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othills Conservancy of North Carolina
othills Conservancy of North CarolinaGreenstuff...or what I can do to help the planet
| Carbon Calculators: |
SIMPLE SOLUTION: 10 Tips to Save Energy (and Money) in Your HomeA whopping 46 percent of home energy use is, umm, energy loss! In other words, no productive energy use at all! Here are simple
ways of reversing this, mostly by changes of habit. Thanks to climatecrisis.net and The Home Energy Diet (New Society Publishers,
2005), for many of the carbon savings figures.
1. Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3 percent of heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air
conditioner saves 3-4 percent of cooling costs. By changing the temperature by two degrees all year you can save about 2,000 pounds
of C02 a year.
2. Cook with a slow cooker or a toaster oven (or even a solar oven!) to reduce electrical use from kitchen appliances. For a meal that
requires 1 hour to cook in an electric oven, and which uses 2.7 pounds of C02, a crockpot uses 0.9 pounds of C02 for seven hours, a
toaster oven takes 1.3 pounds of C02 for 50 minutes, and a microwave only 0.5 pounds of C02 for 15 minutes of cooking. A solar cooker
requires NO C02!
3. Switch to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer and cut three-quarters off your electrical use. Turn off the laptop at the end of
the day.
4. Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year. Hang dry your
clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.
5. Plug anything that can be powered by a remote control or that has a power cube transformer (little black box) into a power strip,
and turn it off, and/or unplug, when not in use. (Power cubes are 60-80 percent inefficient.)
6. Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent. Stop using heat-producing
halogen lamps (they can also be fire hazards). Install occupancy or motion sensors on outdoor lights.
7. Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb and save 300 pounds of
C02 a year.
8. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket and save 1,000 pounds of C02 a year. Insulate your hot water pipes.
9. Use public transportation whenever possible, carpool, shop locally, and ideally switch to a hybrid or energy-efficient car
(if you haven’t already).
10. Keep your tires inflated to improve gas mileage by three percent. Every gallon you save also saves 20 pounds of C02 emissions.
21 Green Ideas 1. Use biodegradable garbage disposal bags that are now available in most big supermarkets.
2. Don't use plastic bags at supermarkets; carry your own canvas, linen, paper or jute bags.
3. Drive the most fuel efficient car on the market or better still, a hybrid or an electric car.
4. Keep a mug handy at work so you don't have to use paper cups to drink water or coffee.
5. Avoid using air-conditioning at home. Discover air coolers, eco-friendly alternatives that cool rooms using water and
consume 1/20th the power of a conventional AC.
6. Drive less in general; avoid making multiple trips to run errands.
7. Take the train instead of a plane wherever practical, especially on vacations. Avoid driving cars over long distances.
8. Plant trees! Find every empty square meter of public property in your residential area and plant trees.
9. To buy vegetables at supermarkets, place multiple fruits and vegetables in one plastic bag and stick multiple barcode/weight
stickers on the same bag.
10. Advocate, act, yell, be informed, and educate. Being aware of the problem and all the innovative solutions can help you
combat climate change at no expense or inconvenience to you.
11. Conserve water by bathing with a bucket or two of water instead of standing under a shower.
12. Buy locally-produced organic food. Avoid buying food that's traveled thousands of miles to reach a supermarket aisle,
even if it's organic.
13. E-everything! Opt for electronic bills and cut out bills that need to be physically mailed to you.
14. Construct green buildings: if you're planning to buy or build a house, try and find the greenest options to insulate your
abode from heat and cold. Talk to a green architect about saving energy bills and reducing construction costs by using
eco-friendly construction material. Every major economy now has a government agency that can help you build green.
15. Buy recycled paper for personal and office use. Read newspapers and magazines that're printed on recycled paper.
Use recycled toilet paper!
16. Use low-energy CFL/LED light bulbs that last longer, burn brighter, and consume up to 80% less energy than conventional,
incandescent light bulbs.
17. Consider using stairs instead of escalators and elevators; it's good for your health too.
18. Turn your computer off (the standby mode consumes almost as much energy as a computer in use) when you're done
using it for the day and unplug the surge protector, too.
19. If you live in a non-metro, low-traffic zone/city with safe roads, consider using a bike instead of a car. If you live in a metro,
consider taking local trains.
20. Find ways to cut out noise, air, water, and radiation pollution wherever possible. Cut down on cigarettes if you can, shut off
your cell phone when you don't use it, use natural, herbal products in place of cheap chemical products if you can find good
alternatives.
21. Conduct a personal audit of your lifestyle and see where you can reduce consumption, waste, and energy use without
turning into a hermit.
| Green Links |
Just for Kids |
| Publications for download A behind-the-scenes guide to the stuff we buy:
Biofuels for Transportation: Global Potential and Implications
for Sustainable Agriculture and Energy in the 21st Century
Safe products for cleaning your home:
Little things you can do that make a BIG difference:
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Green Products Shopping Links |
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