Walking by the recycling outside on trash night I couldn’t help but wish we could stop all that junk mail from coming in the first place. No more random catalogs sent because we ordered something 10 years ago. Thinking about all the poor trees just our building alone could save from mowed down for a 3% response rate. Got me inspired to come back and try to do something.

Now, if you’re not getting a lot of you can always just call the company and ask to be removed from their mailing list. However if you are inundated with mail, you might want to consider contacting GreenDimes. They employ real, live people to contact the mailing list vendors, catalog publishers and credit card companies using your address. For a one-time fee they’ll remove your name from all the junk mail lists and catalogs you no longer wish to receive, and they’ll monitor these lists monthly to make sure you don’t get added back. You even get access to their customer service reps if you have questions and the best part — they will plant 5 trees to help offset all those years of junk mail. All that for just $20 bucks!

Not ready to pay a fee? GreenDimes has a free service with do-it-yourself list removal tools. For all those unwanted catalogs, try Catalog Choice, a free service that lets you decline catalogs you no longer wish to receive while keeping the ones you want.

Additional tips for dealing with junk mail can be found at thegreenrabbit.com.

Walking by the recycling outside on trash night I couldn’t help but wish we could stop all that junk mail from coming in the first place. No more random catalogs sent because we ordered something 10 years ago. Thinking about all the poor trees just our building alone could save from mowed down for a 3% response rate. Got me inspired to come back and try to do something.

Now, if you’re not getting a lot of you can always just call the company and ask to be removed from their mailing list. However if you are inundated with mail, you might want to consider contacting GreenDimes. They employ real, live people to contact the mailing list vendors, catalog publishers and credit card companies using your address. For a one-time fee they’ll remove your name from all the junk mail lists and catalogs you no longer wish to receive, and they’ll monitor these lists monthly to make sure you don’t get added back. You even get access to their customer service reps if you have questions and the best part — they will plant 5 trees to help offset all those years of junk mail. All that for just $20 bucks!

Not ready to pay a fee? GreenDimes has a free service with do-it-yourself list removal tools. For all those unwanted catalogs, try Catalog Choice, a free service that lets you decline catalogs you no longer wish to receive while keeping the ones you want.

Additional tips for dealing with junk mail can be found at thegreenrabbit.com.

You may have noticed the rates for the washers are a little different than before. As water and utility costs continue to rise (over 25% in the last two years) we are forced to cover these additional costs. We have priced the front loading HE washers only only slightly more than the previous costs since they use less water. Thus, the top loading washers, which use significantly more water, have been priced higher to cover the cost of the additional water and encourage use of the greener front loading washers.

While structural repairs were being made the laundry room was also renovated. The first thing you’ll notice after the new look, is the increase in the number of ‘energy-star rated’ front-load washers. The front-load washers are more environmentally friendly for a number of reasons:

• They use 14 gallons less water per load. About 19 gallons of water per load compared to the 33 gallons per load than a typical top-load washer uses.
  
• They use less energy. Using less waters means that less energy is needed to heat the water for every cycle and with high speed extraction of up to 1,000 rpms, more water is removed during the spin cycle, so it will take less time (and energy) to dry clothes.
• Greater capacity. With no agitator, the washers offer 32% greater capacity than a top load machine. Now you can do more laundry in fewer loads!

You can save even more energy by using only cold water. These tips will help you make the switch to washing in cold:

• Always select cold wash/cold rinse. Cold water will always get the job done unless you’re dealing with super greasy stains. An added benefit: washing in cold water will help the colors last longer and keep the fabrics stronger.
• Fill it up. Now that you’re only using energy to run the machine, get the most out of each load. If not doing a full load, you’re wasting water.
• Outwit your laundry. If you’ve got a real mess, spot treatment or pre-soaking should beat the problem without getting you in hot water. If that fails, try using warm water instead of hot - this will still reduce energy use by half, and will likely do the trick.
• Clean the lint filter on the dryer before every load to improve air circulation and drying efficiency.

Please help to reduce our buildings environmental impact where possible

Braai, New York’s first South African barbecue spot, opened last Saturday in Hell’s Kitchen. Check them out at 329 W. 51st St (between 8th and 9th Ave), 212-315-3315