The Greening of Meadow Lakes
Meadow Lakes residents are committed to protecting the environment. We use CFL and LED light bulbs. We have requested the use of light sensors in rooms where there is often traffic yet many times when the rooms are empty. We ask for Energy Saver appliances in our homes and we recycle.
Dr. Ellie Whitney has been helping individual residents with appropriate recycling, according to procedures from our recycling vendor. . As of November 2010 we participate in Single Stream Recycling.
To know us better, please look at the list below of things we try to do.
__________
COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS (CFL's)
CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, are installed in lamps and in apartments by the Maintenance Staff. Of course, any resident who chooses may install his or her own bulbs. When burned out, CFLs should not be thrown into the trash but must be given to the Housekeeper or a member of the Maintenance staff who will ensure these mercury-containing bulbs are disposed of properly.
____________
THE GREENING OF MEADOW LAKES -
An Example for the rest of the World . .
Here are ten things each resident might try to do to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.
- “Bring Your Own Bag!” (BYOB) For café take-out or for grocery shopping, reuse a bag. Always use paper or cloth instead of plastic. Made of polyethylene, plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade! †
- Use Compact Fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) also called Energy Saver bulbs - Replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. Compact fluorescent bulbs last about 10 times as long and use 2/3 of the energy of an incandescent bulb. *
- Recycle. Use the recently distributed Recycling Guide 2007 to determine what can be recycled. On trash day, put out one bag with garbage and a separate bag with recyclables.* *
- Conserve water. Avoid letting water run while shaving or brushing your teeth. Do not use toilets as waste baskets for toiletry items--water is wasted with every flush. ††
- Wash cool. Cold and/or warm water will get garments as clean as hot water does. It is the soap, not the water temperature, which kills bacteria. Saving hot water can lower greenhouse gas emissions. ††
- Change your thermostat to reduce use of air conditioning and heating. ††
- Install a ceiling fan to circulate warm air from the ceiling throughout the room. √
- Turn off lights that are not in use. Whenever you go out, or when in doubt, Turn Lights Out!
- Turn off your computer when it is not in use. Electronics left on consume 75% of the energy used in a home. If used only four hours a day and turned off the rest of the time, the electricity saved would be equivalent to $70 a year! †
- Use both sides of every sheet of paper. To manufacture a ton of paper it takes 7,000 gallons of water and 17 trees. We can save 4,000 kilowatt hours of energy per ton of paper by using recycled paper. †
- Purchase Energy Star appliances whenever you buy a new appliance. Energy Star is a rating of the Environmental Protection Agency that identifies equipment that will save you money and save the environment, too. ††
- Use the energy setting (also called economy) on your washer, dishwasher, and clothes dryer. ††
Source:
†† Environmental Protection Agency
* General Electric Co.
** Environmental Service Management Group, Inc.,
† TIME Magazine, April 9, 2007
√ Global Green USA
[BACK TO TOP]