Save the Environment
10 Ways to Save the Environment
There are many simple things you can do around the house to save the environment, cut down on waste, and save money at the end of the month. This post provides a few things you can do to be more environmentally conscience:
Save the environment when doing laundry
An eco-conscious household can save up to 3,400 gallons a year by doing full loads of laundry.
Help the environment by using the garbage disposal
Dispose of organic waste down the disposal and avoid using plastic garbage bags that pollute our landfills.
Be green and recycle paper
For every ton of paper you recycle such as newspapers, magazines, and old computer paper – you save the environment and save 17 trees, preserve 7,000 gallons of water a year, power an average home for 6 months, and keep 60 pounds of pollutants out of the air.
Be eco-friendly when washing your hands
Use bar soap so as to eliminate using plastic bottles.
Save energy when powering electronics
Use an electrical power strip to power your computer, fax, scanner, speakers, etc. These items can consume enough energy as a 75 watt light bulb left on 24 hours. An electrical strip harnesses energy more efficiently and can be turned off when not in use.
Be environmentally conscious about leaky appliances
Did you know that 2 out of 10 toilets in American households leak? Leaky appliances can waste up to 73,000 gallons of water a year – the equivalent to washing clothes for a family of four up to 4 years.
Save the environment by using the microwave
Whenever possible avoid using the stovetop to heat your food. You’ll save the environment up to 80 percent.
But if you insist on using the stove…!
Match the pan to the appropriate size burner, which can save the environment by preserving energy up to 40 percent and spare your electric bill by $36 a year.
Be eco-conscience and recycle soda cans
Don’t forget the little things around the house like pop bottles! Find local recycle centers as one recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run your television for 3 hours.
Save the environment by stopping your computer screen saver
Screen savers might save your screen, but they do nothing to save the environment. It takes more energy to run a screen saver then it does to put your computer into a low-power mode saving you between $50 to $100 a year on your electricity bill.
These are just a few things you can do around the house to save the environment, but there are plenty more!
We’d love to hear from you!
What are some ways that you cut costs and exercise eco-activism around the house?
Tags: green
9. April 2009 at 3:04 pm :
One thing I have found to save on the energy bill around the house is to check the attic doors they are big sources of energy loss. You can put weather stripping around them and a small bolt to be sure they are closed tight all the time. Also make sure all your doors have weather stripping around them that is another source of wasted electricty. Don’t forget lightbulbs get the energy effecient ones they cost more right then and there but they last longer and use less electricty. Also check your windows and make sure they are not letting air out. And people so often forget to change the air filter on the A/C every month if you have pets you may want to change it twice a month you can buy the filters cheap at the dollar store. Hope this helps.
9. April 2009 at 4:12 pm :
Some way to save energy around the house are open refrigator when its neccessary, use flourescing light bulbs they save a lot of energy, keep windows and doors closed when AC. or heating system is running, make sure when you buy a clothes iron, get one that shut off automatic, because lots of folks forget to turn off clothes iron when finish ironing. Turn off all light when not in used.
And like Michelle said to make sure all windows and door are properly seal with weather stripps also make sure their no leak around your refrigerator doors.
If you all the above you will definately see the difference in your utility bills on a monthly basis.
9. April 2009 at 7:29 pm :
Great article! Great ideas. Cleaning your air condtioner helps on electric. We haved to run our air because Brooks has asma . We use a lot of candles. I actually loves candles with a good aroma. Not using the dryer helps so that we hang them on a cloths line. Simple things like using your toaster oven to cook, using a crock pot, and using your microwave. Outside lighting can be easier by using the security lights that blink on when motion is detected. This way your outside lights don’t stay on forever. Bottom line turn thing off when your not using them. Also, place a timer on the hot water heater. For example, my heater turns off from midnight to 6:00 a.m. That’s all folks. Hope it helps on saving money.
9. April 2009 at 9:35 pm :
Hey these are all good ideas, we all diffently like to save energy(money). This might not be to good of an idea, and only responsoble adults should do this. When i can relax, I head for a nice bath, and instead of using the lights I use candles, sometimes i even read with the candle light, but not get to comfy and fall asleep.
9. April 2009 at 10:24 pm :
Ah! My favorite subject! Everyone has such good comments too. I practice a green life as fully as I can and of course as many know our family goal is to come off from most modern conveniences, grow the bulk of our own food, use natural lawn mower (goat). Already in the summer months I do most of my cooking outside using renewable sources…wood which is taken as deadfall from the woods behind our home. I don’t even own a stove my cooking is basically one pot meals. We are fancier in the warm months when I can cook over fire. I sooo want a patio and outdoor cooking area, since wheels are a part of my life I can’t do my own outside cooking and teaching my kids to cook over fire has not been real successful. I’m determined though….I’m going to have my green home!
