Conserving energy is important. These simple, everyday changes can save you money...while saving the Earth as well.
Conserving energy is important. These simple, everyday changes can save you money...while saving the Earth as well.
View Green Living RSS feedConserving energy is important. These simple, everyday changes can save you money...while saving the Earth as well.
Not everyone can go solar, buy a hybrid or buy expensive carbon offsets to cover their energy use. The good news is that there are five simple, painless changes that every household can make to have a real impact on the environment as well as on personal finances.
| Action | Greenhouse Gas Emissions Savings Per Household |
|---|---|
| Replace 3 Lightbulbs | 300 lbs. per year |
| Adjust Thermostat 2 Degrees | 2000 lbs. per year |
| Turn Water Heater Down to 120 Degrees | 350 lbs. per year |
| Setting Correct Refrigerator Temperature | 300 to 600 lbs. per year |
| Unplug Electronics When Not in Use | 300 lbs. per year |
| Total Emission Reduction | 3250 to 3650 lbs. per year |
The average U.S. household produces approximately 17,300 pounds each year of greenhouse gases from heating, cooling, lighting, and powering the home. As the chart above illustrates, by making these five tiny changes, we can reduce our household emissions by up to twenty-one percent. Twenty-one percent may not seem like a lot, but when you take into account that there are over 56 million single family homes in the United States today, the impact of that percentage is tremendous.
Ready to start saving? Try these five things in your own home:
If you replace three routinely used 60 watt incandescent bulbs with three 13 watt compact fluorescents (which emit the same amount of light as the 60 watt incandescent bulbs) you will prevent 300 pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, and you'll save about $60 per year on your energy bills. Prices for compact fluorescent bulbs have dropped in the last few years, and purchasing them in bulk or on sale will allow you to save even more. The initial higher cost is negligible when you consider that the compact fluorescents last longer and are better overall for the environment. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so you should be able to find one to just about every fixture in your home.
Two degrees is almost imperceptible to us, but lowering your thermostat by just two degrees in the winter (and raising it two degrees in the summer) has a huge impact on the environment. According to www.rmi.org, simply adjusting the temperature by two degrees will prevent the production of some 2000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions each year. The larger your house is, the more you save by adjusting the thermostat. This small change can also save you about a hundred dollars each year on your energy bill.
Many water heaters are set at around 130 to 150 degrees, which is a huge waste of energy. Setting your water heater's thermostat to 120 degrees will provide you with enough hot water for baths, showers, and dish washing while saving you money and eliminating the risk of scalding. Making this one change will save 350 pounds of CO2 emissions, as well as around thirty dollars per year.
To complete this task, all you need is a thermometer. Any thermometer will do. Simply place the thermometer in a glass of water, let it sit overnight in your refrigerator, then take it out of the water and read the temperature. Your fridge doesn't need to be any colder than 37 degrees, and your freezer (which you measure by placing a thermometer in between a few of the items inside) shouldn't be any colder than three degrees. If the temperature in your fridge and freezer is any colder than this, you're wasting energy. Turn the thermostat down, put the thermometer in again, and check. Once you're at or close to the right temperature, you're all set. Depending on how 'off' the temperature was before, this could result in significant savings, both in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and in your monthly bills.
Many electronics in our homes, including televisions, DVD players, computers, microwaves, and coffee makers, continue to use energy even when they're turned off. This 'phantom energy' accounts for about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year per household, as well as from five to fifteen percent of your total energy costs. You can save emissions and money by unplugging electronics when they're not in use, or by purchasing a power strip that has an on/off switch to plug your electronics into and switching it off at night or when you're away from home.
These five simple solutions won't change your day-to-day life, but if everyone tries them, they may just change the world.
Sources: www.census.gov, www.rmi.org, www.environmental-defense.org, www.epa.gov
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