I have been looking at the suggested websites for this activity, and have seen several ideas that will reduce energy consumption. Some of these suggestions are things we are already doing, some would be easy to implement, and some would be difficult or very time consuming to try to do.
We already have a few compact fluorescent bulbs in our home and are considering moving to the using of these in more of our fixtures. The CFLs use much less electricity and last longer, but are more expensive to buy and must be recycled to avoid dangerous mercury poisoning. My fear is that many people will not recycle these, and therefore the resulting pollution will be of greater environmental impact than the savings in energy use. I have found out that local Home Depot stores accept these bulbs for recycling, so that overcomes one major obstacle for me. According to the calculator on the city of Houston site, using CFLs could save us about $16 per month on energy costs
We also already follow several other of the suggestions made. We have a new washer and dryer, purchased this year, that are Energy Star rated. We set our AC at 80 degrees in the summer and use ceiling fans. We have turned down the temperature on our hot water heater, rarely use the dishwasher, and change our AC filter regularly. We do not have a programmable theromstat, but we do adjust the thermostat when we leave the house or at bedtime. Our house seems to be pretty weather tight, but there might be improvements that can be made in some areas.
The Consumer Reports Mileage Tips are a good place to look for improvement. We do not regularly carry cargo on top of the car, and we do combine trips to minimize driving. My car has sensors that remind me when tire pressure drops too low, and my husband checks the tires regularly. A harder change to make is to reduce speed, especially when one is in a hurry. I will try to do that to save some gasoline.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
#41 Wellness: Going Green - Part 1
Activity 1
I have been looking at some of the energy calculators this evening and have found that the three websites listed vary greatly in the questions they ask, and the amount of detail they use in making their calculations. Also, since we have lived in our current house less than a year, it is difficult to calculate the average monthly usage. I could only use 6 months of data, which included the hottest months of the summer. Also, at least one of the sites lumped all SUVs in one group, and I am sure, calculated the energy use as very high. My small Toyota SUV, however, is fairly economical on fuel usage, and even the larger SUV my husband drives does better than many large SUVs and pickups. My husband and I seem to be about average in our consumption, according to the calculators given here.
As far as reducing our usage, I don't know how much more we can do. We have always limited unnecessary driving, combined trips, and tried to reduce our usage of electricity as much as possible. This includes regular maintenance on the vehicles, turning the thermostat to 80 degrees in summer and 70 in winter, regularly changing air conditioner filters, and otherwise trying not to be wasteful. I would like to recycle more, but there do not seem to be any places on this side of town to easily recycle plastics, glass, cans, etc. If one must drive a long distance to find a recycling location, the benefit is lost. We will continue to do the best we can.
Activity 2
I visited a farmer's market in Lufkin, TX with my mother-in-law a few years ago. I don't remember what we bought that day. I wish there were more convenient locations in our area for locally grown produce. The ones listed in the websites given are not on this side of town. I am interested in the new farmer's market in Humble, TX, but since it is only open on Wednesday morning, and I am always working at that time, I am not likely to be able to utilize it frequently. I might try to visit that one sometime when I am on vacation. I would definitely be interested in having a good farmer's market close to us.
I have been looking at some of the energy calculators this evening and have found that the three websites listed vary greatly in the questions they ask, and the amount of detail they use in making their calculations. Also, since we have lived in our current house less than a year, it is difficult to calculate the average monthly usage. I could only use 6 months of data, which included the hottest months of the summer. Also, at least one of the sites lumped all SUVs in one group, and I am sure, calculated the energy use as very high. My small Toyota SUV, however, is fairly economical on fuel usage, and even the larger SUV my husband drives does better than many large SUVs and pickups. My husband and I seem to be about average in our consumption, according to the calculators given here.
As far as reducing our usage, I don't know how much more we can do. We have always limited unnecessary driving, combined trips, and tried to reduce our usage of electricity as much as possible. This includes regular maintenance on the vehicles, turning the thermostat to 80 degrees in summer and 70 in winter, regularly changing air conditioner filters, and otherwise trying not to be wasteful. I would like to recycle more, but there do not seem to be any places on this side of town to easily recycle plastics, glass, cans, etc. If one must drive a long distance to find a recycling location, the benefit is lost. We will continue to do the best we can.
