Home Heating: Go Green Now to Save Energy in Winter

Hey Mr. Green,
If I scavenge firewood instead of buying it, is it better to heat my house by burning wood in my fireplace or by using electricity from traditional sources? --Joyce in Charleston, South Carolina

Hey Joyce,
Perfect question for this time of year. If you start thinking about heating during the summer, you can get your act together in time to upgrade your system before winter. Sure, this sounds like that goody-goody little ant in Aesop’s fable, working his exoskeleton off while the grasshopper frolicked around the fields, but it’s true.

First, don't burn wood very often unless you have an EPA-approved fireplace box or stove. Depending on the local climate and terrain, a wood fire can be a dangerously polluting proposition, which is why some towns have banned it. It can be especially harmful in regions with high levels of soot, or “particulate matter” pollution. Too much of it can damage lungs and circulatory systems, and according to the American Lung Association, woodstoves and fireplaces account for much as 80 percent of this pollution in some areas during the winter. (You can find real-time information about your city’s air quality and more information about particle pollution at airnow.gov.)

Podcast: More Reasons to Conserve Energy

"Hey Mr. Green: Is it still important to keep up with other energy practices around the home?"

Click here to listen to the answer! You can also subscribe to Mr. Green's podcast.

Nontoxic Roach Control

Hey Mr. Green,
I live in a row house in the Capitol Hill Historic (read: very old) District in Washington, D.C. My next-door neighbor just found her residence swarming with cockroaches. She called an exterminator, who advised her to warn her neighbors that spraying her roaches will send them scurrying to the houses on either side, suggesting maybe we should also hire him. I do not want a toxic house. Neither do I want cockroaches. If her bugs migrate, is there a green way to deal with them? -–Patricia in Washington, D.C.

Hey Patricia,

Don’t panic. Stay on the line. We’re here, on full cockroach alert, ready to talk you through this crisis.

I know cockroaches well, having coexisted with them for some years in roach-friendly climes and structures. One of the more terrifying critters I have ever seen was an albino cockroach peering up with beady red eyes from a crevice in my kitchen table—surrounded by a streaming, squirming swarm of its brown brethren.

I survived, and so will you.

Pesticides should only be used as a last resort. Your first line of defense is scrupulous cleanliness. Scrub everything well. Don't leave food out, not even a crumb; rinse the bottles and cans you plan to recycle (roaches love to wade in reeking beery backwash) and place them outside as quickly as possible. Eliminate surface moisture, especially around all pipes, vents, conduits, etc. Roaches thrive in damp, dark places, and openings around pipes are one of their favorite routes. The cabinet under a kitchen sink is a roach’s Buckingham Palace.

After every surface has been scrupulously cleaned and dried, get rid of all clutter, in which roaches love to retreat to plot their next foray.

Podcast: Your employer and recycling

"Hey Mr. Green: How can I persuade the company I work for to adopt a recycling program?"

Click here to listen to the answer! You can also subscribe to Mr. Green's podcast.

Washing Up

Hey Mr. Green

I’m trying to convince my husband that using the dishwasher is more efficient than washing each dish separately. I intuit that this is the case, but I haven't figured out how to articulate it to him. –Gabrielle in Oakland, California

Hey Gabrielle,

Although it shatters the code of macho solidarity, Mr. Green is duty bound to report that you are right and he is wrong.

A typical manual dish-washing stint averages about twice the water and energy of a modern dishwasher. This has been verified by German research, which, as we all know, is impeccable. And, according to the EPA, a dishwasher will typically save 5,000 gallons of water, $40 in utility costs, and 230 hours of your time in a year.

Of course, we're talking about a full load in the machine. If you put only a few dishes in and run it through a cycle, hand-washing could win. Or, if the hand-washer is atypically efficient, he or she might outdo the machine. Also, we’re assuming that water isn’t wasted by unnecessary rinsing of dishes before placing them in a dishwasher. Scraping crud off with a spatula or lightly rinsing is all you need to do, provided you don’t delay and let stuff dry out and glue itself to the utensils.