Tree Planting - Another Cool Idea

From absorbing CO2 to helping hold your lawn together and protecting the watershed, people have known for a long time that planting tress offer numerous benefits to the environment and community. Recently however, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have come up with another good reason for you to plant a tree in your back yard. According to their research, the tree’s shade may well help you save money on your home energy bill.

According to the study, the positioning of the tree is key to the amount of energy savings. The results of the study show that:

• Trees planted within 40 feet of the south side or within 60 feet of the west side of the house can save you up to 30% on your cooling costs.
• Tree cover on the east side of a house has no effect on heating or cooling costs.
• A tree planted on the west side of a house can reduce net carbon emissions by reducing summertime A/C use by 30% per year.

We typically tell customers to use heavy curtains to control heat gain (close curtains in summer, open in winter). Many trees shed their leaves in winter, allowing sunlight into the home, and their leaves block the sun in the spring/summer/fall to keep heat gain out. This means you can plant a tree instead of buying heavy curtains to achieve similar results.

Thus, properly placed trees can improve air quality by not only by sequestering CO2 as they grow, but also by reducing demand for electricity that is typically from carbon-producing sources.

“For each degree you raise your thermostat in the summer, you will save 3.3 percent on your power bill,” explained Professor David Laband in a separate study that showed a household’s electricity usage could be reduced by slightly over 10% from trees that provide a house with around 20% heavy shade coverage compared to those with no shade at all.

With all of these benefits in mind it should come as no surprise that the State of Maryland has set up a program to plant 1 million trees by 2011. A key part of this program includes incentives that promote community and individual involvement, including a $25 discount for every tree you buy. Montgomery County also offers a $25 discount on every tree purchased. Go to http://trees.maryland.gov and http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/Leaves/ to get your $25 coupons. With all these incentives, and spring well under way, there is no time like the present to start planting trees and save some real green.

For more information check out:

http://trees.maryland.gov/

http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/environment/forest/

http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/Leaves/

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/

http://www.newglarusvillage.com/LW/Attachments/Tree_Facts.pdf

http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/LandscapingEnergy.html

http://www.springerlink.com/index/MPXK119Y7KK9GP7T.pdf

http://www.physorg.com/news160838589.html

http://www.physorg.com/news150384050.html

http://www.physorg.com/news145939611.html

http://www.livescience.com/environment/090105-shade-trees.html

Expansion of Corn-based Ethanol Under Consideration

With the threat of global warming, further regional instability in the middle east, and politicians and industry looking for ways to promote economic and agricultural growth, discussion is underway in Washington to expand the use of ethanol blend fuels. However, new concerns have been raised over the environmental impact and ultimate benefit of the switch to bio-fuels by analysts including the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Within the last week the EPA has announced its intent to move forward with an expansion of the ethanol fuel program. Many recent studies have pointed to the shortcomings of improperly implemented bio-fuel programs and the detrimental environmental impact that they bring. A recent European study, for instance, has shown that losses due to deforestation caused by habitat loss and other ill effects due to agricultural expansion and increased production would negatively impact the environment. Further, many automobiles are not rated or ready to handle fuels with the level of ethanol proposed. Consumers who use this new fuel in vehicles not built to accommodate such fuel would accidentally void their engine’s warranty.

The Union of Concerned Scientists opposes this expansion of corn-based ethanol. Click on the links below to learn more about this issue..

For more information check out:
http://usclimatenetwork.org/resource-database/end_ucs.pdf/view
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/technologies_and_fuels/biofuels/E15-request.html
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=57209&CultureCode=en
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/smartbioenergy.html
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/additive.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993106781727761.html#mod=loomia?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r2:c0.042875:b23939156

Doing Your Part to Prevent Storm Water Pollution

Water pollution threatens not only our drinking water sources, but also the ecosystems that support various plants, fish and the food chain generally. In the mid-Atlantic, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently released State of the Bay report, which gave the bay’s health a grade of "D''.

The best place to start preventing water pollution is at home. Urban runoff accounts for the largest source of water pollution nation wide according to the EPA. From salt and de-icers applied to your driveway and sidewalks, to fertilizers and pesticides in your yard, to oil and all manner of garbage that finds its way into a river or drain, urban runoff accounts for over 77 unique pollutants that find there way into our watershed.