Activity 2
I visited a farmer's market in Lufkin, TX with my mother-in-law a few years ago. I don't remember what we bought that day. I wish there were more convenient locations in our area for locally grown produce. The ones listed in the websites given are not on this side of town. I am interested in the new farmer's market in Humble, TX, but since it is only open on Wednesday morning, and I am always working at that time, I am not likely to be able to utilize it frequently. I might try to visit that one sometime when I am on vacation. I would definitely be interested in having a good farmer's market close to us.
Friday, November 20, 2009
#40 Fitness
I have spent some time looking at all the suggested websites for this activity. As usual, I have been reminded of the need for regular exercise. All the suggested websites contained useful information. Mayo Clinic is always an authoritative source for information, and I liked the primusweb.com site, too.
I did fairly well at exercising regularly during the Live Healthy Challenge, but have slowed down recently for a number of reasons. I have started trying to walk more regularly in the last week or so. I know that I need to exercise, but it is just hard to find the time to do it. This assignment is a good reminder of the need to do so.
I don't know how much value is to be found in the Health Age Questionnaire. The calculator puts my life expectancy at 97.5 years. That is probably a bit optimistic. Some of the questions were a bit vague, and on some of the questions, none of the possible answers were correct for me. This would obviously influence the results of the survey. The calorie requirements calculator says I should be eating about 2000 calories per day. I'm not certain I am estimating my activity level correctly, so this also might not be accurate. My BMI showed about what I thought it would, but once again, the information gathered is incomplete. For instance, no allowance was made for bone structure or physical conditioning. The only variables were age. height and weight. In spite of that, the BMI score is probably the most accurate of the three.
This exercise is a good reminder of the need for exercise. The survey results were a bit surprising, but given the number of variables, should probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
I did fairly well at exercising regularly during the Live Healthy Challenge, but have slowed down recently for a number of reasons. I have started trying to walk more regularly in the last week or so. I know that I need to exercise, but it is just hard to find the time to do it. This assignment is a good reminder of the need to do so.
I don't know how much value is to be found in the Health Age Questionnaire. The calculator puts my life expectancy at 97.5 years. That is probably a bit optimistic. Some of the questions were a bit vague, and on some of the questions, none of the possible answers were correct for me. This would obviously influence the results of the survey. The calorie requirements calculator says I should be eating about 2000 calories per day. I'm not certain I am estimating my activity level correctly, so this also might not be accurate. My BMI showed about what I thought it would, but once again, the information gathered is incomplete. For instance, no allowance was made for bone structure or physical conditioning. The only variables were age. height and weight. In spite of that, the BMI score is probably the most accurate of the three.
This exercise is a good reminder of the need for exercise. The survey results were a bit surprising, but given the number of variables, should probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wellness #39: Nutrition
I spent quite a bit of time trying to use NutritionData.com, but didn't like the site very much. Maybe part of the problem was that our internet connection at the branch is running slowly right now. I tried to use the BMI and Daily Needs Calculator, but it would never respond, so I didn't get any information from that.
I was interested in the article about ways to cut salt intake since my husband and I are trying to do that right now. Most of the information was familiar to me, so I don't think I really gained any new information. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions.
I tried searching the nutrition information on different fast foods. I was disappointed that Jack-in-the-Box and Whataburger were not listed, since those are probably our most frequently visited fast food restaurants. I found that a single slice of Papa John's pizza is nearly the same in fat, calories, and sodium as a Dairy Queen Homestyle Hamburger. Since I always have more than one slice of pizza, I guess the hamburger would be a healthier option.
I went to the Recipes.Sparkpeople.com site and tried to post a recipe, but it didn't seem very user friendly. I tried to enter a Fresh Apple Cake recipe, with cooking oil as my first ingredient. My cake recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup cups oil, but the site wanted me to use only a whole number, as in 1 cup, 1 tablespoon, etc. I couldn't find a way to make it accept a fractional amount. I didn't have time to continue, so I came back to it later on my home computer. It seemed to be responding a little bit better, but it still would not allow me to enter fractions. I entered an approximation of a cream cheese dip recipe, then adjusted it to use fat free cream cheese and reduced fat cheddar. It made a little difference in the nutrition calculations. The full fat version had 230 calories per serving, but the reduced fat version had 204 calories. I question the accuracy of these numbers because I think the fat free cheese would cause more reduction in calories than that. Since it was not the accurate recipe anyway, it doesn't tell me very much. I'm not posting the recipe because the site wouldn't allow me to enter the recipe with the actual amounts the recipe requires.
