Frequently Asked Questions - Energy Sustainability Advisory Committee
Energy sustainability and conservation
Q: If I already know ways to improve my homes energy, should I start doing them soon, instead of spending extra money on an energy audit?A: A good home energy audit will identify and prioritize all the main energy upgrades for your home.
The disadvantage of installing major energy upgrades before an energy audit is that you may spend all your available funds on the “long payback” installations and miss the most financially beneficial energy upgrades.
For example, frequently homeowners like to first install new windows and solar electric panels, yet miss the best investments, such as better insulations, house air sealing and heating/cooling system upgrades.
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Q: If I have no problem paying my home energy and car gas bills, why should I spend my limited time and money on my energy efficiency?A: First, many energy efficiency improvements provide an excellent Return On Investment, as compared to what a bank or dubious stock may yield. Second, the price of electricity, natural gas and gasoline is only a small part of the full cost to our society and environment.
These “external” costs are usually much greater than the dollar price you pay for energy, even though the external cost are difficult to calculate. The threat of disruptive global climate change is only one of the severe costs to all of us, especially our children/descendents. Also very costly to us and our health is the pollution for fossil fuel combustion, the destruction of mountains and other land from mining, the military conflicts and expenses to protect our increasing dependence on gas and oil, and the financial drain of our towns and country paying for foreign oil, … to name a few. Thus improving your energy efficiency (and renewable energy) is much more that just a good financial payback on the monthly energy bills
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Q: Should I shut off the motor when I'm idling my car?A:
Here's the rule of thumb: If you're in a drive-through restaurant/business line or waiting for someone and you'll be parked and sitting for 10 seconds or longer...turn off your car's engine. Why?
For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile. Research indicates that the average person idles their car five to 10 minutes a day. People usually idle their cars more in the winter than in the summer. But even in winter, you don't need to let your car sit and idle for five minutes to "warm it up" when 30 seconds will do just fine.
But you're not going anywhere. Idling gets ZERO miles per gallon.
The recommendation is: If you are going to be parked for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine. Ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it. And when you start your engine, don't step down on the accelerator, just simply turn the key to start.
Here are some other myths associated with idling:
Myth #1: The engine should be warmed up before driving: Reality: Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. With today's modern engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before driving.
Myth #2: Idling is good for your engine. Reality: Excessive idling can actually damage yoru engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption.
Myth #3: Shutting off and restarting yoru vehicle is hard on the engine and uses more gas than if you leave it running. Reality: Frequent restarting has little impact on engine components like the battery and the starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving - money that will likely be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling. The bottom line is that more than ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine.
From the California Energy Commission's Consumer Energy Center
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Q: Why is it important to safely dispose of my unused medications? And where can I dispose of my unused medications?A: 1) Unused medications may fall into the hands of small children and cause accidental poisoning.
2) Older children and teens may be tempted to experiment with easily available medications, causing harm to themselves or their friends.
3) Flushing or trash disposal of unused and unwanted medications can cause pollution of lakes, streams and water supplies.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Take-Back Project provides locations throughout Colorado where you can drop off unused medications in secure boxes. Medications will then be burned in a hazardous waste incinerator for the highest degree of environmental protection. In Boulder County, there is a Take-Back box at the King Soopers at 1650 30th Street, Boulder. For more information, to find other box locations, and to see a list of Take-Back project sponsors, go to www.coloradomedtakeback.info.
If you’re not able to visit one of the Take-Back boxes, do not flush your medications down the toilet or drain. Proper trash disposal of medications in your next best option by following the steps below (the same steps should be followed for the disposal of narcotics and other controlled substances):
1) Take the mediations out of their containers. Mix them with an undesirable substance like kitty litter or used coffee grounds.
2) Conceal or remove personal information, including Rx number, on the empty medicine containers by covering it with black permanent marker or by scratching it off. 3) Wrap the medication mixture and the empty containers in newspaper to help conceal them from children and pets and place them in the trash.
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Q: My neighbor uses chemical pesticides on his lawn regularly while I have an organic vegetable garden. I'm pretty certain his pesticides are damaging my vegetables and making them less healty. What can I do about this?A: The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), Division of Plant Industry, regulates all pesticide use in the state of Colorado under The Pesticide Applicators’ Act (PAA), Title 35, Article 10. Pesticides would include applications of insecticides (for ants and spiders), herbicides (weed and feed, 2,4-D or Roundup), rodenticides (mouse control products), etc.
If you suspect a misapplication of a pesticide has occurred you can contact CDA by calling 303-239-4151 and speak with the CDA’s Pesticide Enforcement Specialist regarding your concerns and request the department to investigate the issue. If a violation of the PAA occurred, the CDA has the authority to issue enforcement actions against the applicator that range from a warning letter to civil penalties up to $1000 per violation.
If you would like more information regarding the PAA or have questions regarding the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Pesticides Program you can access the CDA’s webpage by clicking on the following links.
Main page:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1178305424099
Link to Lexis Nexis to access the PAA Title 35, Article 10:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1167928355745&pagename=Agriculture-Main%2FCDAGLayout
Pesticides Program contact information:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Agriculture-Main%2FCDAGLayout&cid=1167928365762&p=1167928365762&pagename=CDAGWrapper#PestApp
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Q: What does energy sustainability mean for communities?A: Energy sustainability is using energy in the most efficient and economical way so we can meet our current and future energy needs. Being efficient with our energy reduces the costs of our household and business energy needs, reduces the amount of energy we need to produce, and minimizes our communities contribution to emissions related to greenhouse pollution.
Sustainable energy is not just about using renewable energy technologies, but it’s also about using energy wisely with energy efficiency measures, and reducing the waste that we generate.
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