The best ways to control pollution from runoff are:

1. slow down and collect the storm water that comes off your home’s roof and yard, a process known as Rainscaping. This includes techniques that redirect, capture, and control runoff such as rain barrels, rain gardens, and permeable pavements.
   
2. reduce the use of non-degradable products in the exterior of the home

To collect storm water, we recommend rain barrels, which are specialized storage tanks designed to collect storm runoff from your roof. This not only keeps the storm water from eroding your lawn but also lets you use that stored water later for use in anything from gardening to washing the car. While there is no need to collect all the run off that may come from a storm, every drop you store helps. Rain gardens take this concept to the next level by putting that water directly to use. A rain garden consists of a pit, usually a foot deep, that is positioned to collect runoff and snow melt from other parts of your lawn. A water resistant bottom layer, known as an under-drain collects and retains water in the planting medium. This planting medium usually is made of a sand/soil mixture and acts as the bases for the garden, with a top layer of mulch to protect the soil from debris. The best plants to use for a rain garden are those with a dense root structure that prevent run of and readily absorb excess water. A third way to slow down storm water is permeable pavements and other substitutes for impenetrable surfaces, such as those found on concrete patios and driveways allow rainwater to be better absorbed by the environment and thus dissipate at a much slower rate. Reducing the flow and volume of runoff, allows the land to better absorb water, which prevent erosion and the buildup of pollutants. Examples of permeable pavements include the use of interlocking paving stones and porous concrete structures, like concrete grids.

You can reduce the use of non-degradable pollutants by choosing greener products for your yard such as coated or organic fertilizers, which release nutrients over an extended period, preventing the watershed from being overloaded with nutrients that choke off oxygen. Taking steps to reduce the overall need for chemicals in the first place is an even better option. For example, native plants need less chemicals for upkeep than non-native plants.

For more information and advice on how to start your own projects check out:

• http://dnr.maryland.gov/bay/czm/nps/index.html
• http://www.chesapeakebay.net/news_rainscaping09.aspx?menuitem=35773
• http://www.rainscaping.org/
• http://www.aquabarrel.com
• http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sourcewater/pubs/fs_swpp_stormwater.pdf
• http://www.watoxics.org/homes-and-gardens/fastfacts/fastfacts-fertilizer
• http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Content/DEP/Rainscapes/home.html
• http://www.mde.state.md.us/Water/index.asp

Bottled Water Shown to be more than 2000 times as energy intensive as tap water

Researchers Peter H. Gleick and Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute have recently released a study titled “Energy implications of bottled water”, analyzing the energy footprint for the production and distribution of bottled water. There report, which appears in the February 2009 edition of 'Environmental Research Letters', chronicles the product life cycle of your average bottle of water and records the amount of energy expended at every stage of the production and transportation process.

For locally produced bottled water the manufacturing of the plastic bottle makes up the majority of the energy used, requiring about 4 MJ (megajoules) of energy to produce a small plastic bottle, whether it is 8 ounces or half letter, from polyethylene terephthalate (commonly recognized in the USA by its recycling code of ‘1’). However, ‘Spring’ waters, which are transported from a single source, can add as much as 5.8 MJ of energy, depending on the distance the bottle traveled. Other associated energy costs, such as water treatment, bottling, and refrigeration at the point of sale were found to be negligible in comparison.

In conclusion, the average energy cost for one bottle of water was found to be anywhere from 5.6 to 10.2 MJ, which outstrips the .0005 MJ of energy per liter needed to produce tap water, making the process around 2000 times as energy intensive. A quick calculation, care of unitconversion.org, shows this to be the energy equivalent of about .42 to 1.07 cups(US) of oil. Or, as the article points out:
“Given an annual consumption of 33 billion liters of bottled water in the US, we estimate that the annual consumption of bottled water in the US in 2007 required an energy input equivalent to between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil or a third of a per cent of total US primary energy consumption.”
For the consumer interested in making environmentally sustainable choices the implications of this study should be relatively clear. Next time, bring your own bottle, or at least try to buy local.

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5465 Randolph Rd, Unit B
Rockville, MD 20852

ecobeco's retail showroom is open:
Monday – Friday 3pm – 7pm EST or by appointment
Saturday 10am – 2pm EST
Sunday CLOSED

ecobeco's customer service is open:
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