15 take on the Energy Challenge

One neat device given to the resident during the audit is a Kill-A-Watt meter. This helps track which appliances may be using a lot of energy.

Let the sun save you some money

How a solar-thermal system works and what it costs to install and operate.

How to have a green - and safe - yard

“Pet cancer is on the rise and some of it is being attributed to what we put on our lawns.”

The Story of Stuff

Six months after we Americans buy something, only 1 percent of those products are still in use.
If everyone consumed the way Americans do, we would need 3 to 5 planets to support us.
When we look at all the resources we use for production - air, water, land, plants and animals - American-style consumption is [...]

Save time, save trees: how to stop that ‘junk mail’

It may take several months before you see the flow of unwanted mail decrease - catalogs in particiular, because companies will print their catalogs months in advance of mailing.

In my travels, I have come across some good tips on how to reduce junk mail. I have been doing this at home for several years [...]

Let’s follow the paper (recycling) trail

Ever wonder what happens to the paper that you put out for recycling?

As a resident of Mansfield, there are two ways that you can recycle your paper – bring it to the Mansfield transfer station, or have it collected at your house with trash service.
Willimantic Waste Paper Co. picks up that big container [...]

Adopt a Road - or part of a road - and help keep Mansfield beautiful

There are 117 households helping to keep Mansfield roadsides litter-free. That may seem like a lot, but there are 130 miles of state and town roads within Mansfield’s borders - we could use a lot more volunteers.

Mansfield has an Adopt-a-Road program to help address roadside litter. In an age of complicated programs, this one [...]

New to Mansfield? We’re serious about recycling

Last year, residents recycled 500 tons of bottles and cans, saving the town $26,500. In contrast, last year we had more than 3,000 tons of trash incinerated, costing more than $201,000. We also get paid for recycling paper and cardboard.
This time of year is a very busy one, in part because Mansfield’s schools are back [...]

New this fall: Four Mansfield schools will compost food waste

A mini-workshop was held for custodians this week to explain how to maintain the new composting bins at Annie Vinton and Goodwin Elementary Schools.
Mansfield schools have been very active composters for the past 10 years, and some of our activities have earned state recognition. Southeast and Goodwin Schools have both earned Green School Awards.
What [...]

Column: The Pro’s and Con’s of a new trend called ’single-stream’ recycling

Mixing glass and paper trash may enourage more people to recycle and save on labor, but it also has some big-time problems.
The latest news in the world of recycling is something known as “single-stream recycling.” What does this mean? Let’s start by talking about what we do now in Mansfield.
What we have is [...]