18-Year Mystery Solved

It's an adventure living with someone who is a) an engineer, and b) determined to make our home as energy efficient as humanly possible. The past couple of weeks the adventure has revolved around the shower. Tom has been turning down the heat on the hot water tank to save energy, and for the most part it has been a great idea. Our shower, however, has been cooler than I like, and so Tom has been tweaking the temp ever so slightly to determine the exact threshold that will satisfy my need for a warm shower and keep the dial turned low. Last week, after 4 days of goosebumps, I had a conversation with him, specifically asking him to run this experiment next summer. But once on a mission, he is hard to deter.

As the conversation progressed, I could see that Tom was puzzling over the fact that the shower temp seemed cooler than any other faucet/shower in the rest of the house. Of course, I said - it has always been this way. How long, he wondered? Why, since we owned the house - 18 years, I said. Apparently I had never communicated this fact to him, and since he never uses hot water in the sinks, he never knew this. I had assumed that this is just one of the mysteries of our house, one of those vague little things you never question, and just accept.

So Tom made a quick call and found out that shower heads, when installed, are set at a cool temperature to prevent scalding. When we turn our shower on, we are getting a mix of hot water from the tank and cold water to cool the water down. And, of course, we turn up the hot water in the tank to get it warm enough. Seems crazy.

So Tom adjusted the thermostatic mixing valve in our shower (5 minutes) and went downstairs to turn down the hot water tank. Success! Now we're not overheating our water, but have enough for a warm shower on a cold winter day.

And it only took 18 years.

The 5-Minute Shower

Mike McCarty is great. Even when he is on vacation he is looking for something that will help our group. So when he recently returned from a trip to Chicago, he brought back an idea from the Shedd Aquarium - the 5-minute shower timer. Apparently they give them to you for free, and he wondered if we would like some. And we all enthusiastically said yes! Well, that's not quite true - some in our group are a little protective of their somewhat longer showers, and remained diplomatically silent, but in the end we all agreed to try them. That's taking it for the team!

At last week's Tuesday meeting Mike brought a bag of probably 25 of these timers. Each of us took one and decided we'd talk about how they work next week. They affix to your glass shower door, as shown in our bathroom, above, or to your shower wall. I tried ours out the first day and proudly timed in at 4 minutes. I actually stared at the thing for the final minute, watching the last few crystals make their way downward, wasting all kinds of water and defeating the purpose, I suppose. I always knew I took a pretty short shower (probably due to the fact that while growing up I was competing for bathroom space with 2 sisters), and I'm sure this is why I had no problem trying it out in the first place. But lest you think I am a world-class brownie, I can divulge here and now that I do NOT shut off the water when I brush my teeth - I'm more of a brush-brush-spit-rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat person. Sorry.

So for those of you who tried your timers once and then hid it in the linen closet....I understand. But, Mike, we thank you.

Item of the Week

Right now our group is looking at No Waste. A few years ago this area was called 'Recycling,' but we have learned that recycling is really the last resort after reducing and reusing items. Much of our recycled material has been heading overseas at a huge energy cost, and now it appears that the value of our recycled material is sliding downward, causing much it if to remain unprocessed (and here). So recycling is not the final solution. Darn.

So we have to begin thinking about the first 2 items in our recycling mantra: reduce and reuse. A couple of weeks ago I challenged our Tuesday group to pull items from our recycling bins and every week we'll brainstorm different uses for these items. So today we start with the humble Early Gray 100-oz tin can. I buy these with some regularity because we have Earl Gray tea drinkers attending our weekly meetings. Normally these go into our recycling bin, but this particular tin was plucked out yesterday for our group meeting.

One thing I will say for our group -- we have imagination. So here are some things we recommend: fill it with sewing notions; keep seed envelopes inside it; good for loose herbs; use for gifts (especially chocolates); give it to your local kindergarten teacher (they are always collecting this stuff); store small amounts of beans, grains, etc; take it to Teavana and they will fill it with their own tea; and finally, put it up on freecycle. I can testify that people will pick up ANYTHING from your house if it is free. Trust me.

So there you have creativity at work. I'll keep an Item of the Week page up on the site for all of you who one day will reach into your garbage or recycling bins and wonder, 'Now, what could I do with this?'. We're here to help. Remember, small is big.

