FREE LEAD TESTING AVAILABLE
FOR BWL WATER CUSTOMERS

You want wood chips?

We got 'em

If you’re a BWL electric customer and are looking for wood chips to complement your landscaping projects this year, we have plenty available.

Our tree trimmers chip wood on a daily basis as we trim overgrown limbs from our overhead electric wires. These wood chips aren’t the “Better Homes and Gardens” quality that will cost you lots of money at local gardening stores, but if you’re looking for ground cover to provide moisture support and prevent weed growth, they’ll do the trick.

And, the best part is they’re free.  We’re looking for good homes for our wood chips and will be happy to drop a load off at your house at no cost to you. The size of deliveries will be from five to six cubic yards, so be sure you need a lot before you order.

To order a load, call the BWL’s utility forester Peter Baker at 702-6552.

Two months ago we offered free lead testing to BWL water customers with full lead service lines.

Since then, about 60 customers have signed up, but in case some folks missed our offer the first time, we want to make it again. Here’s what it’s all about.

This summer, the BWL will conduct a new round of water sampling inside the homes of residential customers whose water service lines are made of lead, all the way from the water main to the house. The EPA requires us to sample at least 43 homes, but because of the importance given to the issue of lead service lines in our community, we intend to take samples well beyond the minimum number required.

If the water service line feeding your house is constructed of lead all the way from the main to the house, we’d like to include it in our sampling program this year, and offer this service free of charge to you. The offer applies only to homes with full lead service lines because these are the ones EPA says must be included in our sampling program.

To sign up for a free lead test, or to find out if your home is served by a full lead service line, call our Customer Service Center at 702-6006. Our sampling will take place in June through September, 2005.

Ever think about letting Mother Nature heat your water at home?

Urban Options is offering a Solar Domestic Hot Water rebate program. It gives Michigan residents an opportunity to save on their utility bills and positively impact the environment at the same time.

Over the course of its useful life, a solar domestic water heater will typically:

• Prevent as much as 50 tons of greenhouse gas emissions

• Pay for itself through reduced utility bills

• Contribute to economic development through less dependency
   on fossil fuels

Rebates of 50% of the installation cost of a solar domestic hot water system are available up to a maximum of $4,000 per installation. Rebates of up to $2,000 are also available to refurbish and repair older systems already in place. Rebate application packets are available now and will be accepted for consideration through October 1, 2005. For more information click here, or call toll-free 1-866-846-7349.

Discover

Lansing

June 4

Explore Mid-Michigan’s culture and creativity Saturday, June 4, as the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau invites you to be a tourist in your own town.

Enjoy free admission to more than 25 area attractions, including Impression 5 Science Center, MSU Museum, Potter Park Zoo, the State Capitol, the GM Grand River Assembly Plant and much more.

Passports are available for just $1 at the customer service desks at the Greater Lansing Visitors Center in Old Town, at the Lansing and Meridian Malls, and at the Grand River Avenue office of AAA. Click here or call 487-6800 for more information.

Mark your calendars for the 2005 Westside Garden Festival on Saturday,  July 10 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The annual showcase of fabulous westside gardens is a fundraiser for Advent House Ministries. This nonprofit agency has provided services and activities to help the homeless and disadvantaged in the Lansing area for 18 years.

The Westside neighborhood Garden Festival gives visitors a chance to stroll in one of Lansing’s most beautiful and historic areas while enjoying gardens at their peak. In addition to beautiful gardens, visitors will also enjoy popular music, refreshments, a plant sale and a raffle of garden-related items.

Tickets for the festival are $15 and will be available at Advent House and several local retailers, beginning in June. You can also get tickets the day of the festival at Fire Station #7 at Jenison and Saginaw.

The Garden Festival is also looking for volunteers for the event. If you’d like to spend a two-hour shift in a garden during the festival, or would like to contribute plants for the sale, call Garden Festival Chairperson Carolyn Callen at 372-6088.

Get your taste buds in shape, all you Chiliheads, because the BWL Chili Cook-Off is coming our way Friday, June 24.

Now in its 10th year, the BWL Chili Cook-Off is one of Lansing’s premier summer events, this year featuring delicious chili served up by more than 40 local restaurants and organizations. It all takes place Friday, June 24 on the riverfront in downtown Lansing from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. If it rains, no problem. We just move inside the Lansing Center.

We’ll pass out trophies awarded by a celebrity group of judges, including a special panel we’re convening again to rate entries for our Mo’ Hotter, Mo’ Better trophy. That’s the coveted award to the chili featuring the best combination of taste and heat.

Not everyone’s cut out for this job, but if you’re a BWL customer with good taste, strong opinions, and iron guts, you could become a chili judge. In the space below, let us know why you should be one of those selected for our special Mo’ Hotter, Mo’ Better chili judging panel. Print out, complete and enclose your entry form with this month’s utility bill. Deadline for entry is Friday, June 10.