look at each of these groups and what affect these colors can have.

Cool Colors

Cool colors tend to be very calming and soothing.

Much like the colors you would find outdoors, like the blue sky and green grass, cool colors also have a strong association with nature. Depending upon the shade, cool colors can also give off a cold, impersonal feeling so you need to be careful when choosing a blue palette to decorate your home.

Try choosing deeper blues with a hint of red, deep navy blues or opt to add dashes of warm colors throughout your palette to keep it from giving you the shivers.

Now let’s take a look at what feelings humans often associate with cool colors:

Blue – Strong, trustworthy, dependable, calming, cooling.

Purple – Royalty, elegance, power, uplifting, calming, mystery.

Lavender – Graceful, feminine, elegance, uplifting.

Green – Soothing, relaxing, tranquil, refreshing, peaceful.

Turquoise – Refreshing, sophisticated, youthfulness.

Gray - Practical, calm, cool, cloudy, unsettling.

Silver – Playful, modern, expensive, graceful.

White – Purity, cleanliness, innocence, peaceful, simplicity.

Warm Colors

Warm colors have the opposite effect of cool colors.

Warmer tones tend to generate strong feelings of excitement, love or even anger and can over power cooler colors. You can tone down the power of a warm color by opting for a paler shade such as yellow or pink.

Keep in mind that warm colors appear larger when paired with a cool colors, even when used in equal amounts.

Red – Love, anger, hunger, excitement, energy, confidence.

Pink – Sweetness, love, creativity, purity.

Yellow – Sunshine, warmth, joy, cheerfulness, comfort, liveliness, happiness.

Gold – Rich, extravagant, wealth, cheerful, traditional.

Orange – Energy, warmth, creativity, cheerfulness, hunger.

Brown – Natural, earthy, reliability, neutrality, clarity, freshness, traditional.

Beige – Earthy, relaxing, simplicity, calming.

Black – Powerful, sophistication, elegance, strength, night, depression.

Ivory – Softness, earthy, purity, cleanliness.

If you’d like to use a color like gray or black, where there can be negative associations such as an unsettling feeling, be sure to mix it up with more uplifting or warmer colors to keep it from being too drab and depressing.

Knowing what kind of vibes these colors can give off, you’ll be better able to create the exact feeling you want throughout your home. The best way to make sure you’re using a complimentary color scheme is to use a color wheel.

Choose a color you would like to work with and then choose one of its complimentary or analogous colors. Complimentary colors are those on the opposite side of each other on the color wheel and make great choices for rooms where you will be entertaining. Analogous colors are those that lay side by side. These colors make more peaceful combinations and are perfect for bedrooms and bathrooms.

As we discussed in my previous post, the way your home is decorated can have a strong influence on you, your family, and any of your guests. Understanding how colors work on you and with each other, you can easily and dramatically create whatever mood you would like throughout your entire home.

For further reading and a little colorful fun, check out:

The Meanings of Color

Symbolism of Color and Colors That Go Together

Color Quiz

What’s Your Personality Color?

40 Simple Ideas To Make Your Christmas Green

Brightly wrapped presents, colorful lights and a sweet-smelling turkey dinner fill everyone’s thoughts and dreams as Christmas quickly approaches. However, no one considers the aftermath until all the festivities are over.

The fact is that every Christmas we generate thousands of tons of waste and use more energy then at any other time of year. Christmas lights increase our energy bills, wrapping paper is discarded by the roll and unwanted presents sit on shelves until eventually they are thrown away.

Small changes can make big differences and do a lot to help our environment. A “Green” Christmas doesn’t mean we all have to turn into the Grinch, it just means thinking outside of the box and doing things a little differently then we have in the past. Below are 40 simple ideas that you can do to give a gift to Mother Earth this year.

Decorate:

1. Use LED lights to decorate your home and tree. They use 75% – 90% less energy than traditional Christmas lights and they last up to 10 times longer.



2. Use solar Christmas lights to decorate the outside of your home. They cost a little more but there is no electricity bill at the end of the holidays.




