Lowe's Top 10 DIY Projects to Help You Green Your Home and Save Some
Green in Your Wallet
MOORESVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
This Earth
Day, help the environment and your wallet by tackling simple home
improvement projects that will save you energy, water and money in 2010
and beyond. With retail's largest in-stock selection of ENERGY STAR(R)
qualified major appliances, ENERGY STAR lighting and WaterSense(R)
products, Lowe's
makes it easy to identify affordable projects that can provide huge
returns on investment for both your family and the environment.
Begin your Earth Day celebrations by participating in a family project.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 17, every Lowe's store across the United
States will offer an Earth Day-themed Build and Grow workshop. Children
will build a "See It Grow" planter and receive educational materials
created by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to teach families about the importance of
protecting the environment, ways to save energy, water and money, and
the benefits of organic products.
Lowe's conducts Build and Grow workshops bi-weekly as a way for parents
and adult mentors to spend quality time working on projects with their
children--free of charge. The workshops are recommended for children in
grades 2 to 5, and each provides hands-on instruction to approximately
50 children. To sign-up for the Earth Day Build and Grow workshop at a
local store, visit www.lowesbuildandgrow.com.
Keep the Earth Day celebrations rolling at home by completing some easy
projects that will provide savings year after year. The typical
household spends $2,200 on energy bills per year. With ENERGY
STAR-qualified products, you can save 30 percent annually--or more than
$700 a year, according to the EPA.
Make your commitment to an efficient home and healthy environment today
by following these top 10 do-it-yourself (DIY) tips from the EPA and
Lowe's:
1. Changing incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light (CFL)
bulbs is one of the top energy-saving DIY projects. An ENERGY
STAR-qualified CFL will save $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in
about six months. Lowe's is offering a buy one, get one free promotion
on Earth Day for all two-pack CFL bulbs.
2. Replace traditional light fixtures with an ENERGY STAR-qualified
light. If every American home replaced just one light with an ENERGY
STAR light, the amount of electricity saved would be enough to light
more than three million homes for a year, save about $700 million in
annual energy costs and prevent nine billion pounds of greenhouse gas
emissions, which is the equivalent of about 800,000 cars.
3. When choosing an appliance, purchase one with the ENERGY STAR label.
An ENERGY STAR clothes washer uses about 30 percent less energy and 50
percent less water than a non-ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washer,
saving about $500 over its lifetime on utility bills, which is enough to
pay for a matching dryer. With the purchase of a new appliance, Lowe's
will haul away and recycle customers' old appliances for free. With
stores in 14 states rolling out collection trailers this month, Lowe's
appliance recycling program is now available at more than 1,700 stores
in North America.
4. Don't use your toilet as a wastebasket by flushing tissues.
Eliminating just one flush per day can save nearly 1,300 gallons
annually per household, which is enough to wash about 32 loads of
laundry.
5. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth in the morning and
before bedtime to save up to eight gallons of water a day, which adds up
to more than 200 gallons a month - equivalent to 1,280 twenty-ounce
bottles of water.
6. Install a new, ENERGY STAR-qualified refrigerator that uses less
energy than a 75-watt light bulb running continuously.
7. Check your toilet for leaks. A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of
water every day. To tell if your toilet has a leak, place a drop of food
coloring in the tank. If the color shows in the bowl without flushing,
you have a leak. Flush quickly after testing to be sure the food
coloring doesn't stain the bowl.
8. Switch to a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation systems use
between 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional, in-ground
sprinklers and are more efficient because no water is lost to wind,
runoff and evaporation. Switching to a drip irrigation system can save
more than 200,000 gallons over the lifetime of the system, saving at
least $1,150.
9. Take a shower instead of a bath. Taking a shower uses 10 to 25
gallons while filling up a bath takes up to 70 gallons. If you do take a
bath, plug the drain right away and adjust the temperature as you fill
the tub.
10. Recycle your batteries. Lowe's has participated in the Rechargeable
Battery Recycling Program since 2005 and a nationwide pallet recycling
program since 2006. Last year, the company recycled a record amount of
material, including 334,000 pounds of rechargeable batteries, 166,000
tons of wood pallets, 147,000 tons of cardboard and nearly 400 tons of
shrink wrap.
Lowe's recycling programs reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions
while allowing Lowe's to cut costs. The company added 320 stores from
2007 to 2009 but still cut its trash expense more than 20 percent,
saving more than 800,000 tons of recyclable material that Lowe's
diverted from landfills.
Lowe's has been recognized eight years in a row by the EPA for saving
customers energy and money. For more information about Lowe's 2010
ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence award and additional tips for saving
energy and money this Earth Day, visit www.lowes.com/earthday.
About Lowe's
With fiscal year 2009 sales of $47.2 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is
a FORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 15 million customers a
week at more than 1,700 home improvement stores in the United States,
Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C.,
Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For
more information, visit Lowes.com.
Source: Lowe's Companies, Inc.
