When the temperature heats up, don’t let your budget melt down! Summer is here-staying busy and active, taking trips and cranking the AC can really do some damage to your pocketbook! Here, our top tips for keeping your wallet intact.
Ditch the soft drinks and try making "sun tea" (a favorite here in North Carolina). Toss four large tea bags into a clear pitcher or jar full of filtered water, and let it bake outside for three hours. Later, dilute with filtered water, add a little lemon and sugar, and refrigerate!
Skip the produce section at your pricey grocery store and hit your local farmers' market. Spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, string beans and red bell peppers are cheap and in season now. While you're there, pick up petunias at bargain prices to brighten your flower beds.
Go on a stay-cation. Bring Maui, Miami, or Montego to your own backyard! Let your kids make decorations or pick up some floral centerpieces, colorful place mats and leis from your local dollar store. Play a Hawaiian CD and grill fish or chicken with pineapple and coconut rice for dinner and end the weekend with a hula contest and a dip in the kiddie pool.
Turn down the AC. Set you thermostat's fan setting to "on" to keep the air circulating. Better yet, get a programmable thermostat that automatically adjusts the temperature for the times you're not at home.
Have a clothing swap. Reserve a Saturday afternoon to trade your most gorgeous "not for me" leftovers with your friends. And don't forget kids' clothes! It's good time, too, to hit the summer sales: swimsuits, sandals and sunglasses are all marked down now.
Cancel the cable bill for the summer and enjoy the beautiful weather instead. Visit your neighborhood pool, go on family hikes, camp in the backyard, attend minor-league baseball games, hit local parks or check out the zoo. Need your TV fix? Try Hulu Plus and Netflix on Demand.
Skip the coffee shop and make your own coffee slushes ($1 for four servings, versus $12 in stores). Pour leftover coffee into ice-cube trays and freeze, then toss the frozen cubes and flavored liquid creamer into a blender. Voila!
Forego ice cream and try freezing bananas, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries for a sweet, cheap summer snack. Toss any uneaten frozen fruit into a blender, pour into ice-pop molds and refreeze for later.
Leave the restaurants to the roadside when you're on vacation. Make sure you've booked hotel rooms equipped with microwaves (see hotels.com). Before you check in, go to a supermarket and buy microwave dinners and snacks like popcorn and pizza bagels. Pack your Brita pitcher and you'll have clean, filtered water straight from your hotel room tap.
Freshen your filters.If you’ve got an HVAC system in your home, the simplest money-saving move you can make is to change your air filters. It will reduce allergens and air pollutants in your home and improve the efficiency of your air flow. Pro Tip: replace them each month when you get your electric bill.
Tap it. Water, that is! Ditch the bottle and drink filtered water from your tap or fridge dispenser for $ .002 a gallon.
Save money. Literally. There are about 94 days of summer. Aim to save just $7 every day of summer, and you’ll have more than $650 accumulated by Labor Day. Whether you use it to pay down a credit card, loan, or to fund the upcoming holiday season, it may be the most important money move you make all summer.
1. The water system, including reservoirs, tanks, buildings, pumps, and pipes, that supplies water to a city, town, or other municipality.
2. An exhibition of moving water, such as a fountain or cascade.
3. Informal Tears: turned on the waterworks.
Meet Tabatha Hackley. Tabatha's a college student who works in the Fridge Filters warehouse between semesters. She's just one of the people here who makes sure that your fridge filters are boxed up carefully and shipped to you quickly--because Tabatha cares about our customers. And like all of us here at Fridge Filters, Tabatha cares about the people who don't have access to clean water.
Facts:
Almost one billion people drink contaminated water every day.
Over 1.8 million people – mostly children – die every year from diseases communicated through water.
Last week Tabatha told us about a new Facebook app she found called WaterworksTM. She was really, really excited about it.
It's simple.