3. Decorate with pinecones and evergreen boughs instead of store bought décor. They are completely biodegradable and give off a wonderful, natural scent.



4. Turn your Christmas lights off when you go to bed. You can’t enjoy their festive glow while you’re sleeping anyway.




5. Organize a carpool for your Christmas party. People will not have to worry about drinking and driving plus you are keeping a few extra cars off of the road.




6. Turn off the TV. Christmas is a time to socialize with your family and friends. Commercial breaks just aren’t long enough for that.



The tree:

7. Go treeless. Maybe you have a large indoor plant that would look beautiful all lit up.




8. Get a potted Christmas tree and replant it after Christmas is over or decorate one of the trees in your yard (and you don’t have to worry about the replanting).



9. Buy a live tree. Artificial trees last much longer but are not biodegradable. Live trees can be recycled and turned into mulch.



Cards:

10. Sending Christmas cards is a long-time tradition but all of those cards just end up in the trash. Start a new tradition and send out e-cards to all of your online friends and family.




11. If you must send out actual cards, make sure to buy ones made out of recycled card stock or natural fibers.




12. Re-use old Christmas cards to make ornaments, gift tags or new Christmas cards. These family craft projects can be the start of new Christmas traditions in your home.



Dinner:

13. Get romantic and serve Christmas dinner by candlelight. The soft glow of the candles will contribute to the dreamy mood and turning off the lights will lower your electric bill.




14. Use real dishes and napkins for Christmas dinner. Disposable plates and napkins may make clean up a little quicker but throwaway dishes are bad for the environment.



15. Serve local turkey and vegetables. Homegrown produce and poultry will be fresher as it didn’t travel long distances to get to your dinner plate.




16. Take the time to package up your leftovers properly. Put some in the fridge and freeze the rest. This will result in less cooking for you later on and less food being thrown in the garbage.



Wrapping:

17. Use cloth gift bags or even cloth shopping bags instead of wrapping paper. You’ll be able to re-use these again and again instead of throwing the paper out after one use.




18. Wrap your present in a scarf, towel, pillowcase or other type of usable item and it can be part of your Christmas present.



19. Wrap presents in old newspapers or magazines. Or if you have a budding artist in your household use some of their artistic masterpieces as wrapping paper.




20. If you must use Christmas wrapping paper, save what you can and re-use it on other gifts.




21. Save ribbons and bows. Most of these look just as good as new even after the gifts are unwrapped. Ribbons and bows can be reused for other gifts throughout the year or for next Christmas.



22. Shred your old junk mail to cushion any breakable gifts instead of using bubble wrap or foam peanuts.



Gifts:

23. Don’t exchange gifts. Christmas is about spending time with family and friends so organize a gathering and forgo the gifts.




24. Plan your shopping trip. Try to run several errands all at once. One stop shopping or visiting several shops in the same outing will result in a better use of your time and consume less gas.




25. Buy fewer gifts. Instead of buying for every extended family member, gather folks together and draw names. This way you can give a meaningful gift to one person instead of breaking the bank and buying frivolous, last minute gifts for many.




26. Make a wish list and give it to your significant other. They will most likely be purchasing something for you anyway and this will cut down on their stress, their need to drive from store to store and the need for you to return unwanted items. Plus as an added bonus, you will get things that you like and want for Christmas.



27. Take re-usable shopping bags with you when you do your Christmas shopping.




28. Buy gifts that are not over-packaged. Many kid’s toys are bolted in by plastic, ties and wrap that has to be thrown away once the toy has finally been released from its captivity.




29. Buy local gifts. It keeps the money you spend in your community and you’ll feel good knowing that your gift did not need to be transported thousands of miles.




30. Buy gifts made out of recycled or re-used materials or make your own.




31. Re-gift last years Christmas presents that you didn’t use. And if you don’t feel comfortable re-gifting, then donate them to a local charity.




32. Hold a toy swap with your friends and neighbors. This keeps the old toys out of the landfill and the toys are still “new” to the latest receiver.




