Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
DANA, N.C. -- Some farmers in western North Carolina said they don't expect extensive damage from the frost and freezing temperatures that moved into the region this week.
Danny McConnell told the Asheville Citizen-Times there were no immediate signs of serious problems on his Henderson County farm, but he and other farmers won't know for sure for a few days. He grows 14 acres of strawberries, which he protected by spraying with water to form an ice shield, and 20 acres of apples.
McConnell said his thermometer indicated the temperature was around 27 or 28 degrees for more than three hours early Wednesday morning. Damage can occur at 28 degrees, but apple trees can produce a full crop with only 15 percent of their blooms.
"Our apples really weren't in full bloom yet," he said. "I think we've still got a major crop of apples."
Apple farmer Adam Pryor, president of the Blue Ridge Apple Growers Association, said frost was heavy in places but spotty across his 100 acres of crops.
Last year, a four-day cold snap in early April came after an unusually warm spell that stimulated many plants to begin their spring growth cycle. Tender buds, blooms and early fruit were frostbitten.
An estimated $111.7 million in crop damage was reported statewide, according to U.S Farm Service Agency offices in North Carolina. Vegetable and fruit farmers lost almost $27 million.
