Archive for the ‘Informational’ Category

Going Green Made Easy

Posted on: October 15th, 2014 by Bob Jorgensen

Most people would say they value the environment and want to preserve it for future generations. However, not everyone is familiar with how to do that. I will give a few suggestions that not only will help you be environmentally friendly but also will save you money either directly or indirectly.

Most people think of recycling as the most common way to care for the environment. East Peoria is fortunate to have a free curb side recycling program that collects paper, cardboard, plastic (#1-5,7), aluminum and tin. If you live where you can’t get recyclables collected, save them and drop them off at a variety of drop off locations in the Peoria area. By recycling, you are diverting trash from landfills which will slow the increase of garbage dumping fees and slow the depletion of natural resources. Reprocessing recyclables also uses significantly less energy than creating new items from raw materials.

In addition to recycling, shoppers should “precycle.” This is a practice of purchasing products with the waste stream in mind. Say to yourself “How will I dispose of this container?” before making your purchase. The following are some tips. Buy in bulk will reduce the total amount of packaging. Only purchase items packed in recyclable materials and post consumer content packaging. Avoid excessive plastic wrap and Styrofoam.

Use “off peak” electricity. Lowering the electrical demand during peak times will save the electrical companies from having to produce as much electricity during peak times (saving on pollution) and will save on stress on our already dated electrical grid system. You can even sign up to pay an hourly rate for electricity to give you an incentive to use off peak electricity. Go to powersmartpricing.org for more information.

Some other easy things you can do to help the environment:

  • Wash your baggies and reuse them. You can purchase a baggie drying rack relatively cheaply and you will stretch the life of your baggies.
  • Don’t let your car idle. The gas used in idling for 10 seconds is equal to the gas used in restarting your car. Also, avoid drive through lines. Park, turn off your car, and walk into the restaurant or bank.
  • Set your water heater to 120 degrees.
  • Use an adjustable thermostat and adjust the heat and air to be used less when gone for extend periods during the day or while on vacation.
  • Pull down shades or close blinds to limit heat entering the windows during the summer.
  • Use cold water for washing clothes. Most germs and bugs are killed in the drier and not during the wash cycle even when using hot water.
  • Take shorter showers or turn off the water when sudsing.
  • Replace incandescent lights with LED lights. They cost more but last much longer than even CFL bulbs and give off better light. Each LED light bulb saves about $130 over its 23 year life versus incandescent bulbs.
  • Replace any refrigerator older than 1993. Ameren will give you a rebate and you will save a great deal on electricity with a newer Energy Star model.
  • Buy a front load washing machine which uses about 50% of the water and electricity as top load washers. They also require less detergent.
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Not only is it healthier, but saves on the electricity required to lift the elevator. Same goes for automatic doors. Use manual doors if that is an option.
  • Bring your own containers for leftovers when dining out.
  • Buy locally produced foods and goods. It helps the local economy and cuts down on transportation emissions.
  • Use native vegetation or landscaping instead of lawns. Saves on law treating chemicals and exhaust from lawn mowers.
  • Install rain barrels to water gardens and landscaping.

As you can see there are many ways that we can lessen the impact on our planet. Many are free. Many will save money in the long (and not so long) run. Please save this article and stick to your fridge. Consider committing to at least three of the above bullet points during September and add an additional one each month thereafter. Every little bit helps to preserve the planet for generations to come.

Wind Power in America and Central Illinois

Posted on: October 1st, 2014 by rjohnson

TurbineAmerica has been blowing in some great numbers for electricity generation from wind. There was $25 billion invested in the wind industry in 2012. All 50 states have either a wind farm or a wind industry factory. In the electricity generating industry from building the facility to generating the electricity, wind is cheaper than coal and nuclear, and comparable with natural gas. In fact 42% of new electric generating in America has come from the renewable energy giant, wind.

When you factor in the other benefits of renewable energy generation like wind, it should be a clear leader in the energy field. The planet’s health and human health benefits are huge. Clean wind power in place at the end of 2012 has avoided about 100 million metric tons of the climate changing gas carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere. These gases have lead to climate changing extreme weather that has cost America $188 billion in 2011 and 2012. Remember the record weather we have had in Central Illinois in the last two years, ranging from record temperatures, drought, river heights, rainfall, and mudslides. Also since wind power neither uses or pollutes water, as opposed to fracking, coal, and nuclear industries, it saves 38 billion gallons of water per year. The use of all this water has depleted ponds, lakes, streams, and underground water tables. This water is needed for drinking and crop irrigation.

