PAPER VS. PLASTIC: WHICH BAG IS MORE ECO-FRIENDLY? THE SUSTAINABLE SHOPPER’S GUIDE
It’s easy to forget that the air quality in our home isn’t just magically clean! Dust, contaminants, and allergens can easily circulate in your home. Luckily, your furnace filter is your first line of defense — but it won’t clean your home’s air if you don’t replace it often. A dirty filter can even cause expensive utility bills and damage your HVAC equipment. Understand the truth about furnace filters. Furnace filters are designed to trap airborne contaminants to prevent them from entering your heating and cooling system! So, when you forget to change your filter, the delicate components of your heating and cooling equipment suffer. For example, imagine your filter is dirty and clogged. Your HVAC system might continue to run, but air won’t circulate properly. Your system has to expend more energy to operate, and you’ll probably turn up the heat because it’s not working as efficiently. Your equipment is working twice as hard for half the result. Many other problems can occur when furnace filters aren’t changed, including “short-cycling” your HVAC equipment. Dust-heavy filters can cause your equipment to run at a higher temperature, and it might overheat and shut off. Even though it might cool down and start up again, the cycle will continue in the same short bursts, thus “short-cycling.” Change the filter regularly. This varies from home to home. With more people living in the house, especially those with allergies, and a few furry friends, you may want to consider replacing your filter more often. However, a great way to determine how often to change it is to look at what type of filter you have, categorized by thickness: Wait, Why Do I Need to Replace My Furnace Filter? Read This, and You Won’t Forget
For a long time, we’ve believed that paper bags are more eco- friendly than plastic bags, but multiple research papers have revealed the truth: It’s actually just the opposite. Here’s how paper and plastic bags compare to each other, according to recent research. Which is more biodegradable? You’d think paper would degrade much faster than plastic. While that’s technically true, it’s not significant overall. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that current research “demonstrates that paper in today’s landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does.” In fact, modern landfills don’t allow the degradation process to be completed — they lack “water, light, oxygen, and other important elements” that are necessary to do so. Some
plastic and paper are designed to be more compostable, but with fewer than 100 food and plastic composting facilities in the U.S., most of your compostable plastics and papers will never reach one of them. Which produces more waste? When it comes to waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, plastic is still easier on the planet. According to the ULS Report, plastic grocery bags consume 71% less energy during production than paper bags. Also, plastic bags generate 39% less greenhouse gas emissions than uncomposted paper bags,
and 68% less greenhouse gas emissions than composted paper bags (since composted materials, by definition, create carbon dioxide). Lastly, it takes over 1,004 gallons of water to produce 1,000 paper bags. It takes 58 gallons of water to produce 1,500 plastic bags. What’s the most effective way to use bags? Remember, the way bags are produced makes the most environmental impact, not necessarily how biodegradable the bags are. Plus, not all biodegradable plastic bags have been generated in an eco-conscious way, sometimes even causing increased greenhouse gas emissions. Because landfills are so unreliable at properly composting our waste, your best bet is to look out for reusable plastic bags. After four or more uses, reusable plastic bags become the most planet- friendly bags compared to all other types of disposable bags.
For 1–2-inch filters , replace them every 1–3 months.
For 3–4-inch filters , replace them every 6–9 months.
For 5–6-inch filters , replace them every 9–12 months.
If you need more help, try calling your local HVAC professional and get their opinion! They may even give you further information and insights about keeping your home’s air quality healthy.
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