Top-25 ways you can save energy
Become conscious of your energy use...
with video:
1. Turn off the TV screen when you walk away... even if you put your DVR on pause. You donʼt need the TV screen projecting a frozen image for half an hour while you eat dinner.
2. Turn off Game Controllers (PlayStations, Wii, XBox ) whenever they are not in use. If the blue or green lights are on, then they are using energy. Make it a habit to check these things before you go to bed.
3. Unplug the extra TV and the cable box in the guest room if you wonʼt be using them for a while. The instant-on features use energy constantly.
4. If you tend to leave the TV on in your home because you like the background noise, try switching to radio. The programming is excellent for a lot less energy.
with computers:
5. Enable the sleep mode on your computer to save up to 70% on the energy use. Turn off energy wasting screen savers, and power off everything at the end of the day.
6. Think about what you are printing. Print only when you think itʼs worth the natural
resources. E-mail or post final documents to the web whenever itʼs an option. Use PDF format to ensure that your documents get delivered the way you want them to be seen.
with portable electronics
7. Unplug your chargers from the wall every morning (or use smart chargers). The light on the charger doesnʼt use much energy, but when you multiply that energy use by 6 BILLION cell phones in the world, that little dot turns into a lot of energy!
with lights and appliances:
8. Close the refrigerator door. Donʼt stand there letting all the cool air out while you try to decide what to eat. Itʼs the same stuff that was in there yesterday!
9. After the refrigerator, the dryer is the most energy intense appliance in your home. Make sure you get the pieces of your perfect outfit in the laundry on laundry day so that you donʼt end up drying just one item at a time at the last minute.
10. Purchase and install energy efficient lights when it's time to replace them.
11. Turn off all lights whenever you walk out of a room for more than 15-minutes.
12. Run your dishwasher on the NO HEAT setting during the dry cycle. Depending on your dishwasher, you may have to select this option every time.
13. Unplug your coffee pot and your toaster oven after every use. Do you really need to read the time on the front panel of all these devices all day long?
with transportation:
14. Ride the bus. Itʼs going to school anyway! Donʼt make your parents drive you to the same place unless there is a good reason to waste the extra energy and create more pollution.
15. Get in the habit of sharing rides to sporting events and other after school activities. Itʼs fun and it saves energy.
16. Remind your parents not to idle the car while they are waiting to pick you up at school or elsewhere. If itʼs more than 30 seconds, cut the engine.
with food:
17. Eat fresh, local foods. Frozen foods require about 10 times the energy to prepare and store, so choose mostly fresh foods. Fresh foods have more nutrients too, so they are better for you.
18. If you keep an extra refrigerator/freezer in your house, try to use it only for parties.
19. Choose locally grown foods. The average meal comes 1200 miles to your dinner table. Thatʼs a lot of trucking! Locally grown foods travel only a few miles to your table.
with the weather:
20. Donʼt turn up the thermostat right away in the fall. Put on a sweater. Layer your outfits.
21. Donʼt crank up the A/C in the summer, wear light clothing, and circulate air with a fan.
with water:
22. Please, for everyoneʼs benefit, shower daily! But keep your showers short. An extra two minutes in the shower wastes over 5 gallons of water and all of the energy necessary to purify, heat, and pump that water from some place on Earth all the way to your bathroom. That could be 2000 gallons of water every year... just for you.
with recycling:
23. Say no to plastic bags whenever possible.
24. Bring reusable bags whenever you can.
25. The most neglected item to recycle is plastic grocery bags. Did you know that there is a place in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas that is swirling with fragments of plastic shopping bags. The fish eat the bags and we eat the fish. You donʼt have to be a scientist to know that this is BAD! Did you know that most grocery stores have a recycle bin for plastic bags. Try this: Put an empty tissue box in your recycle bin. Stuff your extra plastic bags in it. When you go back to the store with your bottle and can returns, take it with you and drop your used plastic bags in the proper recycle bin at the store.
