May/June 2008 Issue

The Green-Belt Movement

A tipsheet for butt-kicking energy-saving moves.

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white belt: no-brainers Switch to CFL bulbs. Turn off lights when you leave the room. Set the thermostat to 68° in winter, 78° in summer. Turn down the water heater to 120°. Wash clothes in cold water and air or line dry them. Use rechargeable batteries. Recycle. Compost. Take mass transit. Ride your bike. Carpool. Drive 55. Walk to the store. Set your fridge to 37°. Set your freezer to 5° and keep it full (use containers filled with water). Turn off the dry cycle on your dishwasher. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. Unplug “energy vampires” like TVs, DVD players, and iPod chargers when not in use.

yellow belt: some assembly required Install motion-activated light switches. Use low-flow showerheads. Use a power-consumption meter to track down energy vampires. Choose a power supplier that uses renewable energy. Support renewable power by paying a premium on your electric bills (“green pricing”). Insulate your home. Eat local. Use a laptop. Learn to drive stick.

green belt: kill a watt Convert your fridge to run on propane. Switch your home energy source from electric to gas. Use a solar oven. Buy only Energy Star-rated appliances. Get a front-loading washing machine. Install an on-demand water heater. Install double-glazed windows, or retrofit old ones. Apply for a “green mortgage” and get lower interest rates for your energy-efficient home.

brown belt: technical knockouts Install a gray-water system…or two-stage flush toilets…or composting toilets. Use “daylighting” products such as solar tubes, and a parabolic reflector. Install photovoltaic panels on your roof. Install a condensing boiler for central heat. Get motorized combustion air dampers. Replace your fireplace with a high-efficiency woodstove. Power your fridge with cold air from outside with a Freeaire system. Replace your furnace and AC with a geothermal heat pump—and upgrade it to heat your water.

black belt: you have the power Convert your hybrid to a plug-in. Use your solar array to sell power back to the grid on sunny days. Produce your own energy from biogas. Get yourself a wind turbine.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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