Green Tips for January – Have Sustainable Resolutions!

Many of us like to make New Year’s resolutions to change certain behaviors or patterns at the beginning of each new year.

ACI’s Team Green has some tips that are easy to stick to and help the environment. The tips we’ve compiled below can be fun, easy, low to no cost, and help you feel better about your impact on the planet. Remember, they say it takes just 3 weeks to set a new positive habit, so pick one of the practices below and give it a go!

Reduce your energy use through apps and smart thermostats.

Want to set a New Year’s resolution to save energy and money? Try an app, such as Strides or Habit-Bull, that you can install on your phone. These apps are a good first step to a sustainable lifestyle that allows you to track behaviors and habits to show you real-time progress. You can easily integrate eco-conscious practices into your daily routine, from reducing waste to saving energy, and watch all your small steps make a big difference!

You could try smart thermostats and sensors to save energy. One favorite among the Sustainability Department staff is the “Eco bee.” The Eco bee uses GPS and occupancy sensing to track your comings and goings. It then adjusts the temperature for comfort or energy savings accordingly. What’s better yet is that the Eco bee smart thermostats and sensors automatically shift into energy savings mode once everyone’s gone to bed, or with “Eco+” mode, it saves you energy by not turning on your heating or AC system when you are not home. There are even rebates available through PG&E to help you make the switch!

Where can I find rebates that are available to me? Before purchasing an Eco Bee thermostat, you can go to ecobee.com/rebates and enter your zip or postal code to see if any rebates are available in your region. If so, select your utility for instructions on how to apply for eligible rebates and discount codes. During registration, when configuring Eco+ on your Eco bee thermostat, available rebates will be shown based on your location. These rebates are offered if you enable the Eco+ Community Energy Savings feature. You can see if you are eligible for a Community Energy Savings rebate during everyday use by opening the Eco Bee app.

Practice a few of these water-saving tips.

Saving the amount of water you use is remarkably easy. And with the rates of our water bills only going up, it also makes financial sense. According to the US EPA, you could save up to 200 gallons of water per month by turning off the water when brushing your teeth! Try timing your showers and aim to take a shorter one – ideally 5 minutes or less. While at it, you can take it a step further and consider placing a bucket in your shower to capture the water wasted to water your plants. Another simple water-saving tip is to buy sink aerators for all the sinks in your house. Sink aerators are small devices that attach to the spout of your faucet that stem the water flow. You can find them in hardware stores for under 5 dollars, and they have many flow rates, so you can decide how much water will flow through them. Let us save that water for what we really need and pay less on our water bill in the process!

Eat seasonally and eat more veggies.

Did you know you can reduce your environmental impact by buying food in season? Buying food in season promotes local farming and means that your food doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to reach your plate. Produce that is in season is also more equipped to grow in the prevalent weather of the season, resulting in being less resource-intensive on our soil. In January, broccoli is an amazing vegetable in season to incorporate into your diet. Broccoli is full of fiber and vitamins K and C and is beneficial for heart, bone, and gut health.

Another local resource is the Food Shift Seasonal Kitchen Guide. This guide was created in partnership with StopWaste and celebrates the bounty of nature, our resilience, and well-being by highlighting twelve produce items that are readily available and affordable in Alameda County.

Lastly, consider eating more veggies and less meat in your diet! Did you know the average American eats over 270 pounds of meat per person per year? The US Geological Survey reports that when a person switches to a plant-based diet, they will save over 150thousand gallons of water each year and tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Try making a small switch of cutting out meat, even once a week – Meat-free Mondays are making a comeback!

Skip the plastic and grab the tote.

Consider bringing your own tote and produce bags to the grocery store. It’s an easy and impactful way to cut down on the billions of plastic bags that end up at the landfill each year. The goal is to reduce plastic waste, protect wildlife, and promote more sustainable shopping habits. Currently, under state law SB270, stores in California are required to charge customers 10 cents for each reusable plastic or paper bag provided at check out. Save money and the planet by bringing your own bags to the store in 2025!

Choose paperless billing (including your ACI bill).

One of the leading materials in our landfills is ‘fiber,’ or paper materials from either cardboard, paperboard, or paper. While it can be hard to reduce the amount of this you
generate every week, one tip is to limit the bills you receive in the mail. Consider switchingall of your bills over to paperless. This is an option for nearly every company or vendorthese days. If you choose paperless billing for your ACI invoice, we will plant a tree. Over6400 trees have been planted so far!) If you haven’t done it, go paperless to your weeklypaystub or direct deposit accounts. Going paperless will put your mind at ease aboutneeding to hold onto your physical statements and will allow you access to any paystubyou’ve ever received through their online portal at any time.