Cool Down
Save your energy during the summer – you’re already drained as it is. Cool down by dunking your feet in cold water before bed. #DoYourThing #espsdge 
Free Compost - Healthy Chula Vista Yards and Gardens
Shovels were out in full swing on Saturday, August 25, loading vehicles to deliver fresh healthy compost to many Chula Vista lawns, planter beds, fruit and veggie gardens. Over 150 Chula Vista residents took advantage of the FREE Compost Giveaway at the Otay Landfill. But don’t fret if you missed getting your hands on some nutrient-rich compost. The next FREE Compost Giveaway is Saturday, November 3 from 8am-12pm, again at the Otay Landfill.
 
Compost is a natural fertilizer created by allowing organic waste (i.e. food waste, manure, leaves, grass trimmings, etc.) to biodegrade into a valuable organic fertilizer. Compost helps create healthy living soils and mixing compost into your soil improves its texture, increases nutrient level and water holding capacity. Healthy soil provides air, water and nutrients for plants, serves as nature’s environmental protector and plays a part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by removing carbon dioxide from the air. Compost can also be used as mulch groundcover on planted areas and bare soil to moderate soil temperature, reduce water evaporation, inhibit weed growth and prevent soil erosion. 
 
The compost give-a-way events are a collaboration of the City of Chula Vista’s Office of Sustainability and Republic Services.

For more information on composting and free compost workshops, please visit: chulavistaca.gov/clean.
How Climate Change Could Break The Internet
Climate change threatens many facets of modern human life, from eroding coastlines, climbing temperatures and ocean acidification. But these problems extend beyond our natural world—they affect our digital world as well. “Our findings are clear,” Paul Barford, a computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told Popular Mechanics. “A good deal of internet infrastructure will be underwater in the next 15 years.”

In a study, Barford and his team discovered that more than 4,000 miles of buried fiber optic cable may be underwater and 1,100 nodes may be surrounded by water in just 15 years. To put that in perspective, New York City, one of the most at-risk metropolitan areas, would lose nearly 20 percent of its metro conduit and 32 percent of its long-haul conduit to rising sea levels. That's enough to cripple internet access in the area. To learn more, please visit popularmechanics.com/technology.
Why Are Summer Energy Bills Higher?
I t’s been hotter than normal for longer periods of time and people have been using a lot of energy to keep their homes and businesses cool. In fact, the average temperature of nearly 80 degrees in July was the hottest month ever recorded in California’s history. 

  • This hotter weather has driven up energy use, and combined with higher summer pricing, customers are seeing much larger bills than normal. Summer pricing stems from a rise in electricity prices in the summer across the state as the weather heats up and there’s a high demand for energy.
  • There’s an increase in residential customers reaching the state-mandated High Usage Charge (HUC), which applies to electricity use that exceeds four times your average daily use. Visit sdge.com/high-usage-charge to learn more.

The high usage charge was introduced to encourage energy efficiency. SDG&E doesn’t profit from the sale of electricity to our customers. The electricity purchased for your home or business is a direct pass-through to your bills. 

Visit sdge.com/summer for ways to save energy. Another helpful starting point is to log into or sign up for My Account at myaccount.sdge.com. Within My Account, you can view you energy use, find out what your baseline is and sign up for High Usage Charge alerts. 
Free Energy Saving Devices to Study Participants
A local non-profit, Grid Alternatives, was recently contacted by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to help spread the word about a study that the CEC is conducting to research how customers in the SDG&E service territory will benefit from energy-saving technologies by switching to a Time of Use (TOU) rate plan. It could be a good opportunity for Chula Vista residents to contribute to the body of knowledge on TOU and also get some free energy saving devices in the process. As part of the study, 100 homes will be selected, more information below:

How it works:
  • The study runs from June 1, 2018 through October 2019
  • The focus will be on personal savings: you will receive bill protection to ensure you won't spend any more than you would have under a standard rate plan, but you'll keep any savings you achive
  • Each participant must have either an electric vehicle or solar panels on their home
  • Each participant will receive installation of one or more home energy-saving devices
  • All participants will receive a free Honeywell web-programmable thermostat with a personalized energy portal so you can control your home climate remotely, as well as monitor your daily use
  • If you possess an electric vehicle for daily use, you might be eligible for installation of a free AeroVironment Level 2 EV charging sation
  • Your home may be eligible for installation of a free Sonnen eco compact solar battery, with up to 8 kilowatt-hours of energy storage
  • Participants who receive the thermostats alone will receive $150 installation cash bonus
  • All participants will receive $100 for completing survey questions upon completion of the study
  • Participants will be chosen based on answers provided to a brief online questionnaire and their potential energy savings
  • Total number of participants must be limited to 100

If you believe you are a good match for this study, visit smarthomestudy answer the online eligibility questionnaire or call 855-434-7161.

Coastal Clean Up Day
Join us for Coastal Clean Up Day on Saturday Sept. 15 from 9am-noon, brought to you by I Love a Clean San Diego and the City of Chula Vista.
Register at ilacsd.org and choose from two locations; J St. Marina View Park or Sweetwater River.
Recycle Your Used Motor Oil
Hey Chula Vista! Do you change your own motor oil? If so, did you know that you can take it to a used oil collection center for recycling? Many of these centers will accept used oil filters, as well. (Yes, used metal oil filters are recyclable!) And recycling your oil and filters is FREE! In fact, used oil collection centers will even pay you for recycling your used motor oil! You can request a $0.40 per gallon incentive payment for up to five (5) gallons of your used motor oil. Used oil collection centers also provide free drain pans. Please note that used motor oil will not be accepted if it is contaminated with water or other automotive fluids. For a list of used oil collection centers near you, or to find out how to dispose of contaminated used oil visit, wastefreesd.org or call 1-800-237-2583.
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