EcolocityDC

As people who love having new things, most all of us end up with a lot of waste on any given day. We throw a lot of items away that could be used for other things. Our waste fills up the landfills and if you think about it; its unnecessary. We should all work hard to minimize waste and there are a lot of tips and tricks for how you can implement sustainable efforts for every home into your home.

The Basics

One of the easiest ways that you can produce less waste is to recycle the items that you cannot avoid using. For instance, soda bottles can be recycled so that you get the soda and less waste. Instead of always eating canned foods, you could eat fresh vegetables. If you do not want to eat fresh vegetables, find a way to recycle the cans. Use them around your home as pencil holders or in your workshop to hold small bolts and things. You buy the canned foods and then avoid buying small bowls and stuff.

Recycle and Upcycle

Upcycling is a great way to lessen your waste. It is the act of taking something old and recreating it to turn it into something new and wonderful. When you have a piece of furniture that you no longer want, give it to someone who may need it. Even if it isn’t exactly what they want, they can change it to make it something that works for them. If you are in need of a new dresser, you can find someone who doesn’t want theirs. You can then take your old dresser that you no longer want and turn it into something completely different. You may turn an old dresser into an entertainment stand or a book shelf and put it where you may need it the most. By upcycling, you can turn anything into something great again, if not for your home then for someone else’s. You can even take an old interior door and upcycle it to create a counter or bar top. To see how this is possible, you can check out Epoxy Countertop DIY’s bar top post.

Trade UP

Perhaps you and a group of neighbors and friends can get together with all of the old furniture that no one wants in their home and trade up. You can get a piece of furniture from your neighbor and either love it as it is or recreate it and make it something you will love. Most upcycling and recycling projects are easy to do. You simply have to have a vision in mind and then let your creativity flow. It makes it possible for you to go to a yard sale or trade with friends so that you spend very little money and end up with a new furniture item that could have cost you hundreds of dollars. Which sounds better to you? Are you creative enough to get started saving and recycling? Most people are.

Those who worry about protecting the environment live by the three Rs, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. However, even those people have issues sometimes when it comes to discarding certain items. For example they may not know how to get rid of electronics properly. The thing is, one of the hardest things, even harder than electronics, are batteries. However, batteries of all kinds are filling up the landfills. Do you know the environmental impact of marine batteries that are simply tossed away?

Why Marine Batteries are Rough to Toss

Batteries are something that fills up landfills almost as much as electronics. They take up a lot of space and they are not something that will eventually decompose. Once they are in the landfill, they are there to stay. However, not many people want to keep old, worn out batteries around their home for the same reason our landfills don’t want them. They would take up space in your yard or your garage. Over time, if you have a lot of vehicles along with a boat, RV, ATV, and other battery powered things, you will quickly find you have a stockpile of batteries that no longer hold a charge. If you think about everyone in your local area tossing their batteries into your yard; you can see it wouldn’t take long for the pile to grow even more. That is a problem for our local landfills. Luckily, there are better ways to deal with those dead batteries.

Recycling Old Batteries

Batteries are filled with toxic materials that may at some point leak out into the environment. This poses an even bigger concern than the space that they may take up. Therefore, if you have a battery that no longer performs the way that you want for it to; you will be doing everyone a favor by recycling it. There are numerous areas that take old batteries. In most cases, it is free to do and you will not have to worry about coming into contact with the stuff that is inside of it. It is also important that you avoid touching any areas of the battery that may have already become corroded. If you prefer to not have to deal with that; you do have other options and they are even better than recycling.

Recycle or Upgrade Your Batteries

It is possible for you to purchase a battery that is going to last much longer. Instead of going cheap, why not pay a little more for one that will last much longer? There are marine batteries like the ones on Discount Marine Batteries that will allow you to not have to worry about whether to toss or recycle for a while. It also ensures that you do not have to take it to a store that will recycle them. The reason this is good is because even the companies that recycle batteries still have to deal with the stuff that is inside of them. They are still contaminates that you, nor anyone else, will have to deal with and all it takes is spending a few dollars more to get a quality battery. Which do you really think is best?

 

With the threat of global warming becoming worse and all of the pollutions that are in our air constantly increasing; there is a never-ending need for people to care about their environment. However, caring is not the only part of it. You have to strive to live in a way that is more environmentally friendly. That is why we are searching for options to make our life friendlier and we want to share some of our experiences with you. Such as all the things that we have done in trying to do our part to conserve water.