I did not find these exercises or these web sites to be very useful to me. I might play with them a little bit more, but do not believe I will use either of these web sites regularly.
I was interested in the article about ways to cut salt intake since my husband and I are trying to do that right now. Most of the information was familiar to me, so I don't think I really gained any new information. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions.
I tried searching the nutrition information on different fast foods. I was disappointed that Jack-in-the-Box and Whataburger were not listed, since those are probably our most frequently visited fast food restaurants. I found that a single slice of Papa John's pizza is nearly the same in fat, calories, and sodium as a Dairy Queen Homestyle Hamburger. Since I always have more than one slice of pizza, I guess the hamburger would be a healthier option.
I went to the Recipes.Sparkpeople.com site and tried to post a recipe, but it didn't seem very user friendly. I tried to enter a Fresh Apple Cake recipe, with cooking oil as my first ingredient. My cake recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup cups oil, but the site wanted me to use only a whole number, as in 1 cup, 1 tablespoon, etc. I couldn't find a way to make it accept a fractional amount. I didn't have time to continue, so I came back to it later on my home computer. It seemed to be responding a little bit better, but it still would not allow me to enter fractions. I entered an approximation of a cream cheese dip recipe, then adjusted it to use fat free cream cheese and reduced fat cheddar. It made a little difference in the nutrition calculations. The full fat version had 230 calories per serving, but the reduced fat version had 204 calories. I question the accuracy of these numbers because I think the fat free cheese would cause more reduction in calories than that. Since it was not the accurate recipe anyway, it doesn't tell me very much. I'm not posting the recipe because the site wouldn't allow me to enter the recipe with the actual amounts the recipe requires.
I did not find these exercises or these web sites to be very useful to me. I might play with them a little bit more, but do not believe I will use either of these web sites regularly.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
#30 Spring Cleaning
I have finished cleaning my files on the P and Z drives. I did not have very many documents saved, but I cleaned out old timesheets and mileage forms for 2007 from the Z drive, and also deleted some files from the P drive. Some old Task Force and LPC documents from several years ago were also deleted. I had never saved anything to the S drive since I usually am not sending large files. I did copy my Monthly Branch Reports folder to the S drive, and then deleted it as directed in the ihcpl assignment. I found some old branch and children's narratives from 2001, which had been dumped into my Monthly Branch Reports folder, and I deleted those. I created a new folder for a file containing Crosby Library History, which had been filed in the wrong place. I believe this completes the requirements for this exercise.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
#29 Cleaning Email
I have finished cleaning my email. My inbox is empty and folders have been created to file needed information. I have checked the contents of the folders as well, to be sure the contents are still pertinent. I don't have many addresses in my address book, as I usually just look these up on Harriet as I need them. I plan to handle incoming email as I receive it, and delete or move to folders as needed. I will continue to do periodic reviews of my inbox and folder contents and clean as needed.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
#28 Spring Cleaning and GTD
The GTD article addresses an issue we all need to think about. It is always helpful to organize one's workflow and priorities. I don't think my job usually requires a system as complex as this one, since many tasks I have to do are regularly recurring jobs that must be done every day. There are useful thoughts included, however. The idea that we should handle items only once if possible is a useful one. I think email management is one of the easiest and most profitable places to apply these principles. I tend to accumulate many pages of emails in my inbox, which should be moved into folders or processed immediately. I am trying to work more efficently in this area by creating folders for information that I will need later, rather than keeping it in my inbox.
I also looked at Google calender and the other list-making sites, but don't wish to use these at this time. I already have a Yahoo account which includes a calendar feature. If I decide I need it, I would probably use that instead of opening a new account. When we had the calendar feature on Webmail, I did use it quite a bit, so maybe I will look at that possibility.
I also looked at Google calender and the other list-making sites, but don't wish to use these at this time. I already have a Yahoo account which includes a calendar feature. If I decide I need it, I would probably use that instead of opening a new account. When we had the calendar feature on Webmail, I did use it quite a bit, so maybe I will look at that possibility.
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