Reducing Waste During the Holidays: Tips from Costa Mesa Plumbing and Rooter in Costa Mesa, CA

What’s the best way to celebrate this season of giving? Here at Costa Mesa Plumbing and Rooter in Costa Mesa, CA, we believe one of the best ways to celebrate is with a truly green, eco-friendly holiday. Recycling, eliminating food waste, and saving energy can make all the difference for future generations - and that’s the ultimate cause to celebrate.

Start with a commitment to recycle: wrapping paper, gift cards, and holiday cards can be easily set aside for the recycling bin, or saved for reuse. Sending electronic holiday cards can eliminate paper waste all together. And when it comes to wrapping paper choices, newspaper or eco-friendly reusable wrapping ,like scarves or carry-alls are great choices for your gifts. Forget using  ribbons and bows  - you can choose natural decorations like evergreens or dried flowers which can be easily recycled or composted later. The same goes for a live tree and wreath for decoration, be sure to recycle them when the holiday season is over. Or buy a live, potted tree and replant it after the holidays. One last recycling tip: when you go shopping, eliminate paper and plastic bags and choose reusable cloth instead.

When it comes to gift giving, choose something that doesn’t pollute. Think about charitable donations or choose an experience to share like a meal, travel, concert or sports tickets. Homemade gifts are great too, and when buying products, look at the item’s recycle potential, and if recycled materials are included in manufacture.

More batteries are sold around the holidays than any other time of year. So choose rechargeable! Rechargeable batteries reduce waste material, save money, and can even be operated on solar power. Save energy by unplugging holiday lights during the day, which will reduce cost and energy consumption as well as helping those lights last longer, too.

And then there’s food waste. Choosing reasonable rather than overly large amounts of treats mean healthier diets and better health for the planet. Leftovers can be distributed to charitable organizations or sent home with friends and family. And, be sure to dispose of used cooking oil carefully. It clogs drains, can harden in pipes and can cause sewage line back-ups and wastewater issues far beyond your home - in  an entire community. So instead, save oils in a container and dispose of it in the trash or, if there’s an oil recycling program in your community, check it out.

Wishing everyone an abundantly green holiday season!

Costa Mesa Plumbing and Rooter: Advice About Automatic Earthquake Shutoff Valves in Costa Mesa, CA

When an earthquake occurs, the shaking to a home can cause damage to both gas pipes and appliances, damage that can result in natural gas leaks, fires, and explosions.  Earthquakes can’t be prevented, but fires from broken gas lines certainly can be. The installation of a shutoff valve can put a help to lower the pervasive fire risk, one that is a major factor in one out of four fires following an earthquake. In Costa Mesa, CA, having an automatic earthquake shutoff valve for natural gas lines makes a lot of sense.

Of course, while we at Costa Mesa Plumbing and Rooter believe that earthquake and over-surge protection can be a real life-saver, it is also vitally important to reduce the possibility of a gas leak with regular gas line and appliance maintenance, as well as repair when necessary. Electronic gas line leak detection is yet another important safety tool.

Make sure your water heater and all appliances that use natural gas are anchored, and that they utilize flexible pipe connections. Flexible pipes are very important, as much gas line plumbing uses decidedly unflexible black iron piping. An earthquake can all too easily break the joints in these types of pipes, and flood a home with flammable gas. There are several kinds of shut off valves,  including valves that are earthquake-activated, excess flow valves, methane detectors, and manual shut-offs, as well as methane detectors. Both earthquake activated valves and excess flow valves should be state certified and installed on the house line that connects your meter to your actual gas.

Is it hard to install these valves? No. When an earthquake hits with a larger than 5.4 magnitude, a seismic actuator releases, and gas is prevented from entering your house. In short: a simple and effective way to reduce danger when an earthquake occurs.