Why Water Conservation Helps the Environment

Each year, we hear on the news that the water table is dropping because of droughts and many other things. Then, with growing families who enjoy long showers and drippy faucets that leak out gallons of water per day, it should not come as a surprise that we contribute to the overall water shortages in our world. Isn’t it time that we start thinking about the water supply our future generations will have access to? Without water, we cease to exist. Without water, plants, animals, and humanity will become extinguished. Do you want to see that happen to your great, great grandkids? Or their children? The time to change it starts today and luckily, there are companies that agree with our growing desire to preserve water.

How Companies are Conserving Water

In the past, toilets and faucets that we had in our home could use several gallons of water each time that they were turned on. Flushing toilets would consume 6-7 gallons per flush and water from a shower head would be unrestricted to the point that it could drain about that much water per minute. We all took advantage of these powerful flushes and showers. We like the pressure that it provides and many of us were hesitant to turn the power down because we enjoyed it so much. The people who manufacturer shower heads and toilets as well as sink faucets understand that we love pressure, but need to start saving the water that we have. They adjusted accordingly.

Now, shower heads, like the ones seen on bathprofessor.com, can use as little as 1.5 gallons of water per minute and toilets will use about the same amount per flush. They lessened the necessary water, but put pressure behind it. This ensures that you will still have the powerful massaging shower that you want and the super clean toilet with every flush.

Put Water Conservation as a Top Priority in Your Home

By using the products that are available for today’s homes, you can immediately begin to cut back on your water usage. You can take showers and enjoy them to the fullest, without fear of what your future generations will have to deal with. You can have a powerful shower that massages your worries away or you can have a rain shower experience without wasting the water. These new products are affordable. They are easy to install to existing water supply lines. Can you come up with a reason to avoid doing your part to conserve water?

Zika is not a new virus, but it is relatively new in the states. It is a disease that is spread through mostly mosquito bites, but it can also be transmitted by sexual intercourse or from a mother to her unborn baby. This fact makes it very important that steps be taken to prevent Zika from spreading. It is recommended that pregnant women avoid contact with Zika areas and use caution when having sex with anyone who may have traveled to an area with Zika. The thing is, recommending people use caution, is not going to be enough to stop it from spreading. That is why many big cities are trying to put a stop to it by changing a few things. You can learn from them. Simply take a look at pest prevention in Washington and what they are doing to prevent Zika.

Put the Warning Out About Zika

It is important that everyone, whether you are pregnant or not, take notice of the Zika Virus. The symptoms are so minimal that you may not even know that you have it, but that does not mean you aren’t a carrier. Zika is spread mostly by the “Aedes” species of mosquito. They are the ones who are aggressive and bite during the daytime hours when people are outdoors the most. They may also be night biters. This means if you have been bitten by a mosquito, you could now be a carrier of Zika. That makes things difficult for anyone who is trying to avoid it, especially in large cities like Washington, where people are out at all hours of the day and night.

What Can Be Done about Zika Concerns?

In large cities, small cities, and rural areas, it is impossible to make people stay indoors at all times to prevent Zita from spreading. Therefore, it is very important that we learn about ways to protect ourselves when we venture out. You should use everything you know about mosquito control and larger cities are encouraging people to put it to use. You should wear long sleeves and pants if you are going to be outdoors. If this is not possible, you should spray on EPA-approved insect repellent. If you travel to an area that has Zika, avoid having unprotected sex with someone until you have been home for a couple weeks. Remove standing water, eliminate hiding spots, and if you can; put a propane mosquito trap in your yard.

Let’s Beat Zika

Zika doesn’t cause lasting damage to an adult or child that catches it. In fact, most people who get it once may never get it again. The illness symptoms are mild and most people who have even the worst symptoms, may simply not feel good for a week. The problem comes when you think about an unborn child. Their lives, before they are even born, can be changed forever by the Zika virus. Prevention is the key to success if you want to keep your community, your town, and your large cities free of Zika. It is recommended that you check out the top-selling, mosquito magnet review to see if it is truly something you can use to fight Zika. Doing so could prevent every woman in your area from catching and passing it on to their unborn child.

Since it was founded in 2008, Ecolocity has held some great events and made significant accomplishments.  Here are our favorites:

– Establishing a community garden at Bruce Monroe Park(Georgia Ave. at Columbia Rd. NW) that allows D.C. residents to grow their own fresh produce

– Establishing a forest garden at Emergence Community Arts Collective (733 Euclid St. NW) to demonstrate the viability of intensive urban agriculture in densely built neighborhoods. Planting began in fall 2011. …

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Save the date, clean out your closets, put up some preserves, bake goodies, harvest early lettuce … bring it all to our first community swap …

Going to pot on Memorial Day!
Potomac Potlatch
Monday May 25 2009, 1-7 pm
Emergence Community Arts Collective
733 Euclid Street NW, Washington DC 20001 …

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