- Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3 percent on heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air conditioner saves 3-4 percent on cooling costs. By changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 1 ton of C02 a year.
- Cook with a slow cooker or a toaster oven to reduce electrical use from kitchen appliances. If a meal requires one hour to cook in an electric oven, you expend 2.7 pounds of C02, where a crockpot uses 0.9 pounds of C02 for seven hours, a toaster oven takes 1.3 pounds of C02 for 50 minutes, and a microwave only 0.5 pounds of C02 for 15 minutes of cooking. Better yet a solar cooker requires NO C02!
- Switch to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer and cut three-quarters off your electrical use. But ensure to turn off the laptop at the end of the day.
- Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year.
- Hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.
- Plug everything into a power strip, and turn it off, and/or unplug, when not in use.
- Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent.
- Install occupancy or motion sensors on outdoor lights. Better yet make them solar and save more.
- Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb. Where possible install tubular skylights to reduce daytime light usage in hallways and bathrooms.
- Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket and save .
- Insulate your water pipes. This action reduces heat loss with the hot water and condensation damage with the cold.
- Use public transportation whenever possible, carpool, shop locally, and ideally switch to a hybrid or energy-efficient car.
- Keep your tires inflated to improve gas mileage by 3 percent. Every gallon you save also saves C02 emissions.
- Use rechargeable batteries and solar devices.
- Reuse,Reduce and Recycle.
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