33. Everything old is new again. Find something at the local thrift store or antique shop that still has lots of use left in it. Those vintage earrings may be the perfect addition to your daughter’s retro wardrobe.




34. Shop online and have things shipped through the postal service. You will save on your own transportation cost and the mailman passes your house everyday anyway.



35. Buy toys that do not use batteries.




36. Buy rechargeable batteries for all the electronic gadgets being purchased this year. Rechargeable batteries will keep regular batteries out of the landfill.



37. Buy gift certificates or tickets as gifts this Christmas. Who wouldn’t love a day at the spa or tickets to the hockey game?




38. Homemade gifts show the receiver that your gift really comes from the heart. And nothing says “I love you” more than homemade cookies or pie.



39. For the person who has everything, donate money to a local charity in their name. If you prefer larger charities you can buy a goat for a family, help save some animals from extinction or anything else that helps the planet.




40. Give gifts of your time and experience. Help your sibling organize their kitchen, run errands for your elderly neighbor, teach your niece how to knit, offer to babysit for your busy co-worker, you get the idea.

Clean And Green With EnergyStar Appliances

Being environmentally conscientious helps preserve our precious earth and can also save you money! Look at the appliances being used in your home on a regular basis. Are any of these appliances 10, 15, or even 20 years old? If so, you can bet your bottom dollar you’re spending more on monthly utility costs than you have to.

In recent studies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the average family household is spending nearly $2,000 per year in utility costs and kitchen appliances are at fault for almost half of these expenses.

The EPA, along with the US Dept of Energy (DOE), has created a classification system called Energy Star. This system is designed to pinpoint domestic appliances that are more energy efficient, boost air quality and decrease utility bills. Although appliances equipped with the Energy Star label (EnergyGuide) can potentially cost up to 40% more than standard models, they can save up to half of the daily energy you use. So not only are you saving money in the long run, you’re helping to protect our environment for a better tomorrow and future generations.

Understanding Your EnergyGuide Label:

To help you better compare Energy Star appliances and make sure you’re getting the most efficient product, all Energy Star appliances are required to have an EnergyGuide label. This label shows you the model number and features allowing you to compare things like size and capacity, but most importantly, it estimates on average how much energy this model will use per year. It gives you a range to show you the least and most amount of energy used per year, and it also gives you an estimate of how much this model will cost per year.

Energy Star Models Standard Features:

Energy Star Clothes Washer:
· Uses 50% less water.
·    Extracts more water from clothing in the spin cycle to help reduce drying time.
·    Reduces wear and tear on clothing.
·    Uses up to 40% less electricity.
·    Up to $110 in savings each year.

Energy Star Refrigerators:
·    Consumes at least 40% less than standard models.
·    Up to $150 in savings every year.

Energy Star Dehumidifier:
·    Uses between 10 - 20% less power.
·    Around $30 in savings each year.

Energy Star Dishwasher:
·    Uses half the water of regular models.
·    Use over 40% less energy.
·    Save $90 over the dishwasher’s lifetime.

Household Air Conditioner:
·    Uses 10% less energy than standard models.
·    Save around $250 over the air conditioner’s lifetime.

Save On Your Monthly Bill With These Energy Saving Tips:

If an Energy Star appliance is not in your immediate future you can still save money right now with these energy savings tips for each appliance in your home.

Clothes Washer:
·    Wash full loads and avoid using warm/hot water unless necessary.

Refrigerator:
·    Avoid overheating by allowing a space of at least one inch between the wall and the back of the refrigerator. This will help air to circulate and control the temperature.
·    Don’t place your appliance by areas that produce heat. Radiators, vents, heat ducts, stoves, and even sunlight from your windows can cause the unit to use more power than needed.
·    Check the temperature of both your fridge and freezer regularly. Keep the fridge between 35 and 38 degrees and your freezer at 0 degrees.

Dehumidifier:
·    Close all windows and doors when running your dehumidifier.
·    Change your filters on a regular basis. A build up of dirt can hinder its performance causing the unit to use more energy.
·    Keep it away from walls, furniture or dusty areas.

