Today's Energy Insight

The school year is winding down so here are some thoughts as you prepare for the end of the year...

As you go through supplies and clean out drawers and spaces of unused items or almost depleted supplies, you are doing the first 'R': Reduce. Next, think of these three 'R's: Reuse, Recycle and Re-purpose.

More and more items are being accepted for recycling so before you toss it, see if you can recycle it. Also see if your trash might possibly be someone else's treasure. The Education Service Center has a table in the staff lunch room where people can place unwanted items like file folders, office supplies, books and much more for others to use or re-purpose. So remember the 4 Rs: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and RE-PURPOSE!

Today's Energy Insight

Kilowatt Quiz

A kilowatt-hour is the energy needed to light a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours. How many kilowatt-hours do you think most U.S. homes use every month?

     A) 93  B) 938  C) 9,380  or  D) 93,800?

      Scroll down for the answer...

If you guessed B you are correct.

The average home in our country uses 938 kilowatts per month.

Today's Energy Insight

Every ton of paper recycled saves enough energy to...

A)  Run a 60 watt light bulb for 24 hours
B)  Light up Target Field for 3 night games
C)  Power an electric car for one month
D)  Heat and air condition the average North American home for 6 months


Bonus Question:
Recycling just one ton of paper saves how many 35-foot trees?

Scroll down for the answers...

The correct answer is D and the bonus answer is 17!

Today's Energy Insight

Americans discard enough office paper every year to…

A)  Fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools

B)  Completely cover the Mall of America and the new Vikings stadium

C)  Make a pile of paper the size of the Empire State Building

D)  Build a 12 foot high wall of paper from New York to California

(Americans get rid of 4 million tons of office paper a year, that’s enough to build a 12 foot wall of paper from New York to California!)

Today's Energy Insight

Which single technology in the list below can provide our society with a seamless transition to cheap, safe and carbon-free energy?

A)  Electric Cars

B)  Solar Power

C)  Hydrogen Fuel Cells

E)  Natural Gas

F)  Wind Turbines

This is a bit of a trick question, the answer is none of the above. There is no single "silver bullet" technology that will give us a simple transition to carbon-free energy for home heating, transportation, manufacturing and other large uses of energy. Every source of energy has its drawbacks and benefits, and a transition to new forms of energy will involve many different technologies, along with improvements in efficiency and changes in infrastructure.

Today's Energy Insight

A student at SEA recently asked the following question…

“What is the leading cause of preventable energy waste?”

Good question!

According to a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, home electronics such as TVs, DVD players, cable boxes, computers, game consoles (even when idle) and phone or electronic gadget chargers (especially when still plugged in and detached from the device) account for 5 % of the total of domestic energy consumption. If this equipment were plugged into power strips that were turned off when not in use, we could reduce our annual energy costs by more than $3 billion & carbon emissions by 18 million tons.

Wow, that is A LOT of preventable energy waste!

Today's Energy Insight

This Friday April 29th is Arbor Day. Check out this great tree planting guide from the Arbor Day Foundation:

The Right Tree in the Right Place

A healthy community forest begins with careful planning. With a little research and a simple layout, you can produce a landscape that will cool your home in summer and tame the winter winds. Your well-planned yard will contain trees that grow well in the soil and moisture of your neighborhood. Your trees will be properly placed to avoid collisions with power lines and buildings, and the aesthetics will increase your property value.

A proper landscape plan takes each tree into consideration:

• Height. Will the tree bump into anything when it is fully grown? [sizing guide]
• Canopy spread. How wide will the tree grow?
• Is the tree deciduous or coniferous? (Will it lose its leaves in the winter?)
• Form or shape. A columnar tree will grow in less space. Round and V-Shaped species provide the most shade. [shape guide]
• Growth rate. How long will it take for your tree to reach its full height? Slow growing species typically live longer than fast growing species.
• Soil, sun, and moisture requirements.
• Fruit. No one wants messy droppings on busy sidewalks.
• Hardiness zone indicates the temperature extremes in which a tree can be expected to grow. For the purposes of this quiz hardiness zone considerations have been disregarded. Check with your community's tree board or forestry department or a local county cooperative extension agent for a list of trees suitable for planting in your specific hardiness zone.