Take Action at Home
Bright Ideas
Replace incandescent light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Lighting accounts for about 10-15 percent of household energy use. If you swap the five standard light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescents, you can save roughly $60 each year on electricity. Make sure you select EnergyStar compact fluorescents which are tested for quality and longevity.
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"Replacing ten 100W light bulbs with CFLs reduces the same amount of carbon dioxide that an SUV emits over a year over the course of the bulbs’ lifetime!"
Audubon.org: Help Combat Global Warming
Go to
www.environmentaldefense.org for a list of energy efficient light bulbs.
Turn off the lights when you leave the house and use only the lights you need.
Consider using task lighting vs. background/overhead lighting.
Use sunlight wisely: During the heating season, leave shades and blinds open on sunny days, but close them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. Close shades and blinds during the summer or when the air conditioner is in use or will be in use later in the day.
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You have the Power
Purchase Green Power from your utility. Many local power companies offer the option of purchasing renewable energy for a couple extra dollars a month. Check with the
US Department of Energy: Green Power Network for more information.
Unplug, unplug: Even when unused, appliances drain energy. Think about shutting the equipment down at the surge protector - especially TV, DVD layers and stereos - they're in standby mode and are still using electricity.
Appliance Smarts
Purchase energy efficient appliances (Energy Star). A high-efficiency refrigerator will save you $100 per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 500 pounds a year. If you replace your current washing machine with a low-energy, low-water-use machine you will be able to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 440 pounds per year.
For a guide to energy efficient appliances and rebate offers, go to:
National Resources Defence Council
Southern California Edison
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Keep the mystery in the oven: Don't preheat or "peek" inside the oven more than necessary. Check the seal on the oven door, and use a microwave oven for cooking or reheating small items.
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Water sense for the dishwasher: Wash only full loads in your dishwasher, using short cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes. This saves water and the energy used to pump and heat it. Air-drying, if you have the time, can also reduce energy use.
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Water Sense for the washer: Always load your washer to capacity. Or, in the alternative, set the appropriate water level for the size of the load; wash in cold water when practical, and always rinse in cold.
Dryer Hygiene: Clean the lint filter in the dryer after each use. Dry heavy and light fabrics separately and don't add wet items to a load that's already partly dry. If available, use the moisture sensor setting. (A clothesline is the most energy-efficient clothes dryer of all!)
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Minimize dryer use: Dryers are one of the most energy intensive appliances. Hang dry a few loads of laundry a week. If you need to use the dryer, don’t over dry. Take the clothes out slightly damp and hang. This will reduce the need for ironing -- a win-win all around! Dry two or more loads in a row to take advantage of the heat still in the dryer.
Frig & Freezer Tips: Set the refrigerator temperature at 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezers should be set between 10 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Use the power-save switch if your fridge has one, and make sure the door seals tightly. You can check this by making sure that a dollar bill closed in between the door gaskets is difficult to pull out. If it slides easily between the gaskets, replace them.
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Cover liquids and wrap food stored in the fridge. Uncovered foods release moisture (and get dried out), which makes the compressor work harder.
Clean the door gasket and sealing surface on the fridge. Replace the gasket if damaged. You can check to see if you are getting a good seal by closing the refrigerator door on a dollar bill. If you can pull it out without resistance, replace the gasket. On new fridges with magnetic seals, put a flashlight inside the fridge some evening, turn off the room lights, and check for light leaking through the seal.
Move your fridge out from the wall and vacuum its condenser coils at least once a year. Some models have the coils under the fridge. With clean coils the waste heat is carried off faster, and the fridge runs shorter cycles. Leave a couple of inches of space between the coils and the wall for air circulation.
Keep cold air in. Open the fridge door as infrequently and briefly as possible. Know what you're looking for. Label frozen leftovers.
Keep the fridge full. An empty fridge cycles frequently without any mass to hold the cold. Beer makes excellent mass, and you probably always wanted a good excuse to put more of it in the fridge, but it tends to disappear. In all honesty, plain water in old milk jugs works just as well.
Energy Saving Cooking Tips
Cover pans while cooking to prevent heat loss.
Make sure your pan covers the coil of your range. If you can see coil peeping out from the sides of your pan, you are losing energy and need a bigger pan!
Try one-pot cooking. Stews, soups, and other great peasant meals only take one burner to cook and they are so nourishing and satisfying!
Just before your food is cooked completely, turn off the oven or burner and allow the heat in the pot or pan to continue the cooking process for you.
The less liquid and fat you use, the quicker the cooking time.
Always make more food than you plan to use and freeze it for your own "fast food."
Leftovers take less energy to reheat on top of the stove rather than in the oven.
Most of us eat a lot of pasta. Make extra, toss with olive oil, and keep in the fridge so you don’t have to heat an entire pot of water to the boiling point every time you want some.
If you have one, use a pressure cooker. It really saves on energy.
Try using a solar box cooker.