You partner with a Waterworker- a real woman working to provide access to clean drinking water in her community - via a Facebook app. Mine is Santoshi Ahrivar. She lives in India. She's 24 years old. She looks like this:
2. You set up a small daily donation. One that even a college student like Tabatha can afford-like, 10 cents a day small. Santoshi and women like her get jobs distributing clean water kits; the people in their communities get clean drinking water.
3. Your Waterworker uses a mobile device to record the actual impact your funding is making, which you can see on Facebook:
And so can your friends. Sharing your stories from Waterworks helps encourage your Facebook friends to get involved, too. Turns out you don't need to be Zuckerberg wealthy to have the potential to change 500 million people's lives.
If the past month's headlines haven't convinced you that the zombie apocalypse is upon us, well, the zombies have already eaten your brains.
BRAAAIIIINS
That's right. We said it. Zombies. Sure, we're a team of highly educated water filtration experts more given to discussing micron ratings, but today we're talking ZOMBIES. Laugh if you want to, but when it happens (and it will) you'll be glad you read this. So without further ado (time is running out, you know), here's
The Fridge Filters' Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.
1. KNOW THY ZOMBIE. Think all zombies are slow, dull-witted shufflers? HA! YOU'RE DEAD. Zombies being controlled by voodoo curses, hypnotism, aliens, or microchips can run just as fast as you or I. Scarier still? The Enhanced Human Zombie. Altered by viral or bacterial infection, or worse yet--DNA alteration--enhanced zombies are the Terminators of the undead and can run, jump, and kill faster, harder, and more effectively than anyone but Chuck Norris.
(FACT: When Chuck Norris bites a zombie, it turns human.)
2. ARM YOURSELF AND GO FOR THE HEAD. Can't keep your silver bullets straight from your wooden stakes? No worries. If you've seen Zombieland you know there are buckets of ways to kill zombies. No matter your weapon of choice, though, go for the head--it's the only way to re-dead the undead.
(FACT: The word zombie entered the English language in 1929. That same year the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Coincidence? NOT LIKELY.)
3. PREVENT INFECTION. Sure, voodoo and zombie bites are responsible for like, 99.9% of zombie infections. But did you know you can catch zombie by sharing a drinking glass with a zombie? Not putting the paper down on a toilet seat after a zombie uses it? Breathing recirculated air on an zombie piloted aircraft?
(Don't even get us started on zombie mosquitos and zombie chiggers. It's June in North Carolina, y'all-- we'd be the first to die.)
4. BLEND IN. Should you find yourself in the midst of a zombie horde, DON'T PANIC. Blend in to the crowd and move like a zombie. That's right. Dance the Thriller.
Don't have the moves like Jackson? You can learn a thing or two from these cute kids:
5. PREPARE. Gather food and supplies now, because the last place you want to have to go during the zombie apocalypse is your local Walmart. In their “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” blog, the CDC (No joke. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention really has a "Zombie Preparedness” page on its official website) recommends having an emergency kit stocked with food, medicine, tools, and supplies to get you through till you can find a zombie-free refugee camp. The most important item in the kit? You guessed it.
Water.
In fact, you'll need one gallon of water per person per day that you're on the run. That's a lot of water to carry! Those gallon jugs of water take up a lot of space in your survival pack...and at 8+ pounds per gallon they're sure to slow you down while you're on the run! You'll need something lighter, more compact
Katadyn MyBottle Ultralight Series 24-Ounce Personal Water Purifier Bottle
The Katadyn bottle frees you from having to carry or locate safe drinking water while hiking, evading zombies, or any other outdoor activity. You just dip the bottle into any fresh water source, squeeze to force filtration, and voila! Fresh, clean water.
(Sorry. The folks at Katadyn aren't using zombies in their product videos.)
(Yet.)
Order one today and you'll be ready for whatever comes your way--the zombie apocalypse, the next big hurricane, or a hike on a hot day. We'll be ready. Will you?
