My issue with my gear cable freezing made me realize I really should learn bike maintenance from someone other than the internet. Elisabeth highly recommends Broadway Bicycle School’s Basic Class, but I’m not sure I’m willing yet to commit to five weeks and $150. However, I just found out about Hub Bicycle’s Fix-a-Flat Clinics (via Boston Biker). These free one-night clinics talk about fixing flat tires and other absolutely basic maintenance the first Wednesday of each month. Just email them to reserve a spot.

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I don’t think I’ll be able to make the February date, but hopefully March. I’ll let you know what I find out.

I’ve shared ways to recycle some random things, like cell phones and inkjet cartridges. But don’t you wish there was one place where you could find out where to recycle pretty much anything? There is. My friend Sharon pointed me to Earth911, a site where you can type in your zip code and what you’re looking to recycle and find a list of places nearby that accept it. Not only that, but Earth911 offers more details on the listings, such as who can use it (residents, businesses, etc.), what the hours are, and if there are any restrictions on the materials. They even have a free iPhone app called iRecycle, so you can look up recycling info whenever the mood strikes.

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I’ve tried to stump the search with hard-to-recycle things, and it’s performed admirably. I have no idea how they keep it so well informed, but kudos to them.

You may remember from my recycling plant tour that plastic objects under three inches don’t get recycled because they fall off the conveyer berlt or through the sorting machines. To solve that problem, Aveda is sorting the caps beforehand and sending in loads of just caps. (Thanks for the heads-up, Elisabeth!) Bring your caps to an Aveda store or mail them to:

ACA Waste Services
40 Eads Street
West Babylon, NY  11704

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I have to admit, I’d never heard of Aveda before this, and they’re pretty cool. Everything in their store is vegan (except for the beeswax in some products), not tested on animals, and paraben free. The salesperson I spoke to was very knowledgeable about their products and about environmental issues in general, and was really helpful in narrowing down what I was looking for. And they offer neck and shoulder massages in-store! I’m generally a little weird about my personal space, but these guys are so nice and friendly I might actually think about it.

On Friday I shared with you some of Michael Blasnik’s advice on the best ways to save energy at home. But a lot of what I found most interesting about the lecture was how much oft-repeated advice is wrong. For instance:

1. Blocking off registers to unused rooms may actually make your furnace work harder and waste energy.
2. Cleaning refrigerator coils regularly may not save energy at all. Blasnik said heat exchangers are so big now that it makes little difference.
3. Running a ceiling fan counterclockwise in the winter to circulate the warm air at ceiling level doesn’t actually translate into energy savings. (Darn—I was really trying to believe that one.)
4. A house would have to be really drafty for caulking and weatherstripping to translate into much energy savings. Attics and basements make up 50–75% of air leakage: plumbing stacks, walls without top plates, ceiling height changes, chimneys, soffits, knee walls, recessed lights, and foundation walls. Even then leakage only represents 30% of energy use.
5. Tankless gas water heaters take just 1/3 off  your hot water load and can cost twice as much as regular hot water heaters. Blasnik says the best buy is an indirect-fired unit.
6. Cool roofs are just silly in cold climates. They may be good for the Earth’s albedo, but not for energy savings. Good insulation works just as well to keep a home cool.
7. Single pane windows with storm windows perform almost as well as energy star windows, and a layer of plastic can be just as good as a layer of glass.

Michael Blasnik

Lower priorities

• Use carafe instead of coffeemaker warmer – costs $0 – $5/yr
• Cook with lids on pots – costs $0 – saves $2–10/yr
• Turn off heat in unused rooms – costs $0 – saves $0–200/yr?
• Clean fridge coils – costs $0 – saves $0–10/yr
• Change furnace filters monthly (vs. once per season) – costs $0 – saves $0–5/yr
• Unplug cell phone charger – costs $0 – saves <$1/yr
• Close fridge door quickly – costs $0 – saves <$1/yr
• Keep fridge full – costs $0 – saves <$1/yr
• Ceiling fan in winter – costs $0  – saves $0/yr?
• Close drapes on winter nights – costs $0 – saves $0/yr?
• Hot water pipe insulation (after first few feet) – costs $20? – saves $1?
• Replace old furnace w/92% efficiency (avg. use) – costs $3,200 – saves $250–400/yr
• Replace old dishwasher – costs $400+ – saves $25-40/yr
• Caulk/weatherstrip windows/doors – costs $50–600 – saves $10–40/yr
• Seal basement ducts  (unless big holes) – costs $50–600 – saves $0–50/yr
• Insulate attic (some existing insulation, no seal) (DON’T DO THIS—SEAL BYPASSES!) – costs $700 – saves $30–60/yr
• Insulate basement ceiling (1000 ft^2) – costs $1,200 – saves $30–100/yr
• Cool roof – costs $1,000 – saves $10/yr
• Tune up gas furnace (annual) – costs $150 – saves $0?
• Tankless gas water heater – costs $2,500 – saves $60–120
• Replace 15 old windows – costs $10,000? – saves $50–150/yr

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Blasnik has a web site where he shares the sources of all these numbers, so before making any serious decisions based on his seminar, I’d do more research. As a professional consultant, maybe he’s not of the information-should-be-free mindset.

Update: HEET now has Blasnik’s PowerPoint presentation posted. If you don’t have PowerPoint, here’s a pdf version.

One year ago: Stress = Waste

I felt kind of bad that I told you all about the 46 Blackstone Street tour and the residential energy use lecture after the fact, rather than giving you the opportunity to go yourselves. So I added an events calendar to the sidebar. Now you can keep track of local “green” events, too. And if you have an event coming up, let me know and I’ll add it to the calendar.