Sustainability is not an activity; itʼs a lifestyle. Please make it yours!
with video:
1. Turn off the TV screen when you walk away... even if you put your DVR on pause. You donʼt need the TV screen projecting a frozen image for half an hour while you eat dinner.
2. Turn off Game Controllers (PlayStations, Wii, XBox ) whenever they are not in use. If the blue or green lights are on, then they are using energy. Make it a habit to check these things before you go to bed.
3. Unplug the extra TV and the cable box in the guest room if you wonʼt be using them for a while. The instant-on features use energy constantly.
4. If you tend to leave the TV on in your home because you like the background noise, try switching to radio. The programming is excellent for a lot less energy.
with computers:
5. Enable the sleep mode on your computer to save up to 70% on the energy use. Turn off energy wasting screen savers, and power off everything at the end of the day.
6. Think about what you are printing. Print only when you think itʼs worth the natural
resources. E-mail or post final documents to the web whenever itʼs an option. Use PDF format to ensure that your documents get delivered the way you want them to be seen.
with portable electronics
7. Unplug your chargers from the wall every morning (or use smart chargers). The light on the charger doesnʼt use much energy, but when you multiply that energy use by 6 BILLION cell phones in the world, that little dot turns into a lot of energy!
with lights and appliances:
8. Close the refrigerator door. Donʼt stand there letting all the cool air out while you try to decide what to eat. Itʼs the same stuff that was in there yesterday!
9. After the refrigerator, the dryer is the most energy intense appliance in your home. Make sure you get the pieces of your perfect outfit in the laundry on laundry day so that you donʼt end up drying just one item at a time at the last minute.
10. Purchase and install energy efficient lights when it's time to replace them.
11. Turn off all lights whenever you walk out of a room for more than 15-minutes.
12. Run your dishwasher on the NO HEAT setting during the dry cycle. Depending on your dishwasher, you may have to select this option every time.
13. Unplug your coffee pot and your toaster oven after every use. Do you really need to read the time on the front panel of all these devices all day long?
with transportation:
14. Ride the bus. Itʼs going to school anyway! Donʼt make your parents drive you to the same place unless there is a good reason to waste the extra energy and create more pollution.
15. Get in the habit of sharing rides to sporting events and other after school activities. Itʼs fun and it saves energy.
16. Remind your parents not to idle the car while they are waiting to pick you up at school or elsewhere. If itʼs more than 30 seconds, cut the engine.
with food:
17. Eat fresh, local foods. Frozen foods require about 10 times the energy to prepare and store, so choose mostly fresh foods. Fresh foods have more nutrients too, so they are better for you.
18. If you keep an extra refrigerator/freezer in your house, try to use it only for parties.
19. Choose locally grown foods. The average meal comes 1200 miles to your dinner table. Thatʼs a lot of trucking! Locally grown foods travel only a few miles to your table.
with the weather:
20. Donʼt turn up the thermostat right away in the fall. Put on a sweater. Layer your outfits.
21. Donʼt crank up the A/C in the summer, wear light clothing, and circulate air with a fan.
with water:
22. Please, for everyoneʼs benefit, shower daily! But keep your showers short. An extra two minutes in the shower wastes over 5 gallons of water and all of the energy necessary to purify, heat, and pump that water from some place on Earth all the way to your bathroom. That could be 2000 gallons of water every year... just for you.
with recycling:
23. Say no to plastic bags whenever possible.
24. Bring reusable bags whenever you can.
25. The most neglected item to recycle is plastic grocery bags. Did you know that there is a place in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas that is swirling with fragments of plastic shopping bags. The fish eat the bags and we eat the fish. You donʼt have to be a scientist to know that this is BAD! Did you know that most grocery stores have a recycle bin for plastic bags. Try this: Put an empty tissue box in your recycle bin. Stuff your extra plastic bags in it. When you go back to the store with your bottle and can returns, take it with you and drop your used plastic bags in the proper recycle bin at the store.
Sustainability is not an activity; itʼs a lifestyle. Please make it yours!