The temperatures are starting to drop here in Wisconsin. That means that our heating bills are going up. We have to keep warm so the price we pay is a trade off.

There are some tips on how to keep warm and still keep change in our pockets. Finding ways to save on our heating cost can benefit both our wallets and our environment.

Getting your heating system cleaned and serviced once a year is recommended. This will keep your furnace in optimum running condition. The person who comes in to do the maintenance for you can also alert you to any potential problems. A clean heating system works more efficiently as well.

If your heating system uses filters, be sure to change them out as your maintenance will recommend to you. This does vary with your households. If you have animals that shed, you will need to change these filters out more often. If you have a family member that has allergies it is also a wise idea to change these more frequently.

The next thing you can do to save on your heating bill is to use that programmable thermostat. If you don’t have one that is programmable these are a good investment. You can turn down your heat by a few degrees for the hours you are not at home. You can also set your thermostat to 5 or 10 degrees for the hours you are sleeping.

For many years we have not had a real tree. The main reason is because I have a daughter that is allergic. It took me many years to figure out the reason she had the sniffles all during the holidays was because of the tree we had carted into our living room. The second reason would be because I hated the thought of paying so much for a tree. Where we lived it would cost nearly $100 for a nice tree. We have always been on a budget. The last reason is because I hated seeing a dieing tree in my living room. Now yes I do know they are raised for this purpose, but it has always kind of made me sad to see it there. Knowing that it is destined for the curb.

This year I have made a compromise. We do have a tree in our house. Well, some may call it a bush, but it is an evergreen.

My daughter has wanted a tree, yes the one with the allergy, for so long. She loves the smell, the fact that it’s needles fall off, the whole 9 yards.

This is a compromise. If it makes her sniffle I can take it outside. After the holidays it will take residence on our back step and in the spring it will be planted outside.

I didn’t mind paying the price either. I know we will still have something come January, next spring and next year. We are going to decorate it this weekend with lights and ornaments that can stand the outside.

Today it is raining. Not a hard rain, but a gentle pitter patter coming down on and off all day. Lately water has been on my mind. I know it is one of my soap box issues and here we go again.

We all need to drink more water. It is recommended that we get 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. Do you get that amount, daily? I am thinking not. The average adult doesn’t.

If you take a walk down the water aisle in your grocery store you will see all sorts of different types of water. From spring water, distilled, artesian to water that comes from locations around the globe our water aisles are truly diversified.

While I strongly stand behind drinking your daily amount of water I want to point out that only 2 out of 10 of these single serving water bottles makes it to recycling. The others are sent to the regular trash and landfills. This statistic comes from Container Recycling Institute, and to me it is very scary. Looking at all those bottles for sale and realizing just how many of them are going to end up in the landfill is mind blowing.

So what can we do? Well for starters if you use those single serving water bottles ensure that you are recycling them. Encourage others to do so as well.