Paxton Il is Going Green

Paxton, Illinois

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Helping the environment is more than just recycling your aluminum cans. There is MUCH MORE we can all do and not only is it easy it can “SAVE YOU MONEY” as well. In addition being earth friendly does not have to be complicated, if we all just Reduce Re-use and Recycle we can improve our environment. For more articles on the more complicated environmental issues check out our blog page here. Meanwhile here are some simple everyday things you can do around your home and office. just always remember Reduce, Re-use, & Recycle...


	Reducing our usage of Electricity, natural gas, propane, gasoline is one of the best ways to protect our environment and as mentioned earlier can save you money to use on other more enjoyable things. None of us enjoy high utility bills and we can reduce them.


	Electrical

		Energy efficient Light Bulbs: We’ve all seen those wierd looking light bulbs at just about every store we go to, and they seem to be more expensive than regular light bulbs, so many of us ( yes me too) continue to buy the regular Bulbs. Well, I finally decided to try the New bulbs and I was quite surprised. We switched over to the New bulbs in October 2008. In Nov. there was an aprx. $6 reduction in Our electric bill. In December it was aprx. $ 9. Jan was $8, Feb. $7, and Mar was $8. Please understand that these ARE ESTIMATES. But the bottom line is that our electric bill went down... an average of $8 per month. I spent aprx $36 Dollars for all the new bulbs, so they have paid for themselves and I have thus far not needed to replace any, ( not even in our kitchen which really goes through bulbs) Also you can NOW get these New energy efficient Bulbs in Many different styles and wattages. In fact you can also order these from your Electric Company, And last but far from least, these bulbs can be recycled. Contact your electric company for all the details

Dimmer Switches; Using dimmer switches in your home can really reduce the amount of electricity you use on a daily basis. The beauty of it is that you can have the brighter lighting when you need it, and the softer lighting when you don’t. These are great in every room of the house.

3 Way lamps; Most lamps manufactured in the last several years have the ability to handle 3 level lighting. If you use the appropriate 3 way bulb you can have soft, medium, or bright light simply by turning the switch on the lamp. These are another way to save on your lighting expenses.

Appliances;

Wind Energy: Wind Farms are becoming more and more common and even more controversial. If you want to use wind generated energy you can log into/ create your Ameren User account and find more info The url for Ameren is http://www.ameren.com/ The url for Bluestar Energy is http://www.bluestarenergy.com/. To learn more about how Wind energy works and the controversy check out our blog page and back here soon for updated information.


	Solar energy: Although Solar panels are still fairly expensive they are gaining in popularity and thus becoming more affordable.


	Water Usage: There are several ways we can all pitch in to reduce our water consumption. Fix leaky faucets, Shave 1-2 minutes off our shower time, Toilet bowls, Make sure that our toilet bowl tanks are set to use the minimum amount of water needed. If you have an older toilet and can’t afford to replace it, you can reset the float inside the tank to reduce the amount of water going into the tank. Wash machines, If you have a machine that has the load setting for small medium, large loads be sure to set it accordingly. If you don’t have these settings on your machine, make sure you are washing FULL loads “OR” manually turn the knob when you have enough water in the tank to wash the smaller loads. Lawn and Garden, One way to save LOTS of water is to RECLAIM some using a 55 gal Barrels and attaching it to your gutter downspout. Rain water fills the Barrel and you can use this water for your lawn and garden areas, and you can also use it to wash the car and driveway. This type of system can be built for aprx. $20-$30.

	Gasoline, most all of us drive to nearby towns for one reason or another and maybe we just don’t realize how fast we are going or maybe were in a hurry. But consider this, if you drive 60 mph to a nearby town 10 miles away it will take you aprx. 10 minutes. If you drive at 70 mph it will take you aprx 8 minutes. Do we really need to shave 2 minutes off our time??? Is it worth the extra gas consumption, the ticket?? Also you can get better mileage by keeping your vehicle tuned up and regular oil changes, Check your tires regularly for proper inflation. What’s in the trunk? less weight means less work for the engine and thus less fuel consumption. If it isn’t needed why carry it around.Do you really need to drive? There are many times when we truly NEED to take the car. But if we don’t why not walk or bicycle. I have noticed more and more folks in town who have taken up bicycling during the warm weather. It’s actually fun and good exercise.

	Re-use items that you might normally throw away. We throw away many items that can easily be re used for other purposes. Plastic containers, coffee cans, Glass jars, boxes. plastic bags. Here are some examples of how we re-use these items. We use all the plastic bags we get from DG and IGA as garbage bags in the bathroom and other areas of the house where we have small garbage containers. We also use the empty plastic Coffee containers for Storage, Painting, and Salt containers during the winter months. They make good starter pots.

Recycling is now easier than ever. Paxton Has it’s own recycling center This service is a joint effort of The City of Paxton and Central Illinois Disposal & Recycling. The Recycling Center is located at 1190 N. Market st. just north of Redi-Mix Concrete. In addition there is pick up service available. you can find out more by stopping by or calling 217-379-3309 The hours are Tuesday & Thursday 8-Noon, Friday 1pm-3pm Saturday 10:00 am- 12:00pm

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