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Take Action at Work
Turn out or dim the lights in unused conference rooms, and when you step out for lunch. Work by daylight when possible. A typical commercial building uses more energy for lighting than anything else.
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Shut off computer monitors when you leave your desk, shut off computers at night. (You may want to think about shutting the equipment down at the surge protector.)
Is your office using paper cups, plates and plastic forks/spoons/knives? Ask if they’ll encourage use of coffee mugs, real cutlery, etc. If management is unwilling, bring your own and be proud that you’re doing your part.
Ask your office to use recycled paper products for printing and copying. Every ton of recycled paper saves approximately 4 barrels of oil, 4,200 kilowatt hours of energy and enough energy to heat and air-condition the average North American home for almost 6 months. Americans discard 4 million tons of office paper every year. That's enough to build a 12 foot-high wall of paper from New York to California. For every 15,000 tons of old newspaper recycled annually, 30 jobs are created to collect the paper, 40 jobs are created to process the paper, and 75 jobs are required to manufacture the newsprint.
The EPA has found that making paper from recycled materials results in 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution. This means that every ton of recycled paper keeps almost 60 pounds of populations out of the atmosphere that would have been produced if the paper had been manufactured from virgin resources.
www.niu.edu
Take Action on the Road
Drive smart and drive less: Get your engine tuned up and keep your tires inflated--both help fuel efficiency. If all Americans kept their tires properly inflated (and a government study shows that many don't), gasoline use nationwide would come down 2 percent. A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon anywhere from 4 to 40 percent; a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon.
Practice fuel-efficient driving. Every gallon of gasoline burned puts 26 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. You can boost the overall fuel-efficiency of your car as much as 30% by simple vehicle maintenance and attention to your style of driving.
Avoid aggressive driving. "Jack-rabbit" starts and hard braking can increase fuel consumption by as much as 40%. In city driving, nearly 50% of the energy needed to power your car goes to acceleration.
Drive steadily at posted speed limits. Increasing your highway cruising speed from 55mph (90km/h) to 75mph (120km/h) can raise fuel consumption as much as 20%. You can improve your gas mileage 10 - 15% by driving at 55mph rather than 65mph (104km/h).
Avoid idling your vehicle, in both summer and winter. Idling wastes fuel, gets you nowhere and produces unnecessary greenhouse gases. If you're going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds, except in traffic, turn off the engine. In winter, don't idle a cold engine for more than 30 seconds before driving away.
Use your air conditioner sparingly. Using a vehicle’s air conditioner on a hot summer day can increase fuel consumption by more than 20% in city driving.
Use the cruise control. On long stretches of highway driving, cruise control can save fuel by helping your car maintain a steady speed.
Choose the octane fuel which best suits your car. Premium, high-octane fuels aren't necessarily the best choice for your car; higher price doesn't guarantee better performance. In fact, such fuels don't provide any greater fuel efficiency. Many cars are designed to use regular low-octane fuel. Check your owner's manual to see what your car requires.
Service your vehicle regularly, according to the manufacturer's instructions. A poorly tuned engine can use up to 50% more fuel and produces up to 50% more emissions than one that is running properly. Air filters: Dirty air filters can also cause your engine to run at less than peak efficiency. Regular visual checks of the air filter will tell you if it needs replacing and your owner's manual will also recommend appropriate replacement intervals. Clogged filters can cause up to a 10% increase in fuel consumption. Oil: Using the correct viscosity oil is important because higher viscosity oils have greater resistance to the moving parts of the engine, and therefore use more gas. Clean oil also contributes to better gas mileage. It is usually recommended that engine oil be changed every three to five thousand miles.
Monitor power accessories. Be sure to shut off all power-consuming accessories before turning off the ignition. That way, you decrease engine load the next time you start up. Items that plug into your vehicle's cigarette lighter, such as TV consoles for mini-vans and SUVs, can cause the alternator to work harder to provide electrical current. This adds a load to the engine and added load increases fuel use, decreasing your gas mileage.
Think "aerodynamic" and "lightweight". Reduce drag. Out on the open highway, keep windows rolled up to reduce drag. Remove bicycle and ski racks when not in use. Excess weight also uses more fuel. Remove unnecessary items from inside the vehicle, trunk or truck bed. An extra 100 lbs (48 kg) of weight can increase your fuel bill by 2%.
Make a commitment to drive less, by walking to some nearby destinations. It's good for your health and the environment. Approximately 50% of car use is for trips within 3 miles of the home. This distance is within the range for easy biking, so it makes sense to try to use your bike for some of these short hops. You'll be saving fuel and reducing pollution, and you can also save on trips to the gym with this added exercise.
Plan your trip. Whether you are going across town or across the country, try to combine several errands in one outing, and plan your route to avoid heavy traffic areas, road construction, hilly terrain, etc. With a little organization, you can group your "town tasks" into fewer trips, saving you time and fuel expense.
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