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Welcome to the December 2008 Edition of the City of Fort Wayne’s Green City email newsletter.
Upcoming Events:
Master Home Environmentalist Training
Monday, December 15th from 11:30am-4pm
at the McMillen Center for Health Education
Learn how to observe, assess, and advise on indoor home air quality issues. This event is free and lunch is provided.
For more information, or to register, visit:
http://lungin.org/environment/mhe.cfm
Recycle Your Christmas Tree Into Mulch
December 26, 2008 through January 16, 2009
For locations and more information, scroll down to the last article of this email.
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This edition of the Green City email newsletter contains:
*Green Tip of the Month
*Energy Efficient Holiday Gift Giving
*Fun Holiday Ideas
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*Green Tip of the Month
Last year I wrote you about giving green gifts, recycle holiday waste and decorating with a green twist. If you would like a reminder on any of those tips, you can visit the GreenCity Email Newsletter Archive:
http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/index.php/content/view/1369/1491/
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*Energy Efficient Holiday Gift Giving
This holiday shopping season, consider gift options that give more! The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recommending numerous ENERGY STAR gift-giving ideas that will help your friends and family give back to the environment and make an important difference in the fight against global warming — all while saving money! The typical household spends more than $2,000 a year on energy bills, and with ENERGY STAR, you can save more than 30% or about $700. Over the lifetime of ENERGY STAR products, a household can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 lbs and save more than $10,000 in energy costs.
*Home Electronics
If a television, DVD player, stereo, or cordless phone is on your shopping list, looking for ENERGY STAR is “on the money,” since ENERGY STAR points you to the most energy efficient product models. Today’s ENERGY STAR qualified TVs meet new, stricter requirements and offer up to 30 percent energy savings over standard models. An ENERGY STAR qualified TV uses less energy when it is both on and in standby mode. Also look for the ENERGY STAR label on the external power adapters that come with cell phones, cameras, and MP3 players for more energy-saving gifts!
*Office Products
This holiday, help someone get their home office up and running with ENERGY STAR qualified office products. The ENERGY STAR label is on a number of office products from computers and monitors to fax machines, printers, and copiers – everything you need to make your home office work energy efficiently for you. A home office that has replaced all of its equipment with ENERGY STAR products and has enabled power management features on the ENERGY STAR PC and LCD monitor will save a consumer more than $160 over the lifetime of the products. Make sure you remind your gift recipient to keep the power-management features enabled on their new computer or monitor. Power management places computers and monitors into a low-power “sleep mode” when not in use and allows them to awaken within seconds, saving more than $25 per year. You can save even more by plugging your electronics into a power strip and turning the strip off when not in use.
*Power Tools and Appliances
For that handyman or handywoman on your list, consider power tools with ENERGY STAR battery chargers, which means that they are the most efficient available. EPA now qualifies products with popular brands such as Black & Decker, Makita, Bosch, and others. You can also choose from a number of other ENERGY STAR gifts such as appliances – clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators – and decorative lighting, such as ceiling and wall fixtures, table lamps, and more.
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*Fun Holiday Ideas
Decorate your home or tree with more style and less energy with ENERGY STAR qualified decorative light strings. Featuring LED technology, qualified light strings use 75 percent less electricity than conventional incandescent light strings; are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and lengths; are much more durable and shock-resistant than other light strings; and emit less heat.
Smaller, less expensive gifts can make surprising stocking stuffers! An ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb, programmable thermostat, power strips, warm slippers, and afghans are unique gifts if you want to get someone started on energy savings. You’d also never expect to think about caulk and weather-stripping as a gift, but these useful energy-saving home project ideas are perfect to protect against the winter chill.
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*Recycle Your Christmas Tree Into Mulch
December 26, 2008 through January 16, 2009
The National Christmas Tree Association estimates that approximately 31% of U.S. households have a live Christmas tree each holiday season. With more than 115 million households in the United States, that means over 35 million live Christmas trees are purchased each year! Allen County residents can prevent many of these trees from filling the landfill by participating in the Christmas Tree Recycling program.
The 2008-2009 Christmas tree recycling program will begin on December 26, 2008 and will end on January 16, 2009. Trees may be dropped off at the sites listed below at any time throughout the program.
DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:
Fort Wayne Area:
Allen County Highway Garage - 2234 Carroll Road
Foster Park West - Soccer field parking lot west side
Foellinger Theatre - back parking lot southwest corner
McMillen Park - pool parking lot
Shoaff Park Conklin Pavilion
Leo-Cedarville Area:
Across from Riverside Gardens Park - corner of Grabill Rd. & Schwartz Rd.
New Haven Area:
Jury Park
Meadowbrook School - Parking lot
North side of City Hall - 815 Lincoln Highway East
Monroeville Area:
Monroeville Community Park - Parking lot north end
Woodburn Area:
Front Street under the Water Tower
PROGRAM GUIDELINES:
Allen County Residents Only
Plastic bags, ornaments and tinsel MUST be removed
Wreaths are NOT accepted
For more information on Christmas Tree Recycling, visit:
http://www.acwastewatcher.org/
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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
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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.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Harter
Program Manager
Energy & Environmental Services
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Visit the City’s Energy & Environmental Services Website: http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/energy
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