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Techniques to reduce indoor air pollution

We all spend a lot of time indoors, whether it is in our own Tri-Valley homes or at our place of business.  Most people don’t realize that often the air inside our home could be more of a problem that the air we are breathing outdoors.  This is especially true during the winter time when opening your windows becomes more of an infrequent event.

An article by Consumer Reports magazine, goes on to list a variety of sources that cause indoor air pollution and ways to reduce their negative impact. I have listed some of those below from the article.

Problem Sources:

• The fireplace
• Air fresheners
• A shedding cat or dog
• Dusty furniture
• Aerosol spray
• Dust mites in bedding
• A poorly ventilated kitchen range

Solutions:

• To discourage dust mites, encase your pillows, mattresses, and box springs in dust-mite-proof covers. Wash very dirty or dusty laundry in the hottest water.
• Ventilate - Cooking, cleaning, using hair spray, and polishing your nails can release volatile organic compounds that are linked to a variety of health problems. Use exhaust hoods or fans in the kitchen and bathroom to reduce your exposure and minimize humidity that can cause mold and mildew. Before you use your fireplace, make sure the flue damper is wide open. Poor ventilation can allow pollutants to stay in the air.
• Eliminate Odors - Find the source of bad smells and clean it up. Using a box of baking soda in the area instead of air fresheners makes more sense.  Air fresheners cost more and can contain VOCs and phthalates.
• Clean Effectively - Because dust can harbor pollen, pet dander, bacteria, mites, mold, and mildew, dust furnishings regularly with a damp rag or an electrostatically charged duster. Vacuum often.
• Control Pets and Critters - Seal cracks and crevices and put food away. You’ll be less apt to attract pests and need to use pesticides. To minimize your exposure to pet dander, don’t allow pets to hang around slleping areas and on furniture.

Food Scraps in the Green Waste Cart for locations in the Tri-Valley?

According to a recent flyer, if you are serviced by Valley Waste Management, customers can now place food scraps and food-soiled paper products in their Green Waste cart.  This is a change, since, for a long time now we’ve been only placing plant material in the green cart.

What’s acceptable in your Green Waste cart (according to the recent flyer from Waste Management):

• Anything edible
• Coffee grounds, filters, and tea bags
• Fruit and vegetable peels and pits
• Food-soiled paper products: cups, plates, napkins, paper towels, pizza boxes, waxed ice cream, milk and juice cartons, grocery bags and newspaper used as pail liners
• Green waste: plant clippings, leaves and grass, branches and twigs
• Uncoated wood: no paint, stain or varnish

There should be NO plastic or styrofoam placed in your Green Waste cart!

If you are a Valley Waste Management customer, you can recycle your food scraps and food-soiled paper in 3 steps:

1. Collect acceptable items in a re-usable kitchen container or in a compostable container, like a brown paper bag or ice cream carton.
2. Place acceptable items in your Green Waste cart with your yard trimmings.  Make sure your cart lid closes completely.
3. Set out your Green Waste cart for your weekly pick-up. 

A Day at the New California Academy of Sciences

On a recent stormy Saturday, my family and I met up with my uncle and cousin to explore the newly reopened California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  We were all very excited and had read up on the many awe-inspiring experiences the new Academy has to offer.  Here are a few that we were looking forward to:

• The world’s deepest living coral reef exhibit
• A four-story rainforest
• A 20 member African penguin colony
• A 21^st Century planetarium
• A reinvented natural history museum
• The living roof

My uncle had heard that the museum gets very crowded (and may even sell out) and to buy our tickets online before we got there.  This route is highly recommended!  It is so easy and really saved the day for us.  The line to purchase tickets was pretty long (even the parking garage was extremely crowded that day), but we simply went up to the employee standing at a podium who was able to print our tickets for us at the steps.  We didn’t have to wait in line at all and just walked right up to the ticket-taker. 

The museum was so full, but we managed our way through a lot of their amazing exhibits.  The kids very much enjoyed the Philippine Coral Reef and the many smaller free-standing exhibits, including Altered State: Climate Change in California.  A big-time hit with both my daughter and son was Read more

Contra Costa County’s First LEED Certified Homes are Located in Danville

Here is something great to pass along to your environmentally conscious friends who are in the market for a luxury home.  Hansen Lane Estates, built by Clarum Homes, is the first housing subdivision in Contra Costa County to be recognized as LEED certified.

Most of you are probably asking what makes something LEED certified.  LEED certified, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a strict set of standards used in the construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The U.S. Green Building Council recognizes performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Danville’s Hansen Lane Estates subdivision incorporates all those key areas.  Not only is Hansen Lane Estates a zero-energy community, but more specifically, some of the eco-friendly features in the homes are solar power, solar hot water heaters, special heating and cooling systems and web-based irrigation controllers. 

I should tell you that these homes do not come cheap.  The subdivision boasts ten luxury homes in the $2 million range.  One perk of note, however is that on the website it reveals the homes come with a Prius!  The model is open Thursday-Sunday, 11-5PM at 20 Rhett Place, Danville.

San Ramon Program Helps Recycle Plastic Bags Curbside

Have you ever considered how many plastic bags you use and then dispose of during the year?  If you are like most people the number is too many.  Also, you probably don’t realize that plastic bags are made from costly, nonrenewable oil resources, and they are a direct threat to wildlife if not properly disposed. 

As an EcoBroker, I happily report any potential solutions that could eliminate stress on the environment.  Recently, I read a circular from Valley Waste Management that offered potential solutions for San Ramon residents in dealing with plastic bags.

The first solution is that Valley Waste Management has started a program, Bag-a-Bag, that makes it easy for San Ramon residents to recycle plastic bags. If you live in the communities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and Danville contact your local Waste Management company to see if they have a similar program.  The steps are easy.  Just collect all the acceptable plastic items in one plastic grocery bag and tightly tie a knot in the bag.  The tied grocery bag should then be placed in your Recycling cart before closing the lid.  These plastic bag bundles will be transferred to a facility where sorters segregate the bundles. These bundles are then sold to companies that remanufacture them into numerous products. Read more