Home Fire Is Biggest Disaster Threat

Did you know the biggest disaster threat in the United States isn’t floods, hurricanes or tornadoes; it’s fire.  Across the country, the American Red Cross responds to more than 60, 000 home fires every year, providing meals, shelter, comfort and support to help families get back on their feet.  

Fires not only destroy homes and personal belongings, but they also cause serious injury and death.  Home fires can happen to anyone, anywhere. In fact, seven times a day, a person dies in a home fire in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, and a fire-related injury is reported every 40 minutes.

Take these two simple steps to protect your home and increase your chances of surviving a fire:  

get a smoke alarm and create a fire escape plan.  

Learn more about home fire prevention at the Red Cross website.  You can download a Fire Safety Checklist and print out a home fire escape plan worksheet.

Saving Water at Home: In Your Kitchen and Bathroom

Watersaving tips courtesy of the David Weekley Homes newsletter.

Water is a limited resource, and it’s up to us to conserve and protect it as much as possible. Here are some tidbits of water wisdom you can incorporate into your everyday life, so we can all start making a difference.

In the Kitchen

• Use a high-efficiency dishwasher and consume less water than washing dishes by hand
• Only run your dishwasher with a full load; this saves water and energy
• Soak pots and pans rather than running water while scraping them
• An aerator on a kitchen faucet can reduce flow to less than one gallon per minute
• Don’t use running water to thaw frozen food; use the refrigerator
• Wash fruits and vegetables in a pan rather than running tap water over them
• Save the water from rinsing fruit and veggies to water house plants
• When ice cubes fall on the floor, drop them in a house plant instead of the sink

In the Bathroom

• Take a short shower instead of a bath; baths consume up to 70 gallons of water
• Cut your 10-minute shower to five and save 12.5 gallons with a low-flow showerhead – 25 gallons with a standard 5-gallon-per-minute showerhead
• Install a high-efficiency toilet and save up to 19 gallons per person per day
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving and you’ll save up to 10 gallons per day
• Plug the sink to rinse your razor and save up to 300 gallons a month

Who said one person can’t make a difference? With putting some (or all) of these tips into action, we can all make a difference!