Great Tree Canopy Comeback – Community Tree Planting Event:
This year 210 trees will be planted at Kreager, Jehl, McMillen, and Shoaff Parks in Fort Wayne, and Havenhurst Park in New Haven. Show up at any of these parks at 10am on Saturday and help out.
Two hundred and fifteen trees were planted in the following parks: Vesy, McCormick/Rea, Gren, Waynedale, and Lions in 2006. A single mature tree can absorb up to 48 lbs/year of CO2 from the environment. For the 210 trees to be planted in 2007, that means an additional 5 tons of CO2/year will be absorbed and stored as cellulose in the trees.
These trees will also help to remove other pollutants from the environment such as sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. Trees also produce oxygen, reduce topsoil erosion, prevent contaminants from entering waterways, and slow water run-off.
Dripping faucets can waste as much as 150 gallons of water per month! Repair dripping faucets! Lowe’s has a video on how to replace faucets at:
http://www.lowes.com/KitchenFaucet
A new Energy Star qualified dishwasher saves nearly 5,000 gallons of water per year, compared to washing dishes by hand. If you do hand-wash dishes, keep the water off unless you’re rinsing. Also operate your dishwasher only with a full load. Energy Start dishwashers use approximately half the amount of water as a 10-year-old unit. Also, the increased amount of insulation (which helps the water stay hotter longer) also makes them quieter.
Simply installing a low-flow aerator on your existing kitchen faucet will substantially reduce water consumption (faucets manufactured after 1994 already have aerators.)
It’s estimated that 1 out of every 5 toilets leaks, wasting up to 500 gallons of water per day. Often, a simple adjustment is all that’s needed. Replacement fill valves cost as little as $7 a piece and can be installed with a few simple tools, often in less than an hour. Installing a new low-flow toilet can cut water consumption in half, saving up to 20,000 gallons of water per toilet per year. Lowe’s has a “Making Simple Toilet Repairs” section on their website under the Energy Savings section:
http://www.lowes.com/howto
Don’t let water run while shaving, washing your face or brushing your teeth. A five-minute shower uses less water than the average bath. Replacing your existing showerhead with a low-flow version can save more than 2 gallons per minute.
It’s that time of year when we return to the outdoors and clear our yards of remaining leaves, brush, fallen branches and dead vegetation. As you work to tidy your yard, don’t open burn the debris. Why? Open burning is illegal, unsafe and creates air pollution. Within the City limits all open burning is banned; exceptions exist for celebratory bonfires and recreational fires HOWEVER, a permit is required from the Fire Department for those special events. Allen County and Indiana also prohibit open burning with a few exceptions. Open burning creates a type of air pollution called fine particulate. Breathing carries these particulates deep into lungs where they stick and can cause both short term (asthma attacks) and longer term (heart attacks and lung cancer) health effects. In fact, recent air quality data indicates that Allen County is at risk for being designated as a dirty air area for fine particulate in the near future. Stop burning now and spread the word!
For information on the proper ways of disposing of yard waste go to the City’s website or check out the Allen County Waste Watcher website
Thank you very much for being a subscriber to our Green City email newsletter. We hope this has been helpful and informative to you.
We will contact you once per month with the email newsletter, as well as on Air Quality Action Days to alert you when air conditions indicate you need to take action.
If you would like to suggest topics or articles to include in monthly email newsletters, please email
Please pass this email newsletter on to your friends and family, so that everyone can share in the knowledge and have an impact on reducing energy consumption.
