• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

Cool Fix For a Hot Planet

Air Date: Week of

Looking for tips on how to lower your carbon footprint? California listener Sandy Kappelmann tells us how her family saves water and electricity doing the dishes.



Transcript

[THEME MUSIC]

GELLERMAN: In the segment we call “Cool Fix for a Hot Planet” we highlight ways you can take action against climate change. Sandy Kappelman listens to Living on Earth on KQED in San Francisco. We liked the Cool Fix she emailed. So we called her up.

KAPPELMANN: We’re using our dishwasher in a new way these days. Instead of using large amounts of water and electricity to run full loads and dry them, we now hand wash our dishes each night in biodegradable liquid dish soap, using a small sink full of hot, soapy water. Then we rinse off all the dishes at the same time. The dishwasher has become a giant dish drainer. We leave the racks open at night and by morning all the dishes are air-dried. We’ve noticed our utility bills are smaller and the amount of water we’re using is less. So by going green we’re saving some green, too. We love using lavender earth-friendly dish soap instead of powder dishwasher detergent. Our dishes are cleaner now than they ever were when we were using the dishwasher in the usual way.

GELLERMAN: Well, thanks, Sandy. And for your cool fix, we're sending you a sleek blue Living on Earth tire gauge. If you use it to keep your tires correctly inflated, it could save you as much as $432 a year. That's according to a study from Carnegie Mellon University. If you have a Cool Fix for a Hot Planet, let us know. If we use your idea on the air, you too will get a LOE tire gauge.
Call our listener line at 800-218-99 88, that's 800-218-9988. Or email coolfix— that’s one word—at loe.org. That's coolfix at loe.org.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth