FOXeMilwaukee's Blog

Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day, and the FOXe Energy Team at FOX 6 wants to share some energy-saving tips.

Do you have ripped or stained clothes that aren’t appropriate for donation to Goodwill or the Salvation Army? Don’t throw them away – RECYCLE them!

U'SAgain has collection boxes (look for the red bins) at the following locations:

• Clark Gas Station – 4751 N. Santa Monica Blvd.
• Lena’s Supermarket – East Capitol Dr.

Call 1-800-604-9533 for locations near you.

Natural Cleaners offers dry cleaning that is good for you, your clothes and the environment. There are five Milwaukee Area locations. Learn more at: www.naturalcleaners.com. They also collect dry cleaning bags and hangers for recycling.

From 5 – 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Whole Foods is sponsoring a TOXIC TRADE-IN day. Trade in your conventional cleaner for a FREE bottle of Naturally Clean eco-friendly cleaner. Note: One per customer.

Many grocery stores – including whole foods – will give you a credit if you bring your own bags. Why? It takes 430,000 gallons of crude oil to produce 100 million plastic bags…which takes 1,000 years to decompose.

If you have plastic bags, take them to places like Kohls or Pick ‘n’ Save that have collection boxes.

Improper disposal of batteries can lead to contamination of soil and ground water. Recycling transforms them into new products ranging from wheel weights to chrome vehicle bumpers.

Batteries Plus recycles batteries in an environmentally safe, permitted and inspected facilities. Go to www.batteriesplus.com for a location near you.

In celebration of Earth Day, Starbucks is joining with Conservation International to help plant trees in the growing communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Visit your neighborhood Starbucks anytime on April 22 and for each purchase made with a Starbucks Card that day, Starbucks will donate 5 cents to plant trees in Chiapas. Click here for more information.

Milwaukee has participated in the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program since 2004. The city collects used athletic shoes at locations across the metro area. The shoes are then sent to Nike and recycled into three separate materials. The materials are used in new sports surfaces (playgrounds, basketball courts, running tracks). For more information, click here.

Buy local! Why? Local produce not only tastes better – it’s also better for you. To learn more about buying local produce, go to Farm Fresh Atlas of Southeast Wisconsin.

Stay tuned for more earth-friendly tips from the FOXe Milwaukee Team.

Have some more tips you’d like to share? Post a comment to this blog.

The Big Green Bus -- Promoting Sustainable Energy
 August 18 from 9:00 - 4:30 - Free

Visit the Big Green Bus as it stops here at Discovery World as part of its national tour promoting the use of sustainable energy through education and example. On a bus converted to run on waste vegetable oil, a group of Dartmouth University students are traveling around the country fostering awareness about current global energy issues and creating dialogue about tangible solutions to those problems. Visit their website at: www.thebiggreenbus.org.

Thanks to wfbdoglover for passing along this FOXe event! 

If you want to use cleaning products that are eco-friendly, but don't like the higher prices, you can get great results using items you may already have in the house!

Vinegar--mix equal parts vinegar & water to use as a cleaner that disinfects and deoderizes!  (the vinegar-y smell goes away as it dries--don't worry--your home won't smell like a salad!) 

TIP--pour vinegar in the toilet after you flush & the water level goes down and  scrub that water line away.

TIP--if you have stains in your stainless steel sink, use vinegar on them.  Rinse well & dry.

Lemon juice--Mix lemon with baking soda to make a cleaning paste.  The baking soda is a natural, safe abrasive.  Use to scrub dishes, surfaces, stains--don't use on marble or tile grout, though!

TIP--mix 1 cup olive oil with half cup lemon juice for a natural, effective furniture polish!

Terrie/Fox e team, WITI

Did you know...about 90% of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating the water?

There are two ways to reduce the amount of energy used for washing clothes— just use less water and make sure you use cooler water. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “unless you're dealing with oily stains, the warm or cold water setting on your machine will generally do a good job of cleaning your clothes.” Simply switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut a load's energy use in half. That is AMAZING!

Here are some more ways you can reduce the CO2 created by your laundry:

• Do a few big loads instead of many smaller ones
• Dry your laundry on a clothesline
• Dry towels and heavier fabrics in a separate load from lighter-weight clothes
• Clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load to improve air circulation
• Use the cool-down cycle to allow the clothes to finish drying with the residual heat in the dryer

For more tips or information, check out the EERE Energy Savers Website.

-Amy Kant
MyFoxMilwaukee Web Producer

...you can save more than a ton of CO2 per year by:

• accelerating slowly and smoothly
• driving the speed limit
• maintaining a steady speed
• anticipating your stops and starts
  

Here are some more energy-saving tips when it comes to your automobile:

Maintenance - Keep your car tuned up and running efficiently. Don't forget to replace your air, oil and fuel filters as recommended.
Tires - Keep your tires properly inflated (just this can save 400-700 pounds of CO2 per year!). 
Make your next car a super efficient one (41+ MPG). 
Household fuel efficiency - If your household has two cars and one is used mostly for commuting, make the commuting car a real gas sipper. 
Downsize - Get rid of your car altogether.  Impossible?  Read How to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Chris Balish and it won’t seem so.

Find these tips and more at CarbonFund.org!

 -Amy

 

A major pet peeve of mine... 

 ...plastic garbage bags!  

I can't think of anything good about them.  They are too small. They rip. They're seen around town in trees, against fences, flying across roads.  They empty themselves all over the trunk of my car.  It takes twice as many plastic bags as paper bags to hold the same amount of groceries.  When I say 'paper' the bagger usually seems bothered.  

My son was a bagger for a while and confirmed my suspicion...that baggers like plastic better because it's 'easier.'  Oh well. For me it's paper all the way! KTmke

Today FOX Television Stations across the country are launching FOXe, the FOX Energy Team.

What does that mean for you? Everyone who tunes into a FOX station or uses our MyFox Web sites (like MyFoxMilwaukee.com) will find a central landing place for all news and community reports about how you can save money by conserving your use of energy.

Your local FOXe Energy Team here in Milwaukee will be here to deliver news stories, public service announcements and short information tidbits all directed to give you solutions to the growing energy problems we all face each day in our community.

Stay tuned for the launch of our new FOXe Energy Team Web page, along with much more!

While you wait, why not check out the FOXe stories from right here in Milwaukee? Click here for our Milwaukee FOXe stories index.