New Resource Bank invited us to table at their holiday party. It was a great turnout and we had a very enjoyable time talking to other bank clients about solar water heating. The bank’s clientele is a very refreshing mix of forward-thinking San Franciscans, Bay Area residents, and green businesses. PolarSolar highly recommends banking with New Resources. Aside from all the great stuff they do to promote green technology and the renewables, they are a top quality financial institution with a community focus - check out their introductory video to learn more.
Archive for December, 2009
Client Reception at New Resource Bank
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Key Water Saving Tips:
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009Here are a few new tips to keep in mind - They are all basically commonsensical, but worth repeating:
1. When you brush your teeth, make sure to turn off the faucet - you can save eight gallons every day with this one.
2. Shortening your showers by as little as two minutes can save another eight gallons every time you shower.
3. Leaky faucets can waste 20 gallons per day, so don’t hesitate to fix these fixtures - call a plumber!
4. Make sure you wash only full loads and you could be saving 50 gallons of water per week.
5. If you are replacing the old commode, install a High Efficiency Toilet (HET).
6. Stop using the toilet as a trashcan or wastebasket.
7. Your hot water pipes should be well insulated, preferably with eco-friendly insulation made from recycled materials.
8. Of course - Install low-flow faucet aerators.
9. What goes for the clothes washer goes for the dishwasher - FULL LOADS ONLY!
10. Washing and rinsing dishes by hand should be done in the basin or a sink bucket - not with the water running directly down the drain.
11. You can check for toilet leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. If coloring appears in the bowl you have a leaky toilet that could be wasting many gallons per day (Make sure to flush after your test so that you dont stain your toilet bowl).
12. Do not shave with the water running - conserve water by using a bowl or the basin.
13. If you like your drinking water cold - fill up the container and put it in the fridge - stop running the water until its cold.
14. You should not need to run your garbage disposal all that much (are you composting?…).
15. Your plants would love that old, murky fish tank water, so don’t just pour it down the drain.
16. Thaw food with ambient air, not running water.
17. One last point on toilets - instead of jiggling that handle to stop the runny toilet - how about fixing it? Your guests don’t know that trick and you yourself might be forgetting sometimes…
That’s all for now - tune back in later for more money, water, and energy saving tips…
The problem with Natural Gas is…
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009…essentially, we continue to waste it and pollute our atmosphere needlessly. It simply shouldn’t be used as if it is the most abundant, sustainable, and cost effective catch-all solution to our climate crisis. It is a finite resource and it is time to begin using it as such. Yes, it is cleaner than coal - Sure, we should use it as a bridge solution to cleaner, renewable sources of energy (instead of coal for electricity generation). But very simply - we don’t need to rely on it anymore as a principal water heating source and there are big potential hazards associated with its use. Hydraulic mining (hydraulic fracturing, more specifically) uses vast amounts of water mixed with chemicals to break up the shale to mine the gas. Aside from the waste of water, this practice is likely poisoning our water tables! Check out the new article in the New York Times : Dark Side of a Natural Gas Boom .