Admit it. The first time you heard the term "fracking" you immediately pictured Yosemite Sam:
Sounds like Yosemite Sam knew all along that fracking was bad!
In the natural gas business, fracking is slang for hydraulic fracturing.
What the rootin' tootin' heck is hydraulic fracturing?
In short, it's a way to get fuel out of rock by drilling deep into the earth and releasing natural gas by EXPLODING THE ROCKS IN THE SHALE LAYER.
BOOM!
Are you picturing a full-on Michael Bay Transformers explosion? Oh. Well, it's not quite that awesome. There's no dynamite involved-just a mixture of water, sand, and toxic chemicals pumped underground with enough force to shatter shale rock. The process actually looks like this:
Earthquakes. No, this is not a fangirl/film geek Michael Bay reference--turns out the fracking process can create small tremors. Man. Made. Earthquakes. Eleven in Ohio alone last year. Yeah, Ohio. (Not really an earthquake state.)
Methane Leaks. The process of extracting gas from shale also causes a good deal of methane leakage. Methane leakage is problematic because a) stinky, b) major planet-warming greenhouse gas, and c) WATER! ON! FIRE!
Air Pollution. Those chemicals used in the fracking process? Turns out they're not so healthy to breathe... ok we're kidding they're totally poisonous. People who live near fracking sites are more likely to suffer from eye and skin irritation, headaches and nervous system damage, asthma, kidney and liver problems, and oh yeah-leukemia.
Groundwater Contamination. How about a splash of benzine in your glass of water? No? Radioactive ice cubes? No? Here in North Carolina (home of your favorite water filter company), our natural gas reserves are pretty frackin' close to our groundwater. That layer of rock between our water and our natural gas--it's not actually watertight. Which means those toxic fracking chemicals pumped deep underground could migrate upward and contaminate our water. The water we use for drinking, bathing, cooking, and growing food.
Say it with me: FREAKIN FRACKIN RACKAFRACKIN RASSAFRASSIN HAMMER HEADED HALIBUTS.
The Good News. Is there any? You bet your Shia LaBeouff there is. All across the country communities have banned fracking in response to grassroots groups committed to clean water. A little education and a lot of passion go along way! Says activist Sandra Steingrabbler, "[My kids] are made of water. They are made of the food that is grown in the county that I live in. And they are made of air. We inhale a pint of atmosphere with every breath we take... And when you poison these things, you poison us."
Forget Pacquiao-Mayweather... All the best fights are happening right here at Fridge Filters as we put our favorite contaminants head to head in a Showdown For The Ages...The Slaughter in the Water!
This week, LIVE from Fridge Filters, it's an epic battle between two legends-
Industrial Contaminant C8
and...
These invisible shrimp in New York City's tap water!
Introducing first: fighting out of the red corner is C "perfluorooctanic acid" 8. C8 is an carboxylic acid found in industrial waste, stain resistant carpets, Teflon cookware, and now--your water! Weighing in at 414.07 g/mol, C8 is a toxicant and a carcinogen! A previously unregulated contaminant, C8 just made the news as one of 30 new contaminants the EPA monitors in public water systems across the country. Water soluble, this contaminant is best removed with a Reverse Osmosis sytem.
Fighting out of the blue corner is the current, reigning, and defending Eww!Champion, Teeny "Tiny"
SHRIMP! Found in New York City's water supply, this microscopic crustacean stands at a whopping 1-2 millimeters long. Not to be confused with Sea Monkeys, this little bugger is completely harmless--unless you're a vegan or Orthodox Jew. Though it reigns supreme based on ick factor alone, just about any water filter will TKO Teeny Shrimp. (Sorry, little guys!)
OK we'll admit it. We are obsessed. Have you seen the movie? Read the books? Are you Catching Fire too? Yep, we're talking about The Hunger Games.
