Saving energy is just one of many things you can do to sure up your environmental wellness, but how do you do it? We’ve got some advice to help you save energy:
1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Not only is driving everywhere bad for the planet, it also doesn’t do your wellbeing any favours. Keep fit and look after the environment by leaving your car at home twice a week. It sounds like a small measure, but this one act can help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 1,600 pounds per year. Don’t go shopping or run errands multiple times but save them up so you only need to go driving once. If your company lets you work from home sometimes, arrange to spend a few days a week out of the office so you don’t need to use your car to commute. You could also cycle, take public transport or, if you live too far away, drive as much as you need to and walk the rest of the way. These acts can help to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion – and save you money.
2. Don’t Idle: If your child’s school has a bus system, remind the school that bus engines should be switched off when buses are parked. When school buses are idling, the exhaust can pollute air in and around the bus, and can enter the school building through air intakes, doors, and open windows. Idling also wastes fuel and money which is pointless considering that school bus engines really need only a few minutes to warm up.
3. Check Your Electrics: How much of your electricity comes from renewable “green” power sources, such as wind or solar? You can check online to make sure you’re with the greenest provider possible. Green power reduces air pollution, produces less carbon emissions, and helps protect against future costs or scarcity of fossil fuels.
4. Make Your Home an Energy Star: Whenever you’re maintaining your home, why not do a home energy audit? This can help you find out how you can save money by making your home more energy efficient. Even if it’s something as simple as replacing your conventional light bulbs with energy-efficient ones, you can save a great deal of energy and money. If every home in the US, for example were to replace just one conventional light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, they would save enough energy to light more than three million homes a year.
5. ECycle It: When your computer, DVD player, or other electronics die, take them to an electronics recycling centre, or look online for places that will come pick them up. Electronics actually contain a lot of vital natural resources such as copper and gold, and reusing and recycling these materials can help to reduce mining and processing. Moreover, by eCycling your electronic goods, you can help to reduce and avoid land, air and water pollution. Capturing and reusing hazardous substances such as lead or chromium prevents these substances getting into the environment.
6. Be an Ambassador: If everyone made such small changes as those listed above, we could make a monumental impact on the wellbeing of the planet. However, people need to hear about these changes before they can implement them in their lives – and this is where you come in. Now you have a great list of things to do to save energy, you can tell the people you know all about it. Explain to your child’s school why it’s important to teach students about energy conservation, and try to make your workplace more energy aware. Talk to you friends – help spread the word!
