Global warming, increasing energy, fuel and food costs are all on the top of our minds these days. Today, we are more concious than ever about saving money, making educated decisions about the products we buy and taking care of our enviroment.
At Karsten's, we would like to offer you Helpful Earth Choices. We can offer you ways to cut your electricity bill, conserve water, increase the use of organics in your gardening and give you paint choices that are more eco-friendly than traditional paints. We even offer you the choice of bringing your old CFL and flourescent tube lightbulbs into our stores for safe recycling.
Reducing your electric bill
By reducing your electrical consumption, you not only save money but you also contribute to reducing carbon emmissions and potential global warming. When shopping in any of Karsten's stores look for the Energy Star symbol on products such as water heaters, thermostats, fans and lightbulbs. Replacing your standard incandescent light bulbs with new Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFL) is quickly becoming the latest trend. It is easy to do, and can reduce your energy consumption by about 75% versus a standard bulb. Visit the APS CFL website for more information about CFL's and the promotions that Karsten's ACE and APS are currently running.
With all the talk about CFL bulbs, you may be thinking "that's great that I can save money and energy by converting to CFL bulbs, but what about the mercury in the bulbs? Isn't that hazardous to the environment?" At Karsten's, we offer CFL and flourescent tube recycling. In conjunction with the Town of Carefree's Household recycling program, we collect bulbs from residents at our store 7 days a week. The Town then safely and properly recycles the spent bulbs, preventing them from ending up in our landfills. Additionally, we have partnered with APS to bring recycling options to our other stores. This is just another way that we offer you Helpful Earth Choices!
Conserve Water
Water...
one of our most precious resources. We can provide you with some tips
and products to help reduce your water consumption at home.
Toilets: keeping your toilets in good repair can save hundreds of gallons of water. A malfuntioning float valve or flapper can cause your toilet to run continuously, wasting water. Make sure that all of your "thrones" are tuned up and working properly. Your helpful service associate at Karsten's ACE can provide simple instructions on how to replace these wear items.
Faucets: dripping faucets are another waste of resources. Again, we can help you keep your faucets in tip-top working order using quality parts from ACE!
Irrigation: in Arizona, we all have irrigation systems in our yards. The problem is that we have leaks underground that we don't even know about. Keep an eye open for missing dripper heads, wet spots and soft spots on the ground where there shouldn't be (no dripper in the area). These may be signs of a leak underground. A small puddle on the surface could be gallons wasted under the surface. Keep your system in top repair with help from our irrigation experts! And use quality parts from Raindrip and Rainbird.|
Ace Paint continues to green its operations |
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2008 marked another great year
for green efforts at Ace's two paint production facilities. A total of 145
tons of material was recycled, including 89 tons of paper and cardboard, 47
tons of metal and 9 tons of plastic. Ace Paint's thermal oxidizer
destroyed 9 tons of VOC emissions and the distillation unit recovered more
than 80,000 gallons of solvent. Natural gas use was curtailed by
15 and 20 percent at the Chicago Heights and Matteson facilities,
respectively. Together,they saved 536 tons of air pollution through energy
conservation efforts. Finally, the division was able
to save more than 13,000 gallons of paint through a special
"reclaim" project.
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In The Yard...
They
may look like something out of a 1960s TV show, but reel
lawnmowers are making a comeback. These eco-friendly units cut grass
without an
engine, gasoline or spark plugs, and cause no fuel emissions. Other
advantages
include:
- Cost
far less than power mowers
- Start every time;
just give it a
push
- Feature adjustable cutting height,
sharpening kit, and grass collection bags (some accessories sold
separately)
- Generate no engine noise
- Contribute to
physical fitness
LEARN MORE about what ACE Hardware is doing to be a Helpful Earth Choice!
