5 tips to beat the heat — without an air conditioner

The heat is on in Sudbury and northeastern Ontario this week, and Sudbury's reThink Green is offering people eco-friendly tips to beat the heat, even without an air conditioner. 

Rebecca Danard is the executive director of reThink Green. 

1. Shut the blinds and curtains

"We have really great blinds," she said. "You can close up to prevent a lot of the sun coming in during the day, and then opening up at night when it's cooler so it gets that air circulation." 

2. Put some ice-packs in the windows

"When air is blowing in, it's blowing over ice to keep you cool."

3. Make use of that musty basement

If you've got a cold basement, Danard recommends putting a fan on the stairs and using it to blow the cool air up into the rest of your house. Then, turn your bathroom air exchange on to blow hot air out.

4. Cool down your pulse-points

A quick, cold shower with the bathroom door open is a great place to start, said Danard.

"[But] anywhere you can see veins in your skin — so your wrists, your elbows, your temples, your neck — this is where, obviously, your blood is close to the surface, so this is a place to put on the cooling. So cool rags, or an ice pack, or put your feet in cold water — it can cool down your whole body very quickly." 

5. At work? Work something out with colleagues

"At work, you have very much less control over the temperature ... Maybe you could have a t-shirt day [to help keep cool]," she suggested.   

If you do have an air conditioner at the office, like reThink Green does, Danard said there are ways to keep the usage to a minimum. 

"We only air condition the one room that we all work out of. We keep our doors closed so we're not air conditioning all the storage and hallways that really don't have anybody in them," she said.

The same applies at home!