20 Ways to Save Energy
- April 11, 2012
- By Cody Battershill
20 Ways to Save Energy
Maybe you are an advocate for the environment, maybe not. No matter what side of the debate your on, chances are you drive a car, eat packaged foods and live in a modern home. Here are a few simple things all of us can do more often to save some energy and for the most part some cash as well!
1. Open the blinds during the daytime – Unless you need your privacy, open the blinds and let in the daylight.
2. Clean or replace any household filters - By cleaning a filthy air filter, you will save your house from working harder.
3. Look for energy star label when purchasing new appliances – Energy star appliances are the most efficient in the amounts of energy they consume.
4. Prevent heat from escaping your house – Keep the doors and windows closed more often. Your heating system won’t work as hard and neither will your pocketbook.
5. Turn the light off when you leave the room – If you aren’t in a room, turn the light off.
6. Turn off standby appliances – Many new appliances have lights that stay on in standby mode after their use. By turning the appliance off, a surprising amount of energy and coin will be saved.
7. Use covers on your cooking pots – Covering pots and pans with lids when cooking will save approximately 70% of the energy required to cook food without them.
8. Install a shower head that is low flow – These shower heads use less water, therefore your water heater will "bill less".
9. Use lukewarm water in the washing machine instead of hot – Water heater's will use less energy if it doesn’t have to heat up the water as much.
10. Buy a water tap filter – Stop buying dozens of plastic water bottles at the supermarket and buy a canteen to fill with filtered water.
11. Get reusable shopping bags at the grocery market – Usually for a dollar you can buy reusable grocery bags that can carry more weight than the plastic ones. Remembering to bring them becomes the challenge!
12. Plant some trees in your yard – Trees are instrumental in carbon dioxide absorption and can actually lower your air conditioning fees by a considerable amount!
13. Buy foods from local producers – Fuel is needed to transport foods from one place to another. By purchasing local products, demand for foods produced far away becomes less and you save the extra cash added on to the price that pay's for their shipping.
14. Purchase fresh foods rather than frozen foods – A whopping 10 times the amount of energy is required to produces frozen foods when compared to fresh foods!
15. Eat more vegetarian protein and less red meat – Did you know that cow farts are the number one contributor of methane gas pollution to our atmosphere?! Yes, cow farts.
16. Use public transportation – Reduce the amount of gas burned by the ever increasing amount of cars on the roads and save some money on fuel in the process!
17. Try not to let your car run in idle – This is a given. If the temperature outside isn’t extreme, there isn’t a need to have the car running.
18. Looking for a new ride? Buy a fuel efficient model – Save money in the long run by buying a hybrid
19. Car pool on the way to work – Get together with some friends from work and plan a morning car pool every week if it’s reasonable to do so.
20. Replace your regular light-bulb with an energy saving CFL light bulb – Compact fluorescent light bulbs use approximately 60% less electricity when compared to regular models.
Our finite resources might run out sooner than you think. By being conscientious about some tiny little steps we can do in everyday life, we can save energy and money as well. Lets face it, we aren't going to be cutting out the use of petroleum products any time soon. They are used to produce nearly everything in present times, one way or another. What we CAN do is contribute in small ways, like listed above.
Alberta's Oil Sands
I am still wondering why the American's choose to spend billions of dollars importing and protecting their oil imports from OPEC nations, when they have the worlds 3rd largest oil reserves just north of their border! I’m sure that some of you have heard about the often exaggerated negative environmental impacts that the oil sands has on our planet. Here are some articles that will hopefully bring some truth about our nations great asset into perspective.
Alberta Oil Sands and Greenhouse Gases