Stay Informed
Here are just a few things you can do to be more green.
You'll be amazed.
- Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs use 60% less energy than regular bulbs. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the US made the switch, we'd reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds!
- Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
- Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner. Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
- Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
- Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases. Look for the Energy Star® label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models. If each household in the US replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we'd eliminate 175 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year!
- Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.
- Unplug electronics from the wall when you're not using them. Even when turned off, hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for five percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!
- Insulate and weatherize your home. Properly insulating your walls and ceilings can save 25% of your home heating bill and 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Caulking and weather-stripping can save another 1,700 pounds per year.
- Be sure you're recycling at home. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.
- Buy recycled paper products. It takes 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.
- Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.
- Buy locally grown and produced foods. The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
- If every household in the US replaced one roll of 1,000 sheet bathroom tissues with 100% recyclable rolls, we could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space and 155 million gallons of water.
Source: www.greenhomeguide.org