We use those cool squiggly lightbulbs and we have ever since they came out, before that we relied a lot on oil lamps. I found long ago that fire lamps saved on my power bill. We still use little lighting and we don’t have lots of electrical stuff. My computer is about the most power hungry electrical item we have besides the water heater. We also want to do solar water heating…we had tasted that when we had no power/water a few years ago and would like to expand on that in the future. Since we are going to build an outside bath hut for me to be able to tub bathe, solar heated water will be a necessity….ok maybe not, we could always run hot water plumbing but we really would like to come off the dependence on that power hungry piece of equipment.
Heat/Air…LOL…we got that taken care of. Our central heat/air system has never worked in this house and in the past I could never afford it even when we had those systems so we rely on space heating and cooling. We use as little space as we need (usually just one room) and use just enough heat/AC to make that space comfortable. This past year we used my office (the converted shed) as the space to heat. We had some trouble as we were unprepared for winter but well…we made it through. Next winter will be better. We will use this space as the cool spot too. It’s easier to heat/cool one smaller room and learn to bundle up than a whole house where much is wasted.
Recycling! We reduce/reuse/recycle almost obsessively. There is nothing I can’t figure out a second use for. I’m a proud dumpster diver and roadside trash picker. I will use something till that use is exhausted, then figure out a way to use that same thing for something else and find ways to reuse till there is nothing left to reuse. This keeps my trash bill down because there is almost no packaging that I can’t figure out a way to reuse. We compost all our organic matter, drink from spaghetti jars, eat from microwave/tv dinner or take out trays, reuse plastic flatware…LOL…we don’t have dinner guests because really our habits are very rustic and nobody wants to eat off a TV dinner tray, using mcdonalds forks, and drink from Ragu jars…but why waste these reusables? Our county landfill is also a recycling center so that which we don’t reuse we carefully recycle.
Ok….I’m done now. I could go on forever on this topic
9. April 2009 at 11:39 pm :
Hey, you guys. Remember, I’m from Florida. I’m the vetern of 2004 Hurricanes, Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jean.Hurricane Jean about destroyed everything. I guess the ground was really wet so a lot of our trees uprooted. I no what it was with out electric and no water. My roof came off and water poured in. It was devastating. We cooked outside for a month. The insects were bad, and the showers were cold. If you ever been down in Florida, it gets really hot. Michelle, you should know that. As far as living like in the outdoors, isn’t for me. But hey, it was great on my electric bill because we had none. I just thought I would share this with you. It was a nitemare for us down here. The insurance companies found a way not to pay people what they should have received. Now, people in Florida can’t get any insurance. People in trailers, that’s a fact. In 2004, the insurance companies state they went broke. Question here is where did the money go the first twenty years of people paying?
10. April 2009 at 12:59 am :
Sorry about that pior writing. Just brought back memories. Those compact fluorescent lights bulbs are great to conserve. I think that’s what Beckys talking about. Hey, set your thermostat a few degress lower in the summer and higher in the winter. Walk or ride a bike instead of using a car,so we stop polluting the air. Unplug your appliances when your not using them. Also, wash your clothes in cold water. That really helps. When your showering, limit your time. Might what to think about adding low-flow showerhead.
On your sink, add a water filter for drinkable water. Then, you can quit buying bottle water. Bottle water is expensive and generates large amount of waste. Shop at your Sams Clubs because buying in bulk saves money and packaging. Borrow books from your local libraries. Why? You save trees and ink. Make sure you keep your electronics out of the trash. The waste contains mercury. Most of all, recycle your cell phones.
10. April 2009 at 10:16 pm :
Hopes this brings some humor to your lives:
“An eco-conscious household can save up to 3,400 gallons a year by doing full loads of laundry.”
I’d say stuffing the washer with as many clothes as possible, then having to redistribute the watered down clothes halfway through the cycle because the weight of the wet clothes is making the washer walk and rock into all the walls. Once a time ago, I had a washer unplug itself it walked so far away from the wall. Not sure if that was saving the washer much, but I knew I’d be saving gallons!
“Dispose of organic waste down the disposal and avoid using plastic garbage bags that pollute our landfills.”
So I bought this house back in 2007 (in foreclosure now). Tenants moved out and I moved in. Now, I’m not sure if they applying bones as organic waste, but the garbage disposal was not having it. Not only did they burn out the garbage disposal, but they still decided not to throw away the bones so they just tossed them all over the back yard. Was quite a task mowing the lawn. I had to wear my daughter’s soccer shin guards! Ok, so I didn’t really wear her shin guards, but I am trying to be amusing. Laughter is a gift, right?
