Getting Ready for Earth Day: Saving Energy at Home
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 2.07
[Ed. note:] This is another entry to TreeHugger's series of posts featuring easy, high-impact ideas and tips to help you get ready for Earth Day; previous entries have covered greening your car and saving water when you flush. Stay tuned for more!
The vast majority of energy that comes from the American grid is generated by coal, a really stinky, dangerous, nasty, unsustainable, and silly way to make power. By using less energy, and greening the electricity that we do use, we can lighten our footprint immensely, so, in preparation for Earth Day, here are some quick 'n easy ways to do it.
1) Change a lightbulb from standard incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs and read up on how to maximize their use.
2) Cut back on phantom loads, vampire power, wall warts and idle current with a combination of handy devices and diligent use.
3) When it comes time to replace old appliances, be sure to pick the most energy-efficient ones you can find.
4) Check out Consumer Reports 20 Free Ways to Save Energy for some handy tips on saving energy without burning up any green.
5) Take a cruise through Energy Star programs Energy Star @ Home interactive tool, which provides a very thorough list of tips to save energy around the house.
For more tips about saving energy at home in preparation for Earth Day, check out TreeHugger's How to Green Your Electricity guide and stay tuned for more!
Ooo! I just found another great site for green home info (especially useful for those of us who rent). www.biggreenpurse.com has a lot of little, easy things you can do. Especially good for those people, like my mom, who want to be greener but don't know where to start, and who aren't about to re-wire their houses.