Table of Contents
Energy
7. Unplug things when not in use and when you’re gone for an extended period of time. Even if an appliance or electronic is “off,” it can still be sucking volts from the outlet. a TV with a remote could use more energy during the 20 hours it is turned off waiting for you to turn it on than it does while you are watching it for 4 hours in the evening,” so be sure to pull the plug.
6. Keep the heat at or below 68 degrees in the winter and choose to wear an extra thick sweater. And don’t open any windows when the heat or A/C are on. To save on heating itself, close off any rooms you’re not in so the heat doesn’t go away.
5. Use the clothes dryer as seldom as possible, try to dry your clothes outside or on the line. Even when it’s cool and rainy outside you can set up a clothes line in the bathroom or simply purchase a cheap foldable drying rack .
4. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) (They usually use a quarter of the energy compared to their counterparts) or any other energy saving light bulbs. And remember to switch these off when you leave a room. Eventhough these light bulbs cost more than regular bulbs, they will last longer and will save more energy in the long run.
3. Look for Energy Star rated appliances and electronics when replacing old equipment. Old appliances often use more electricity as they haven’t been designed or manufactured with ecological usage in mind.
2. Use green energy. Buy renewable energy or carbon offsets from your energy provider or you can even install some solar panels to generate your own electricity. Green energy come from natural resources and thus avoiding the use of other polluting energy sources.
1. Try to use as much natural light as much possible you can instead of electric light. If there’s no need bright light you can light a single lamp and create a more atmospheric scene with a dimmed light. You could even light some candles instead for some additional romance and coziness.
Water
5. Take shorter showers. Even though showers in the morning can help you wake up and get ready for a rough day, you might wanna take a second to think before you enjoy a long shower.You can also purchase some of those water efficient shower heads to save even more water while you’re showering.
4. Put bricks or rocks in your water tank of your toilet. This way, less water will fill the tank and each time you flush you’ll be using less water. You might also want to think about flushing less as well. For example for small “businesses”, you don’t need to flush every time. You could set a rule where you flush for every 2 pees and when it’s brown flush it down.
3. Turn off the water while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face. You can’t imagine how many people keep the water running while they’re brushing their teeth. I personally catch myself doing it as well. And while you’re washing and soaping your face you can turn off the sink and let it run again when you’re ready to rinse.
2. Run the dishwasher and laundry machine only when it’s full. Better yet, if you there isn’t a lot dishes, just hand-wash them, but don’t let the water run. Wash them with soap first and when you’re done start running the water to rinse off the soap.
1. Collect and re-use water from the shower or baths or simply rain water to clean your patio, or water your garden. It doesn’t cost a lot these days to install a rainwater collector and if you include a pump and a decent filter you can use the collected rainwater to wash dishes or toilets. This can save you a ton of water.
Transportation
5. Keep your car clean and tuned up. Check your tire pressure and air filter regularly. Keeping the air filter clean keeps the engine clean and free of debris so that the engine can function optimally.A clean air filter also equates to better gas mileage in turn means you’ll be using less gas in the long run.
4. Drive efficiently, aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes tons of gas and for no good reasons.Sensible driving is much safer for you and others, so you may end up saving more than just gas money. Jackrabbiting eats up tons of fuel as well, so try to use cruise control when possible.
Avoid idling in your car, it gets 0 miles per gallon. If you need to stand still for more than 30 seconds, just turn the engine off. It uses up a lot less gas to turn the car off and on again than it does to leave it running idle.
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3. Carpool or use public transportation. By sharing a car or other forms of public transport you eliminate the extra vehicle exhaust and thus limiting the air pollution caused by it. Carpooling replaces up to four cars and the carpool lanes allow you to bypass traffic jams so you arrive at work with less stress. It also saves money since everyone share gas and costs.
Besides, there are other advantages by taking public transport. It frees up time for you to do other things, like reading the newspaper, having breakfast, catching up on some work or emails. And don’t forget about the financial advantage, overall taking the bus or train is a lot cheaper than your monthly car expenses.
2. When you’re going to do groceries, try to plan ahead and figure out what you’ll be needing for the whole week. This way you’ll only have to do 1 grocery run instead of having to go back and forth for the little things.
1. Try avoid short airplane trips. Airplanes use up tons of fossil fuel and that has a huge impact on our ecological footprint. If possible and if time allows it try to take a bus or train instead. They are a lot of fuel efficient than airplanes and for regional trips it can even be faster when waiting times at airports are included. Even cars are more efficient than planes, especially if you are with more people to share the car with.
Food
6. Shop and eat local. Visit farmers markets to find foods that haven’t traveled long distances to reach you. It reduces or even eliminates gas emissions from shipping your food over here from other countries, maximizes food security making sure your food is not contaminated and all your produce are fresh, and you’ll be supporting the local economy.Locally produced and grown food is often cheaper as well because they don’t add on the additional costs and the middlemen in between since you buy directly from the farmers.
5. Organic farming that use minimal or no pesticides and fertilisers – which are energy intensive in their manufacture – consume up to 40% less energy, and support higher levels of wildlife on farms.You could even grow your own vegetables and fruit in your backyard, you can decide how organic you want your produce to be. You’ll know exactly what has been used to grow them and can eliminate any use of pesticides and other harmful toxins.
4. Choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste. The reason why some of the goods we buy are packed so tightly and thoroughly is to keep them as fresh as possible when it reaches the end consumer.Fruits for example are kept at a low temperature throughout the whole shipping and delivering process to keep the fruit from riping until it gets to the store, ready to display. Eventhough it looks fresh, in reality it’s been kept this way with all kinds of chemicals.
3. By eating vegetarian food for 1 week you can already make a huge difference. The longer and often you do it, the better it is of course but we can’t ask people to go from carnivore to vegetarian overnight.It has been estimated that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption. The ecological footprint of vegetarians who eat a moderate amount of milk and eggs could be 40% lower than others who consume a low-meat diet.
2. Make an effort to drink less bottled water. Each bottle is often made out of plastic or glass. Even if you recycle, the factories had to use energy and other materials to make these plastic bottles and recycling these bottles will take additional energy and effort.Invest in a water filter can for your drinking water. If it’s not recommended to drink tap water you can always let it filter through your filtering can to take out all the unhealthy minerals in there.
1. When shopping, bring your own cloth tote bags instead of using paper or plastic bags. Try to re-use your bags as much as possible and limiting your purchases of plastic bags. In many countries, stores already charge you a small fee to purchase plastic shopping bags to discourage the use of plastic bags.
