Hot moves

This Valentine’s Day green is the new sexy, so why not impress that special

someone by showing your more environmentally sensitive side? The Four Corners Office

for Resource Efficiency, aka 4CORE, offers the following helpful hints to lower your carbon footprint while generating a little heat of your own:

• Whip up a homemade meal using a slow cooker, which saves time and uses less energy

than the stove or oven. If using the oven, cook in a glass or ceramic pan, which holds heat better, and reduce the cooking temperature by 25 degrees. And no peeking! Opening the oven door wastes energy – just like mom always told you.

• When it comes to clean up, use the dishwasher, which actually requires less water and

time, than hand-washing. Plus, no dish pan hands for all the canoodling on the couch you

can do with all that extra time.

• No one likes a date who is more interested in the TV or their phone than the live human

next to them. Turn on your date by turning off your devices. Not only will it save energy, it will be easier to connect and maybe even remember their name. Better yet, show what a smooth operator you are by investing in a power strip to unplug with the flick of a switch.

• New and old flames alike look better by candlelight. Dim the overheads and spark a few candles. Win bonus points by opting for soy candles over paraffin wax ones, which are made from petroleum. Soy is not only a natural, renewable resource but it burns cleaner and with less soot.

• Snuggle up next to the fire, made all the more efficient (and hotter!) with the installation

of a heat-air exchange system or an energy-efficient insert. Be sure to close the damper when the fire goes out (which hopefully it won’t).

• Better yet, skip the fire and turn the thermostat down, which is a perfect excuse to snuggle under a warm blanket. There are even smart thermostats that can lower the temperature – and reduce your energy bill – right from your phone. Just make sure not to do it as your date is gazing deep into your eyes (see no 3.)

The Pole

Here comes the bus: 02/25/2021; Durango School District 9-R is getting on the bus – the electric bus, that is. Last week, 9-R announced it won a $328,803 grant for a fully electric school bus and charging infrastructure. The 81-seat bus is expected to be operational by next fall.

Good QRma

02/18/2021

The days of scrawling your name and phone number with a Sharpie on your gear are over. A Boise-based company has come up with a tech-age solution to the age-old problem of lost or yard-saled gear.

For $3.99, Karmik Outdoors will send you a QR code decal for all your most precious toys. The unique code will trace you gear back to you, all with a simple smart phone scan (provided, of course, that whomever finds your flotsam, jetsam and improperly secured roof items is a believer in gear karma in the first place.)

#KBYG

02/11/2021

Adding to an already grim year of statistics, last week was the deadliest week of avalanches in the U.S. in more than a century. At least 15 people were killed in avalanches in six states between Jan. 31 – Feb. 6, including three in the San Juans alone.

To help folks better contend with this season’s treacherous and unprecedented conditions, Friends of the San Juans wants to equip them the best tool possible: knowledge.

Serving up help: 02/11/2021; Early in the morning of Feb. 6, local chef Seanan Culloty narrowly escaped an apartment fire with his life and his faithful dog, Bubba. However, Culloty, the head chef at Manna, escaped with little else. To help Culloty get back on his feet, friends and co-workers are hosting a GuFundMe page. The money will be used to help Culloty replace his belonging as well as with a deposit and first month’s rent on a new apartment.

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