Kicking the Habit of Wasting Energy
16 Apr 2009 ~ Categories: blog • eco-living
National Geographic magazine is such a great visual pleasure and informative read. I read it more when I was a kid and in love with the color, the images, the animals, the landscapes and the mystery of far away places. Recently I’ve picked it up again.
I was inspired by the April issue: “Saving Energy Starts At Home”. Of course this is a basic concept that I was introduced to early on by my parents in such wise and simple ways as:
“Please close the refrigerator.”
“Please turn off the light when you leave the room.”
“Please close the door; you’re letting all the heat out.”
You get the picture. So I previously considered myself a sort of expert on home energy saving skills. But I did learn a few new tricks from National Geo.
Let me just say that if I owned a house (and I don’t), there would be a lot of potential ways to upgrade and modify my building to save energy and make an investment in the future of our environment. (Please read the article if you are a homeowner!)
But since I rent, I can’t currently affect the way my building is constructed on a fundamental level. However, there are ways even renters can use less energy in the home, and thus contribute more to the welfare of our planet.
For example:
1) Choose your light bulbs wisely. Compact fluorescents are slightly more expensive but use much less energy, and therefore last way longer, making them actually less expensive in the long run (and preventing you from having to change light bulbs. Bonus!)
2) If you have access to the water heater, you can turn it down to 120 degrees (which experts recommend as the perfect medium between wasting energy and livable comfort.) That way, you aren’t wasting energy needlessly heating up water that you’ll then need to cool down with the cold faucet anyway.
3) Turn off the lights at night and take a look around you at the little green glows. How many electronics are you unnecessarily charging? Computers, cell phones, digital cameras, dustbusters… these things do not need to be plugged in for nearly as long as we think, and every moment in an electrical socket equates to fossil fuels burned. It’s called “vampire power”.
We’re addicted to our electricity, our heat and our hot water. But like any habit, it can be kicked.
You can actually read this entire article online as well as take a quiz on how you can reduce your own carbon load. Check it out.
Save energy,
Amy
