The Sun Bay Paper Page 3 January 7, 2022 - January 13, 2022 Take the time to measure how long you normally shower, then see if you can cut off about two minutes of shower time. Obviously, a shorter shower means less water is used, but simply cutting out two minutes can save 10 gallons of water. Multiply that by 365 days, and that’s over 3,650 gallons of water saved per year. Multiply that by the number of people in your household, and it really adds up to significant savings in water. Start off with one minute and work your way up to two! One-pot cooking is easy, moneysaving and an eco-friendly way to prepare a home-cooked meal. If you have a rice cooker at home, you can do more than just cook rice in it. Many rice cookers have different settings for slow and even cooking, which is perfect for stews, oatmeal, soup and lots of other grains in addition to rice. Using a countertop kitchen appliance like a rice cooker, crockpot, pressure cooker or newer ‘Insta Pots’ can actually save about 70 percent in energy usage compared to conventional ways of cooking! If you do just one thing this spring, spend $100 and plant a shade tree in your front yard. This one thing can help your curb appeal and landscaping look better over time, but it also cuts down on cooling costs during the hot summer months. Spending a little more on a mature tree to plant will mean you’ll recoup your costs more quickly. A mature shade tree can cut your air conditioning costs by as much as 40 percent. And every home looks better with a large, beautiful tree in the front yard! Shave Off a Minute The New Pot A Little Shady Sure, it’s great to upgrade your heating and cooling systems at home to be kind to the environment and reduce your utility bills. But those investments can actually improve the resale value of your home, too? According to the trade magazine Remodeling, every $1 in annual energy savings your improvements provide equals up to $20 in home value at the time of sale. For a typical-sized home of around 2,000 square feet, that can be more than $30,000 in added value. The lower the costs to operate a home, the more valuable the home becomes to potential buyers. Rewarding Upgrade Those little disposable hand warmers that are activated by exposure to air may not be recyclable or rechargeable, but there is a use for them after they’ve given you some warmth. While the hand warmers may be non-toxic, they sadly are disposable. Before tossing your hand warmers into the trash, consider using them to deodorize the inside of your shoes. One of the main ingredients in the warmers is activated carbon, which is also a natural deodorizer. And since the mesh pouches let air through, the carbon can easily absorb odor. Warmers Who knew that hours of online video game playing could actually be used to raise money for a great cause? The organization Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world and raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Much like the runners in charity marathons, gamers sign up sponsors for tournaments and turn their play into fundraising. To date, over $30 million has been raised to help children in need all over the country. To learn more (and play!), visit extralife.org. Gaming Miracle Over $16 billion is spent during the holiday season on gifts that go unwanted, with the majority of them ending up right in the trash. Charitable organizations like Goodwill, Salvation Army and local charity shops would like nothing more than your unwanted gifts. The reason is simple: You received unwanted gifts in perfect condition, and they can resell those items at a discount and support their good works. New products sell at a premium and more quickly at charity shops. Also consider animal shelters, senior citizen centers, schools, libraries, churches and homeless shelters as places to give. Bonus: It’s also taxdeductible. Danny Seo Deductable
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