Dishwasher:
·    Wash full loads of dishes.
·    Only use standard options. Pre-rinse, heat-dry and rinse-hold are extra features that use more energy.

Household Air Conditioner:
·    Close all windows and doors.
·    Set your timer for temperature control.
·    Select the correct unit for the size of your room.

Help us win the battle against our diminishing resources and put an end to excessive energy use. Invest in Energy Star approved appliances and you’ll not only save on monthly utility costs, but also reduce pollution and emissions into our homes and environment. After all, preserving our earth is everyone’s responsibility, what do you have to lose?

9 Wacky Ways To Reuse Appliance Parts

Want to do something creative and environmentally friendly with your old appliances? Is the old fashioned way of disposal just too boring for your tastes? Then try out these zany and even practical ways to reuse your household appliances.

1. Turn your old washer drum into a rustic, outdoor fire pit! The holes in the drum allow air to get in and let your fire “breathe”.

2. Use your old dryer as a storage bin for apples and potatoes. You can even reuse that endless dryer lint!

3. If you’re good with your hands, you can get really creative and make a lamp out a washing machine drum and pulley wheels.

4. Check out this video called Trash To Treasures Gardening and find out how you can use broken pots, old stove parts and more to decorate your garden in a truly unique way.

5. If your home landscape lacks some greenery, reuse a washer tub, dryer tub, or even an old BBQ as a plant pot.

6. Get really innovative like Nemo Gould and build your very own scooter using some old appliance parts.

7. How about converting your old fridge into a tool shed or storage closet for the basement or garage?

8. Got a mind for engineering or robotics? Let your old appliances inspire you to build a robot.

9. You can even be inventive with appliance parts, such as circuit boards, with these Ten Creative Ways To Reuse Circuit Boards.

By being inventive, imaginative and conscious of your waste, you can actually do something creative that helps the environment. Who knew being green could be so much fun?

Recycling Your Old Appliances

There are thousands of ways we can be ‘green’ and help do our part to protect our environment. From recycling old newspapers and pop bottles to donating used clothing and furniture, it seems there is a way to recycle or reuse just about everything.

So why is it many homeowners forget about recycling their old household appliances? When it comes time to dump that outdated or worn-out appliance, resist the urge to toss it in the dump and do your part to properly dispose or recycle it. As you’ll see, it can be as easy a phone call!

Bounty and Municipal Programs
If you need to get rid of an old appliance the first thing you should do is call your electric utility and see if they offer a bounty program in your area. These programs can give you a rebate for your old, unwanted appliances. Generally, these appliances do have to meet certain requirements and be in working condition to qualify.

You can also try to arrange an appointment with your municipality to have your appliance picked up or to find out where you can take them to be disposed. Find out more about these programs by calling your municipality or checking out the Environmental Protection Agency’s FAQ on disposing appliances.

Donation Programs
Why recycle an appliance when another family can reuse it?

If you’re updating your home and have decided to get new appliances, you can donate your old appliances through various donation programs such as the Salvation Army. These organizations are a great way to get rid of any home appliance but they do need to be in working condition before they are accepted. If you’re interested in these types of programs, there are several options available here and here.

Disposing of Appliance with Refrigerants
Appliances containing refrigerants need special attention when being disposed. Refrigerators, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers all contain dangerous refrigerants such as Freon, which can deplete the ozone if not properly disposed. If you need to get rid of one of these appliances and they do not qualify for one of the above programs, check out the US Environmental Protection Agency for proper disposal.

Remember, never under any circumstance attempt to remove refrigerants yourself as they can cause you and the planet physical harm.

We all share the responsibility of keeping our communities and the environment safe and with so many options available, there’s no reason not to. So next time you’re thinking of throwing out an appliance, or anything else for that matter, make sure you stop and think about the safest and friendliest way to do so. If we all work together, we can make a difference.

For more information on recycling and proper household hazardous waste disposal:
Appliance Recycling Centers of America
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Earth911
Natural Resources Canada