Conserve Energy
Home energy use accounts for nearly half of our personal greenhouse gas emissions. Most of that energy goes to space heating, then water heating, followed by appliances and cooking.
Stay warm (or cool) without heating the planet
1. Turn down the temperature. In cold months, put on a sweater and throw an extra blanket on the bed. Every degree that you heat over 67ºF adds 3% to your heating bill.
2. Cut your heating and cooling time. Turn the heat or air conditioning down or off at night and while you are not at home.
3. Cool with a fan instead of an air conditioner.
4. Make paradise where you are. When home alone, close the doors to heat and light just that room, rather than the whole house.
5. Install a programmable thermostat to avoid overheating or cooling. These are inexpensive and will save money over the long term.
6. Use a fan to push the hot air down from the ceiling for greater comfort and lower bills. Clearing space around heaters so the hot air can circulate around the room, rather than heat the back of your couch!
7. Insulate your attic, walls and floors to save up to 10% on heating or cooling.
8. Tune up the furnace annually and keep filters clean to avoid wasting 50% of the energy used by the furnace.
9. Weatherize. All the cracks in an average home add up to the equivalent of a window sized hole in the wall. Use weather stripping, outlet insulators, insulating foam, window putty, door sweeps to cut your heating bill by 10%.
10. Buy energy efficient if purchasing a new heating system to reduce costs and emissions in the long run.
11. Work with the sun. Allow sunlight to warm your house in the winter by opening curtains and blinds. Stay cool in the summer by blocking out the sun with curtains, blinds, awnings and overhangs.
12. Sign up for a home energy audit!
Lower hot water costs and emissions
1. Turn down your water heater to 120º. Every 10º reduction can cut energy use by 6%. Many heaters are set at 140º by the manufacturer.
2. Shoot for the 5-minute scrub. Every 10-minute shower results in 6 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Turn off the tap. Stop sending clean water and money down the drain by running the tap while doing dishes, brushing your teeth and shaving.
4. Install a low-flow showerhead for about $15 and in just a few minutes cut 25-60% of your hot water use.
5. Wash clothes with cold water and save about $100 a year in water heating. New detergents clean effectively in cold water.
6. Insulate the first 5 feet of hot and cold water pipes out of your hot water heater.
7. Wrap the water heater in insulation if it feels warm to the touch to save $50 a year and reduce emissions by several hundred pounds.
8. Turn off your hot water heater while you're on vacation, or even while you're asleep and at work. Turn it off at the circuit breaker or install a switch or timer.
9. Solar hot water heaters cut your water heating bills by 50-70% and more than $100 a year.
Appliances
1. Switch off electronics at the wall or a power strip to cut the 5-10% of your electric bill spent on standby power. Clocks and lights on TVs and stereos constantly use power unless unplugged.
2. Unplug seldom-used refrigerators or freezers. These energy hogs of the appliance world can cost $100 a year.
3. Air-dry your dishes by stopping the dishwasher (or using the air dry feature) and line-dry your clothes.
4. Run full loads in your dishwasher and washing machine so you can wash less often.
5. Purchase Energy Star rated appliances for energy efficiency. ENERGY STAR refrigerators will save an average of $40 a year and a quarter ton of greenhouse gas emissions. Check out if your fridge needs replacing at Home Energy Magazine.
6. Clean the condenser coils under or behind your refrigerator with a vacuum cleaner or brush. Don't forget to unplug it first!
Lighting
1. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Each bulb can save 100lbs. of carbon dioxide a year and will cut your lighting costs. Use them in almost any fixture and experience the improved quality of light.
2. Turn off lights when you leave a room to save money and cut emissions.
3. Use task lighting instead of lighting an entire room.
4. Put outdoor lights on a motion sensor.
Cook Efficiently
1. Put lids on pans to save 2/3 of the energy used.
2. Use a microwave rather than the stove to save as much as $50 a year.
3. Keep the oven door closed. Every time you open the oven, 25-50° of heat escapes.
Use clean energy
1. Consider installing a solar photovoltaic system after making your home as energy efficient as possible (including solar hot water).
Get rid of your gas mower
1. Replace that mower with an electric, or better yet, a push mower. You can save around 150 lbs CO2 annually and inches on your waistline from outdoor exercise!
2. Plant native or low-input species, which require less mowing, water and fertilizing overall.
Plant a tree
1. Plant a tree to sequester about 25 lbs of CO2 annually, or about a ton of greenhouse gas over the lifetime of the tree
2. Shade your air conditioning unit to save 10-15% a year on cooling.
3. Plant deciduous trees on the southern and western side of your house that will drop their leaves to allow in winter sunlight but keep your house cool in the summer.
Reduce chemical fertilizers and pesticides
1. Leave grass clippings on your lawn and use organic fertilizers to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by 200 pounds for half an acre of lawn. Chemical fertilizers release the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.
Grab a rake
1. Use a rake instead of a leaf blower to collect your leaves for the compost pile and cut 70 lbs of CO2 every year, in addition to the benefits to your compost pile.
Food choices are directly tied to greenhouse gas emissions, from the fossil fuels used to grow, process, package and transport our food to the emissions from methane-burping cows and forest conversion to farm land. The food production system consumes 17% of the total amount of fossil fuel energy use in the world. Small changes in the way we shop, eat and grow our food can make a big difference!
