Ten Simple Ways To Go Green, Save Money, And Save The Planet Too!
If there’s one thing I’ve struggled with most of my life, it’s the concept of taking baby steps when pursuing a major goal. I’m still battling it, although I’ve started to get the upper hand. The reason why I mention it is that I’ve been reading a paper recently that talked about green living and what consumers can do to go green and save money in the process. The problem is, many of the suggested changes were not only expensive, but they required people to significantly change their daily routines. Unfortunately, we’re creature of habit, and we won’t change said habits until we literally have no choice but to…
Nevertheless, the article got me thinking. As appealing as the green investment concept is, we don’t necessarily have the money to go down that route. But are there “painless” ways to go green that would be baby steps and thus pave the way for the bigger projects? As it turns out, there are!
At Home
1. Switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs
If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. But better yet: sunlight is the best light source. Open the curtains to let sunlight in; wide openings that let generous amounts of sunlight in will work wonders towards trimming your electricity bill by eliminating the need to turn on lights during the day.
2. Unplug vampire appliances
A surprisingly large number of electrical products — from air conditioners to VCRs — cannot be switched off completely without being unplugged. These products draw power 24 hours a day. Standby power, also called vampire power, refers to the electric power consumed by these appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. According to a Cornell University energy expert, these so-called vampire appliances cost consumers an estimated $3 billion a year — or about $200 per household. Worldwide, standby power consumes an average of 7 percent of a home’s total electricity bill. Invest in a few smart power strips.
3. Dress for the occasion
Depending on the climate you live in, up to 80% of your bill may be to pay for heating and cooling costs: match your clothing to the temperature and not the other way around! Wearing a cozy sweater or long sleeve shirt allows you to lower your homes temperature by a few degrees. Putting more blankets on the bed will keep you warm throughout the night while you are sleeping. Additionally, a smart thermostat automatically keeps you from heating or cooling an empty house by letting the temperature go higher or lower when nobody’s home, for a savings of up to 30%.
4. Use the dishwasher
According to a recent study, when compared to hand washing, the benefit of using a dishwasher it that it uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap, for similar results. Enough said!
5. Use less water
First of all, make sure there are no leaks in your house. A dripping faucet or fixture can waste 3 gallons a day…… a total pf 1,095 gallons a year. Close your faucets tightly when you’re done using them. Take military showers (that’s when you turn off the water while lathering instead of letting it run). Avoid letting the water run when brushing your teeth.
6. Generate less waste
Drink tap water instead of bottled water. Not only is it less expensive, but only half of the billions of bottle of water produced every year get to be recycled. Visit privacyrights.org to find ways to dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail you receive; this will cut down your risk of identity theft.
At work
7. Put your computer to sleep
A small tweak in your computer’s settings can put it to sleep after it’s been idle for, say, 5 minutes. And of course, once your day’s work is done, turn it off. Same thing for the lights, the last person to leave the office turns off the lights.
8. Get a glass or bottle
Get yourself a bottle or glass to use at the water cooler instead of using several plastic cups over the day.
9. Re-use and recycle
They actually did this in a bank I used to work in: as a cost-cutting measure, daily reports (that were typically used only for the first couple of hours of the day) were printed on “recycled paper”. Recycled paper was whatever paper that wasn’t printed on both sides… Other ideas: empty ink cartridges can be refilled; old cell phones can be refurbished instead of thrown out
10. Make use of teleconferencing
Too many executives fly for just one appointment or meeting. With the widespread availability of broadband, teleconferencing has come a long way and the equipment pays for itself on the first use when you consider the cost of having all the participants fly in.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am less enthusiastic than most about compact fluorescent bulbs. This is due to the fact that the ones currently available contain significant amounts of mercury. If one of these bulbs should break inside of a person’s home, it could cause a challenging disposal situation. It is my belief that the technology should progress to a point at which the mercury levels are low or nonexistent before people changeover their entire homes. Another consideration is that as these bulbs burn out, they will most likely be thrown away as though they are normal rubbish and landfills will have incredibly high levels of mercury in their soil as a result.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.