How
you address air pollution in your home can have a big effect on
the environment and on you and your family's health. The choices
you make at home affect the amount of pollution outside your home
as well as inside. Here is what you should do to pollute less and
all the while save some money.
- Use compact florescent lights with energy-efficiency lighting
and other energy-efficient appliances. To learn more about energy-efficient
appliances visit the Energy
Star web site.
- Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
- Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than
an oven.)
- Plant deciduous trees in locations around your home to provide
shade in the summer, but to allow light in the winter.
- Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard and aluminum
cans. (This conserves energy and reduces production emissions.)
- Reuse materials like paper bags and boxes when you can.
- Properly dispose of household paints, solvents and pesticides.
Store these materials in airtight containers. For information
on handling solid waste visit the Office of Solid Waste Concerned
Citizens webpage at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/citizens.htm
For questions about solid waste management call 1-800-424-9346.
- Paint with a brush, not a sprayer.
- Keep woodstoves and fireplaces well maintained.
- Purchase "Green Power" for you home's electricity. (Contact
your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
- Have leaky air conditioning and refrigeration systems repaired.
- Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
- Turn thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer.
- Insulate your home, water heater and pipes.
- Have air conditioning systems checked in the Spring and heating
systems checked in the Fall.
- Follow professional advise on how to check filters monthly.
These tips can save money from more serious repairs down the road
as well as insure cleaner air.
For additional information relating to air pollution at home, please
see these documents:
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