Close Your Shades
Keep the temperature low in your home and save energy by keeping your shades drawn during the day to avoid absorbing heat from the sun. Your A/C unit will thank you!
CLEAN Business Program
The Chula Vista CLEAN Business program highlights the efforts of businesses that are sustainable and continuously work to lower their impact on the environment.  CLEAN Business highlights is one of four videos that feature several Chula Vista CLEAN Businesses. If you own a business and would like to participate in the program please visit: chulavistaca.gov/clean-business-program .
Refuse The Straw!
Did you know that over 500,000,000 plastic straws are used each day in the United States? In only the past twenty years, people have come to expect plastic straws in every drink an example of extreme waste being generated for minimal convenience. These short-lived tools are usually dropped into a garbage can with no further thought, instantly becoming a source of plastic pollution.

Preventing plastic straw pollution is building momentum and many eateries no longer automatically give plastic straws. What can we do? Let’s all refuse plastic straws and spread the “straw free” message. We can all work to change mindsets to stop this unnecessary plastic pollution.

In the long run, refusing to use plastic straws will meaningfully shift the way individuals and businesses think about plastic pollution. And on a larger scale, our society’s disposable culture.

Take action:
1)       Make a personal commitment to say "no" to plastic straws. Whenever ordering a drink, politely request “no straw, please.” Encourage your friends and family to take the pledge, too!
2)       You've got more power than you think. Want to take your impact even further? Use your own paper, glass, bamboo or stainless steel straw instead and start a conversation.
3)       Reach out to some local eateries in your neighborhood or town and ask them to change their protocol to only serve straws upon request. 
Take Control Of The Summer Heat
As the summer heats up are you looking to make your home comfortable? Affordable energy efficiency solutions are available for homeowners and renters to make improvements for greater comfort and lower utility bills. The Residential Energy Efficiency Loan (REEL) program offers access to attractive financing covering a broad list of eligible energy efficiency products to meet your needs. REEL is a state-administered program available to residents who own or rent and receive electric and/or gas service from SDG&E.

The first step to a more comfortable home is having the right amount of insulation accompanied by air sealing that eliminates drafts and helps regulate temperature inside your home. Higher quality windows keep homes cooler in summer and warmer in winter and help eliminate noise from outdoors. A cool roof, which reflects sunlight and disperses heat, will make your home more comfortable and reduce air conditioning costs.

Older heating and cooling systems result in the biggest energy costs for households, accounting for nearly half of home energy bills. Replacing your old water heater with a new, high-efficiency ENERGY STAR® certified model will save money. Inefficient appliances cost the typical homeowner more than $250 per year to operate, accounting for 12 percent of utility bills. Eligible appliances include ENERGY STAR® clothes washers, dryers, dishwashers, freezers, refrigerators and air purifiers. Inefficient lighting accounts for 12 percent of utility bills, costing the typical homeowner more than $250 per year to operate. Replace your incandescent and fluorescents lights with LEDs for better light and energy savings. If you own a pool, replace your inefficient single-speed pool pump with a variable speed pump reducing your energy use up to 75 percent.

Benefits of REEL financing includes no lien on your property, competitive rates, affordable payments, no money down, no closing costs and no prepayment penalties. Borrowers with a wide range of credit scores may qualify. Additionally, up to 30 percent of the loan amount can go toward non-energy improvements.