Natural cleaning

Last week when I cleaned I noticed that I have, bit by bit, reduced the number of cleaning products I'm using. I don't think I set out to do this - maybe I'm getting lazy and don't want to cart that caddy around the house with me. In any case, here's how it looked last week.

I started in the kitchen. I keep rags to clean with (you can buy a dozen or so, packaged up like washcloths at Target for about $5), and I pulled out 2. I got one wet (just water) and wiped everything down, followed by the dry cloth. That worked fine. ''[Please note that in case the Department of Health and Human Services finds this post, I do keep rinsing the cloth!]'' Next I took the cloths to the living room and family room. I wiped down the glass surfaces with the wet cloth, once again followed by the dry cloth, and used the now slightly damp dry cloth for all of the wood. So no more Pledge or windex-type products. I did use some of Denny Voss'
Naturally Clean floor cleaner on the floors because I really like it, but I do use just water on occasion.

Upstairs in the bathrooms I am using a concoction developed by Tom while I was down and out with a bad back (leave it to him to develop a new cleaner for me!). I mix white vinegar with a drop or two of dish soap and a little water (no exact measurements needed) and found this worked quite well for all of my surfaces, and in particular my shower doors and mirror. When I'm done cleaning I dump the remainder on the floor of my shower and wipe it down.

Now, I still use a toilet bowl cleaner (Naturally Clean again), and the one toxic cleaner I still feel the need to hang on to is Soft Scrub (for sinks). But compared with the number of products I used to use, I'm way down.

Have I scared you away from my house? I hope not! But give some thought to the products you're using, and experiment a little. You may find you need less than you think.

Disposing of medicines

Yesterday I gathered up all of my unused medicines for disposal. I found all kinds of stuff, including children's medicines, and considering the fact that my youngest just turned 20, I guess it's time for them to go. I got everything into boxes - you can see our cat Calvin inspecting them (on the counter.....yes....I know....). In my research, it was recommended that I call my local pharmacy first to see if they participate in a take-back program. My CVS here in Troy does not, but they recommended that I call SOCCRA, my local recycling center. So I have made an appointment to take them in.

Before I take them in, however, I am going to do a couple of things. First, there are some perfectly good medications (like vitamins) that I simply don't want, and I'm going to see if anyone wants them. Second, for things that are no longer useful to anyone, I have read that I have to do the following: For solid meds, add a bit of water to the container to discourage people from looking through the trash and taking them; for liquids, add salt or spices; cover blister packs with heavy tape; in fact, cover all packages with tape and wrap them in plastic bags. Then throw it into the trash. In case you haven't heard: Do not put anything into the toilet or sink - it all goes to our water system and our system is not equipped to filter out these toxins.

This seems like a pretty imperfect answer, so we are working on ideas for reducing the medications that need to be thrown away or somehow recycling. Reducing could include simple things like finishing your meds as you doctor prescribes or buying the minimal amount, and purchasing more as needed. Recycling programs are beginning to pop up also -- read more about this on our medicines page.

Winter garden interest

A few years ago we decided to cut our backyard in half with a dry creek. On one side is our traditional lawn, but on the other side we have developed a woodsy-type area. We covered the grass with wood chips and mountains of leaves. We already had a flowering pear tree, and added a river birch and swamp oak. Then we planted bushes: ninebarks, red-twig dogwoods, serviceberries, winterberry, and a couple of elderberries. Add to that other native flowing plants, and it is quite a sight in the summer.

So I thought you might like to see it in a Michigan winter. We don't cut back anything, so you see it as it is. I have noticed that we have a lot of critter and bird activity - still - because of the trails they leave in the snow. It's endlessly interesting.

Handkerchiefs

This past Christmas Tom asked for handkerchiefs and received 3 from our daughters that were hand embroidered. I think he got the idea originally when we lived in Japan and all the men carried handkerchiefs to blow their noses or wipe their faces in the summer heat. It's also a great way to reduce paper consumption. So he carries one on his person (back pocket) regularly now. He uses it to wipe his hands in the men's room, wipe things like his glasses or camera, and of course when he sneezes, coughs or needs to blow his nose (but that would eliminate the other uses if used first, I think).

This is a little idea, but you might find it useful. And out daughters, I'm sure, wouldn't mind embroidering them for you!