Enid Sisskin

Don’t keep your car running if you’re not moving.  First, avoid prolonged warming up of the engine, even on cold mornings - 30 to 45 seconds is plenty of time.  Don’t know if whether it’s more cost effective to keep the car running or turn it off – if you’ll be idling for more than a minute, it’s better just to turn it off since one minute of idling consumes the same amount of gas as starting the engine.  Routinely shutting the car off rather than allowing extended idling could improve your gas mileage by 19%.  Remember that the next time you’re backed up in the drive-through lane.    

If you don’t already have one, this is a good time to prepare a winter emergency kit.

When researchers looked at the science behind the environmental impacts of our daily lives, they found that the vast majority of the impacts were in three areas, transportation, our diet, and home energy use.  This is the EcoMinute, and I’m Christian Wagley.  Transportation—how we get to work and school each day; our diet—the food we eat and how it is produced; and home energy use—the energy needed to heat, cool, make hot water, and other major uses in our home contribute to X% .  The scientists found that by focusing on making improvements in these three areas—reducing the amount we drive

Next week is Halloween, consider an alternative to conventional candy.  According to Care2.com and GreenHalloween.org, when children aged four to teens were shown alternative treats such as pencils made from recycled paper, seed packets, colored stones and other choices, they were excited and said they’d love to get them at Halloween.  For the most part, kids were happy to get a variety of options, rather than another bucket of candy.  But if you do give out candy, you don’t need to give

It’s a great time to start thinking about preparing your home for the cooler weather to come.  One source of air leakage in your home is through electrical outlets and switchplates and fixing this is easy.  Look for outlet or insulation gaskets at your home or hardware store and follow the simple directions to install them.  If you have a water heater storage tank, be sure it is insulated, especially on the top.  Even better is a point-of-use tankless heater.  When installed where they will be used, in the kitchen or baths, they only need to supply hot water for the fixtures in that one ro

You can make Halloween a little greener according to Care2.com and GreenHalloween.org.  This is the EM and I’m ES.  Next Monday is Halloween and if you still have some preparations to do, you might do them a little differently.  Instead of carving a big pumpkin, get some smaller ones and paint them or decorate them with yarn, ribbons, or other found objects.  Then after Monday you can cook them instead of tossing them.  If you don’t cook them and have vegetative scraps, be sure to compost them.  If you do have a carved pumpkin, use a beeswax candle or LED lights for decorating.   Speaking

Green your Halloween this year.  According to Care2.com and GreenHalloween.org, about 25 million children celebrate Halloween and most of them get a new store bought costume every year.  Rather than buy yet another costume for your kids or yourself, consider either making one from things you have around the house or organize a neighborhood or school costume swap.  These swapped costumes will be new to your children, you’ll save money and you could reduce landfill waste by tons.  Some other sources of gently used costumes are thrift stores and consignment shops – many of which benefit local

It’s time to start thinking about getting your home prepared for cooler temperatures.  Inspect the exterior of your home to check for cracks or open areas around pipes and seal them. Check your doors and windows to see how well they fit.  Use weather-stripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering the home and caulk windows.  Replace any cracked window panes.  In your home check where pipes, vents or conduits run through the walls or ceilings and fill any spaces with foam sealant.  Install any storm windows, and store your summer screens.

Have you considered how eco-friendly your child’s lunch is?  This is Carrie Stevenson with the EcoMinute.  When I host school field trips, I always cringe at the juice pouches, plastic sandwich bags, and water bottles tossed in the garbage after lunch.  Most kids are off to a good start by taking a reusable lunch bag or box to school, but reusable water bottles and sandwich containers will reduce waste and save money throughout the year on plastic baggies and juice pouches.  Another good tip is to buy snacks (like crackers, yogurt, and trail mix) in bulk and send them in a reusable contain

Getting ready to spruce up your home? Check your windows.  Installing high-performance windows will improve your home's energy efficiency. While it may take many years for new windows to pay off in energy savings, the benefits of added comfort and improved anesthetics and functionality may make the investment worth it to you and there might also be tax incentives.

October is a great time to start thinking about preparing your home for the cooler weather to come.  If you have a furnace, have it inspected by a professional before you need to use it.  Stock up on filters and be sure to change them monthly.  If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, consider buying one – they’re not very expensive and they will save you money.   If you have a fireplace, and it hasn’t been cleaned in a while, have it checked and get any build up or soot and creosote removed and be sure the cap is intact.  Inspect the damper to be sure it opens and closes properly.  Al

When I lived up north, knowing that the tulip and daffodil bulbs I planted in the fall would be blooming in the spring helped to get through the long, cold winter.  This is the EM and I’m ES.  In NW Florida, we don’t have the long cold winters and tulips don’t do well here, but you can still plant bulbs now that will welcome the warm spring weather.   According to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences or IFAS, Florida's climate lets growers raise a variety of tropical and subtropical bulbs in their gar

If you’re a gardener, the plantmaps.com website is a great source of information.  This time of year you can use plantmaps.com to check for the average date of the first frost, check out the USDA hardiness zones to decide what to plant this fall, or check the distribution of Florida native plants  - among other available maps.  What I found when I looked at the site, was that in NorthWest Florida, our average first frost is between December 1 and December 10, plenty of time to ge

Although vegetable gardens are associated with summer, not all vegetables grow well in the Florida heat.  In Northwest Florida we can get in a crop of fall and winter vegetables.

Get creative with your outdoor Halloween and other decorations and keep the three R’s in mind.  Reduce the amount or money you spend on decorations by looking for reusable items and make sure that if you are using one-time use decorations be sure to use only recyclable or compostable material.   Autumn decorating practically screams for the use of natural objects as outdoor decorations.  You can be stylishly savvy with cornstalks, branches, colorful leaves, and of course the traditional Halloween pumpkin — all of which can be composted when you’re taking down your Halloween scene.  And las

Yard and landscape maintenance don’t have to be a lot of work.  This is Carrie Stevenson.  The University of Florida’s Florida-friendly landscaping program is based on common sense principles.  The first is right plant, right place; which means making sure the soil and light conditions match your plant’s needs.  Next is water efficiently.  Proper irrigation can make or break a new plant, especially a tree.  The third is fertilizing appropriately.  Many native species don’t require much fertilizer at all, but if your vegetables, turf, or flowers do need extra nutrients, make sure you use th