Project HOUSE
Project H.O.U.S.E. is designed to be a comprehensive resource for anyone who is looking for information, motivation, organizations, etc. in regard to reducing our carbon footprint, saving energy, and sustaining a liveable planet. Please click on all the tabs to fully access the information and resources available to you on this site.
If you know of any helpful website links you think should be included, please use the feedback form and let me know. Any other questions, comments, and suggestions to make this a better site are also welcome.
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Environmental Site of the Month (December 07)
"This Rochester-based site has some very practical and unique ways
of saving energy for our planet and for your pocket book. I’m always
looking for an innovative Rochester-area environmental site that uses
this 21st Century technology to help us live a sustainable life ---
and this site gets specific. Check it out and monitor your energy and
living habits so you personally can help move our way of life to a more
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The Project H.O.U.S.E. survey was conceived, originally in the 1970's, to motivate and involve individuals and families in reducing our "ecological footprint" upon the earth. What you can do starts in your own living room, kitchen, basement, bath, yard, etc. You can participate in Project HOUSE to begin better lifestyle habits regarding your own energy use and waste production. The time required amounts to only about 10-15 minutes a week for 5 weeks, plus the time you need to write down your ideas for saving energy and resources in your household, and giving feedback. Specifically, once each week for five weeks you will measure your use of water, natural gas, electricity, gasoline (vehicle mileage), plus your trash, recyclables, and compostables. ***
Enter the measurement numbers first on the Weekly Score Form for each resource. The day before your weekly trash and recycling collection is likely the ideal time to begin the Project and also measure the other resources. When you determine which day to do your measuring, mark those dates on your calendar, five weeks in a row. During the first week, you should follow your usual habits, but be thinking of ways to improve them. Begin implementing your ideas upon the second measurement. Scores of books, articles, websites, organizations, and so on can assist you in learning about the changes you can make. When you have completed Project HOUSE, please use the form on the "Feedback" page to share your results.
*** If you live in an apartment complex, dormitory, or other housing where you may not have individual meters, see if you can enlist the others in your building to participate as a group, and find out where and how to read your building’s meters. RENTERS, LANDLORDS - Please use the form on the Feedback page to share your ideas for saving energy in a rental situation. I will add helpful feedback to the Project HOUSE website to share with others.
ABOUT MEASURING
Your use of gasoline will be measured by how far you drive your vehicle(s) each week, as shown on your odometer. The first measurement will give you a starting point. (You could also simply use your trip odometer and reset it every week.) If you know the mileage you get with your vehicle(s), a simple multiplication will show how many gallons of gas you consumed. As an alternative, you could fill your tank on the first day of your measurements, and actually note how many gallons you purchase over the course of the Project’s timetable.
You may already know how to read your gas, electric, and water meters. If you don’t, the instructions below are easy to follow. Your utility may also have a handout on how to read them. Again, the first measurements are a starting point.
Weighing your garbage isn’t as bad as it sounds! You merely need to know the weight of the empty container(s) (and yourself, if you stand on the bathroom scale holding them). Subtract the weight of the containers (and you) from the total weight to determine how many pounds your garbage weighs.
Participating in your local recycling program will reduce your solid waste score. Although what you recycle can’t totally be discounted from your solid waste, your score will be reduced by 50% of the weight of what you recycle. The waste that needs recycling was still created using energy and resources. It is of course the better alternative to spending the rest of its life in a landfill. Also, you can do indoor or outdoor composting of your kitchen scraps.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS
· Organize your trash area. Make it easy to put recyclables in the proper container.
· Locate your water and utility meters, and practice reading them. Easy, isn’t it?
· Place a small notebook or sticky note in your car with the dates you plan to measure.
· Note activities such as eating out, using a carwash, laundromat, etc. in the comment section of the score sheets. These activities lessen the amount of resources you use that you can track.
· Unless you employ drastic measures, don’t expect drastic results. You may already have eco-friendly habits, and normal fluctuations occur weekly, monthly, and seasonally.
· Locate your water and utility meters, and practice reading them. Easy, isn’t it?· Place a small notebook or sticky note in your car with the dates you plan to measure.· Note activities such as eating out, using a carwash, laundromat, etc. in the comment section of the score sheets. These activities lessen the amount of resources you use that you can track.· Unless you employ drastic measures, don’t expect drastic results. You may already have eco-friendly habits, and normal fluctuations occur weekly, monthly, and seasonally. BE SURE TO MARK YOUR MEASURING DAYS ON THE CALENDAR NOW! IDEAS TO START YOU OFF
WATER – A couple buckets of water will wash your car, rather than running the hose for half an hour. Also, try to let the runoff go onto your lawn rather than into storm drains via the driveway or street. Storm water is not treated and the dirt and chemicals end up in local bodies of water. Eat WAY less meat. See this website for details -
GASOLINE – Consolidate your errands, and plan your routes to minimize miles. Walking, biking, carpooling, and public transportation can help too. Keep tires properly inflated. Consider a car that gets better gas mileage, such as a hybrid.
SOLID WASTE – Call the Salvation Army, or donate your old but usable clothes, dishes, furniture, appliances, etc. to a church rummage sale. Let someone have the benefit of the rest of their useful life. Buy in bulk to save on packaging materials. Reuse and recycle more. Check out http://freecycle.org for an e-group in your area to give away and receive FREE items. And here's one from from a visitor to this site: "Scan all paper-based records, e.g. old tax returns, photos, etc. to a disk drive. You can get one small enough to fit in a shirt pocket that will hold a lifetime of paperwork! I've even scanned plaques, awards, artwork, letters, receipts." Then you can recycle or find a new home for these items.
NATURAL GAS – When using the oven, put in several items to bake at once, or use a toaster oven or your microwave. Close doors and vents to unused rooms. Set back the thermostat at night, & when away. Install a programmable thermostat. Dry your clothes on an indoor or outdoor clothesline, weather permitting.
ELECTRICITY – Choose Green Energy such as wind power, if your utility offers it. The main culprits on your electric bill are appliances that primarily produce heat or cooling, computers and color TV’s. Use sparingly, and buy Energy Star models. Switch over to compact fluorescent bulbs! Consider replacing your refrigerator with a more efficient Energy Star model if it is over 10 years old. Plug electronics into power strips that can be shut off with a switch. The little lights and rapid warm-up features, or “phantom” energy use, could add another 1 - 5% or more to your bill. See the following article on this topic: http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/96/960715.html
HOW TO READ YOUR METERS
Reading the dials on an electric meter is similar
to reading the hands on a clock. When the time
is not quite 8 o’clock, you say the time is 7
“something” until the hour hand actually reaches
the 8. So too, when a hand on the dial of the meter is
between 7 and 8, we read “7” until the hand actually reaches
"8." Instead of having all hands on the same face,
each hand is on its own face. These meters have
dials that alternate directions between clockwise and
counter-clockwise. Be sure to note which way the
hands on your meter rotate. Some meter styles,
like many gas and water meters, are even simpler to
read, more like a car’s odometer.
Special thanks to Dave Spier, Ed Basye, Kathy Warner, Jim Tappon, Michael J. Hartman and Lore Rosenthal for their input.
Project H.O.U.S.E. Household Opportunity to Upgrade & Save the Environment
by Marjorie Campaigne © 2007
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