In Central Illinois we now have numerous wind farms, a few are: Ridge South Wind Farm in Livingston Co., Horizon Wind Energy by Pontiac in Livingston Co., White Oak Wind Farm by Carlock, Rail Splitter Wind Farm partially in Tazewell Co., and Twin Groves Wind Farm by Bloomington, Normal. These farms not only provide clean electric energy at a good cost they also contribute to communities in other ways. For example in the contract agreements county boards include language that ensures that roads are repaired if the heavy equipment degrades them. Taking a look at the Twin Groves Farm we see that they have 240 turbines that produce 1.65 megawatts of electricity each. This electricity can supply the needs of about 120,000 homes for a year. Twin Groves covers 22,000 acres of farmland outside of Bloomington/Normal. But the actual agricultural land being lost to the towers is only 1 % of the total acreage, or 220 acres. This is because farmers can still plant and harvest all but a small area around the bottom of the tower. A huge bonus for the farmer is that for every tower located on his land Twin Groves pays him $5000 a year in leasing fees. The Twin Groves Farm also helps support 2 schools to the tune of $250,000 in tax revenue to each district per year. Another financial benefit for the area is the jobs and payrolls that it pays contributing many millions of dollars a year to the local economy.

The wind industry supports about 80,000 jobs across the United States, about 25,000 in manufacturing of parts. When the industry first got going in America the majority of parts were made in other countries. Now it is estimated that almost ¾ of the parts are Made in America.

Making sure that this clean useful industry continues to grow we need our politicians to support it. In Illinois the legislature passed a Renewable Portfolio Standard that said Illinois would produce 25 % of their electricity through renewable by 2025. Another driving force is the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). This gives tax incentives to companies in the wind generating industry. We have been giving tax credits to fossil fuel generating industries for a very long time. The oil industry has been getting tax subsidies for 100 years. This PTC is a much smaller amount than is currently provided to the fossil fuel industry. Finally, you might remember that many towns in Central Illinois aggregated their electricity two years ago and it reduced people’s bills by about 30 %. When this great bargain was struck by many municipalities it was stated by almost all of them that they wanted 100% of their electricity to come from clean renewable energy sources, like wind.

I hope you can see that Wind Power is right for Central Illinois. Now we have to keep reminding our elected officials that they need to support the wind industry through the legislation they pass.

Tours of the Twin Groves Wind Farm for groups of 10 or more people can be setup by calling 1-309-724-8278.

East Peoria Green

Posted on: September 16th, 2014 by rjohnson

East Peoria Green is an organization that began in late 2007. In the beginning it was a group of mostly city department heads, councilman Dan Decker, and one East Peoria citizen activist. We were lead by East Peoria Facilities Manager Robert Cole. Robert wrote our mission statement as being “Create an environmental stewardship policy which is intended to create long term environmental benefits through sustainable practices and policies.”

During our 5 years of existence we have worked on many city issues. One of the first situations we looked at was the possible use of solar chargers on police cars. The chargers would save police car batteries and allow police cars to stop idling continuously and still be able to run all the computers, electronics, and cameras they need.

Another issue was the conversion of city lighting equipment to new high efficiency CFL’s, T-8’s, and Induction units, with on/off motion detectors. These lighting upgrades have saved the city 10’s of thousands of dollars in the few years they have been in place.

As time passed our membership has expanded and changed. We still have Mr. Cole and Mr. Decker on our team. We have added Tom Brimberry, the city manager, and Barb Liechner, an aide in the planning and development dept. We have lost the department heads but have added about 15 citizen activists representing many parts of the community with diverse skills and passions. Our group now boasts an LEED certified architect, Don, a master gardener, Ginger, a library representative, Sue, a recycling guru, Lori, a communication director, Deb, an EPCHS teacher, Martin, and others.
We are a team of East Peoria residents who want to help people reduce, reuse, and recycle, and there by save energy and money. Two years ago we were urging our city’s architect to build the new city hall as energy efficient as possible. We encouraged the city to pass a NO IDLING policy to cut down on wasted money from city vehicles and resident vehicles as well as the extra pollutants that idling puts into the air.

At this time EP GREEN is doing a table at the East Peoria Farmers Market , while we are there we talk to people about the environmental challenges in Central Illinois. We ask East Peorians to stop idling their vehicles in places like parking lots, in lines while doing banking from the car or picking up prescriptions, or dropping off and picking up their children at school. If you are going to be stopped for longer than 10 seconds you should turn off your engine and restart it when you are ready to move. It takes just 10 seconds of gasoline to restart your engine.

We have added an environmental website with facts, tips, events, and contacts on all things Green in Central Illinois and our state. It was started because of the generosity of Web Tech Services who still keep it up dated and running. Our web address is www.eastpeoriagreen.com

We are always informing our citizens about the city’s great curbside recycling program and trying to add more East Peorians to the number of recyclers in our town. You can get your free recycling bins at Public Works , 698-4716. Did you know that the city is now making money from all of the materials we recycle? We are still trying to find a way to start to recycle glass, one of the first things that East Peoria Residents ask us to do. At this time we are looking at having a drop off location on one Saturday a month, like we did years and years ago. We are making a little money to use in our GREEN efforts by asking for a donation of $1 for 4 four gallon plastic buckets, or $1 for 2 buckets that have nylon handles.

This is the short list of what we are working on to make our city more sustainable. We are always looking for new members to join our team. As I have shown you may have specific skills, or not, to become a new EP GREEN member. Come join us and let our EP GREEN team and the city benefit from your environmental knowledge and enthusiasm. You can reach me through my e-mail, jestpr@aol.com or go to our website for contact information

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