If you're like us, with Panem ever on your radar, you've noticed Hunger Games merchandise just about everywhere. You can spend your hard-earned tesserae on a Hunger Games board game, Effie Trinket nail polish, a Hunger Games Snuggie (seriously), and even...wait for it...
Hunger Games water.
Really.
h20 Spring Water has partnered with The Hunger Games to be the film's official water. While we see the tie-in (finding water was Katniss' first objective in the Arena, after all) doesn't this sound like something they'd drink in the Capitol? You know, while so many others go without clean water?
Luckily for us, we don't live in the Districts and our tap water is just as safe as bottled water. Though we admit that even Haymitch would approve of h2O's eco-friendly packaging, we'd rather fill one of these stainless steel Arena-Proof water bottles with filtered water from our tap.
You don't have to travel the the twelve districts to find good water--it's right in your home, where you're safe from trackerjackers, Cato's weapons, and President Snow.
All refrigerator manufacturers recommend that you change your refrigerator filter at least every six months--more often if have hard water or if your water has an odor or an unpleasant taste!
14,00,000,000 B.C.E. The first molecules of water form in space after an early star explodes in a supernova (try filming that, Michael Bay.)
4,000,000,000 B.C.E. Liquid water on planet Earth--IN YOUR FACE, NEPTUNE AND MARS!
2000 B.C.E. Egyptians boil water and use crude sand and charcoal filters like, you know, Egyptians.
400 B.C.E. Hippocrates designs a sleeve-like cloth filter. He uses his "water cure" to treat many diseases but sadly does not cure his baldness.
500-1500 A.D. Beer is the staple beverage of Europeans because the fermentation process naturally purifies water and they need more excuses to day-drink.
1627 Sir Francis Bacon attempts seawater filtration. The resulting product is salty and undrinkable, much like seawater.
1660s Anton van Leeuwenhoek uses a microsope to discover tiny, living organisms in the water--cholerae, salmonella, and maybe these little guys. (On a side note OH MY GOSH DELICIOUS SHRIMPJUICE!)
1800 John Snow (not that one) discovers chlorine as a disinfectant. Happily, people stop dying of cholera and typhoid.*
1804 Paisley, Scotland installs the first municipal water filter plant. SLAINTE!
1972 The Clean Water Act becomes law (USA! USA!)
2012 Concerns about pesticide chemicals, industrial sludge, chlorine byproducts, and lead continue to motivate consumers to use water filters in their homes. Lots of people read the Fridge Filters Blog and get happy and smarter.
In December, our Charity Spotlight was on the Rotary Foundation and Rotary International. In Cary, North Carolina, the Rotary Club of Cary-Kildaire collaborated with the Rotary Club of Mussoorie, India. These two clubs collaborated to provide sanitation and pure drinking water facilities to three schools in India. I was able to ask Scott Rossi a bit more about the completion of the project.
Fridge Filters:Scott, can you tell us more about the project and its completion?
Scott Rossi: The first phase of the ‘Purified Drinking Water System and Sanitary Facility Project’ undertaken by the clubs was dedicated to the students of MY Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Gandhi Niwas, Mussoorie on Monday, 27th June 2011. The second phase was dedicated to the students of Mussoorie Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Thursday, 30th June 2011. The third phase was recently dedicated to the students of Sanatan Dharm Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Friday, 4th November 2011.
FF: How did your club come to decide on doing such an ambitious project?
SR: Rotary has six areas of focus: peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development. Our International Service Committee felt that well-planned water projects have the potential to address multiple areas of focus.
FF: What made the club choose India for the clean water project?
SR: Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club was part of three water projects last year. The first project was constructing soak pits or recharge wells in Kolkata City and surrounding rural areas, West Bengal, India. The second project was digging a bore hole well and constructing water storage tanks at a school in Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ozuoba, Rivers State, Nigeria. The third project was providing drinking and sanitation facilities at three schools in India. We chose these projects because of the needs that existed and because their were excellent Rotary partners at each location.
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