Take control of your comfort. Explore loan options, find a contractor at www.gogreenfinancing.com. A listing and map of participating contractors is provided. Two lenders serve the Chula Vista area offering competitive rates, no annual fees and 100 percent financing.
San Diego Green Business Network
The San Diego Green Business Network is a program funded by SDG&E and is very similar to the local Chula Vista CLEAN Business program. The regional effort, brought forward by local jurisdictions, SANDAG and the Center for Sustainable Energy, is meant to connect more businesses in the sustainability realm. The Network is free for businesses to join and the benefits are numerous, including more access to resources and workshops about energy efficiency, the opportunity to network with more likeminded businesses and recognition in the San Diego region. Chula Vista businesses are invited to join the network and be part of the sustainability revolution! For more information, please visit:   greenbizsd.org.
More Recycling & Less Litter Coming To Chula Vista Large- Venue Events
Next time you enjoy a frosty lemonade or a delicious bite to eat at South Bay Earth Day, Lemon Fest or Harborfest keep an eye out for more recycling bins throughout the venue. City staff recently made improvements to a planning document that will assist event coordinators in providing more recycling opportunities and help prevent litter. The updates include new container placement requirements, tips for hosting a clean event, a list of recyclables commonly generated at events and a planning checklist. Please help us keep Chula Vista clean while having fun at the next large event, look for recycling containers in which to place your recyclables and please don’t litter by putting trash in its rightful place!    
Shop From The Comfort Of Your Home
San Diego Gas & Electric Marketplace can help you manage your energy costs with energy-saving deals any time of the day. Shop for energy-efficiency products from light bulbs to appliances. It’s easy to apply online for rebates for qualifying clothes washers (up to $25), gas water heaters (up to $100), electric heat pump water heaters (up to $350) and smart thermostats (up to $75). Visit sdge.com/marketplace and start shopping. You can also buy these products in many stores and get an instant rebate at checkout. Visit  sdge.com/rebates for a list of stores.
Join Us For The Energy-Saving Fair
Do you need to upgrade your light bulbs or thermostat? Stop by the TechniArt Energy-Saving Fair at Harbor Fest on Saturday August 18 th from 10am-6pm at the Bayside Park (999 Bayside Pkwy, 91910) in Chula Vista to receive instant discounts when you purchase energy saving technologies! Replace your old thermostat with an energy-saving thermostat with advanced smart technology that allows users remote access, learns from your behaviors and patterns and has remote temperature sensing. Life made easier and more efficient with Smart Thermostats! If you are looking for other small changes to help make your home more energy efficient, you should also come check out the discounted LED light bulb packs - 6 bulbs for $10! LED bulbs have a longer life span than incandescent bulbs, illuminate a brighter light and have the potential to save you up to $170 over their lifetime. Also available will be $20 smart power strips that can eliminate vampire energy (energy used when appliances are turned off but still consume a small amount of energy). If you cannot make it out to the event, the SDG&E Marketplace is another great resource for purchasing energy efficient appliances at a discounted price. See article above for more information.
Help Us Avoid A Potential Recycling Crisis
Look under your coffee mug, the earphones you are wearing or your child’s toy and you will inevitably find the words “Made in China”, not newsworthy per se. What is newsworthy is that a large portion of the materials used to manufacture those goods come from our blue recycling carts at home. In our case, over half of all material we recycle in this region is sent across the ocean to China who in turn produces everyday goods the world uses.

However, China has imposed new restrictions on recyclable material coming from abroad and in some instances even temporarily blocked shipments from entering their country. The Chinese government has gradually increased their import standards that are now difficult for American recycling material processors to meet. Besides attempting to develop their own recycling infrastructure, the Chinese government aims to reduce the negative human and environmental effects that managing the world’s recyclables is having on their people.

This is throwing recycling programs across our country into disarray, including ours.
Chula Vista can do something to help. We still need to recycle but we must do a better job to keep non-recyclables out of our blue carts. As recycling becomes second nature we often don’t think twice about throwing in the occasional paper napkin or plastic bag - here is where the problem exists and we need your help to fix this. Please do your part and only put recyclables in your blue bins to help avoid contamination with trash.

The City of Chula Vista recently produced a concise reference guide that lists your recycling container’s “Most Forbidden” items, click here to access guide to clean recycling Items like clothing, pizza boxes, plastic bags, Styrofoam food containers, napkins and wrappers are a few of the items listed in the guide that need to stay out of your blue cart.
Please help us keep recycling clean of contaminants and avoid a potential recycling crisis. Even better, avoid using single-use use items, choose to use reusable mugs, water bottles, reusable straws and compostable take-out containers. Reducing waste is easy and better than recycling.
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