Actually, I started a compost pile so I didn’t have to use the garbage. When we moved into our apartment, it restricted our possibilities, but we recycle most things and the compost we have is reduced to brown paper grocery bags before entering the dumpster.
“1 ton of paper = 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water a year, power an average home for 6 months, and keep 60 pounds of pollutants out of the air.”
What if you robbed the postman/woman for his/her USPS junk mail before he started his/her route? That has to be at least half their delivery! Saves them the time, saves everyone on route the hassle of sorting through the unwanted, and prevents all that paper from being thrown in the garbage. Ok, don’t really go rob the postman. Just ask him nicely! lol
“Use bar soap so as to eliminate using plastic bottles.”
I may be mistaken, but unless there are filling stations for soap canisters, you have to dispense plastic into the recycle. The only bars of soap I know come wrapped in plastic. Perhaps it is less than the plastic bottles, but as far as I know it’s recycled the same. Now, I do prefer bars of soap. Especially when I come running into a house (not mine) to wash splashed battery acid from my face and in my scrambling to grab the soap, I grab the conditioner. Same bottle size! Once it didn’t feel like soap, I grabbed another bottle. It lathered so I washed, but it smelled like shampoo. Same bottle size also! Again, I grabbed a bottle praying it wasn’t lotion or some other bottle that all looked the same. I’m pretty sure my face experienced the full treatment that day and I eventually cleaned myself thoroughly as to not have any burns. Ok, so battery acid in the face isn’t very funny, but that’s probably why I am not employed as a comedian.
…to be continued…
10. April 2009 at 10:18 pm :
Ok, so I really don’t understand this one:
“Use an electrical power strip to power your computer, fax, scanner, speakers, etc. These items can consume enough energy as a 75 watt light bulb left on 24 hours. An electrical strip harnesses energy more efficiently and can be turned off when not in use.”
I am assuming the power strip is a surge protector???
10. April 2009 at 11:27 pm :
“Did you know that 2 out of 10 toilets in American households leak? Leaky appliances can waste up to 73,000 gallons of water a year – the equivalent to washing clothes for a family of four up to 4 years.”
Ever wonder how someone found out a statistic like this? I don’t remember receiving the phone call, “Is your toilet leaking?” I would probably assume it was a prank caller. Could you imagine?
Caller: “Is your toilet leaking?”
Receiver: “Why do you want to know funny guy?”
I remember one time I lived in an apartment where it the toilet leaked. I adjusted it many times, but because something was breaking it just kept getting worse. I remember one time I left for the weekend and my roommate threw a party. Not sure what happen, but from then on we had to turn the water on to flush and then turn it off when it wasn’t in use. Even more weird, was the sink had fallen away from the wall. I knew it had been sealed by a white silicone before I left and now it had stripes and sparkles. I leaned on it to get a closer look and it completely detached from the wall hanging by the plumbing. Only then I realized my roommate brushed his teeth with Aquafresh. He then told me what happen as if I wouldn’t have noticed the toothpaste he used to hide the separation of the sink and the wall.
“Whenever possible avoid using the stovetop to heat your food. You’ll save the environment up to 80 percent.”
Just remember the remove the foil! Microwaves do not work properly if the waves are returned with aluminum or any other steel. Purpose: to heat the food, not blow the oven.
“Match the pan to the appropriate size burner, which can save the environment by preserving energy up to 40 percent and spare your electric bill by $36 a year.”
I did not know this! I did know electric burners do not heat tortillas very well! Especially when you just lay them atop the burner to toast them a bit. They stick, start on fire, et cetera so don’t try that at home!
“Don’t forget the little things around the house like pop bottles! Find local recycle centers as one recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run your television for 3 hours.”
Well, maybe they should start selling TV’s that process aluminum. I could imagine a day and age where when you want to watch some tele, you drop a can into the back and seal it. Would it be worth it? I don’t know, but it might prevent couch potatoes from developing. Have to find that controller AND drop a can into the tele. Then in another 3 hours, get up again! How crazy is that?
Then you get people promoting beer and soda with TV’s: “Buy his HDTV and get a year’s worth of Budweiser, Pepsi or Diet Pepsi!”
“Screen savers might save your screen, but they do nothing to save the environment. It takes more energy to run a screen saver then it does to put your computer into a low-power mode saving you between $50 to $100 a year on your electricity bill.”
I never understood how screen savers actually saved your screen. I know it’s nearly impossibly for me to get my computer out of “sleep mode” or “hibernation” or “stand by” without having to restart it. All the trouble I go through, I just save what I need and shut it down. Sorry, out of humor with this one.
Hope you all enjoyed~
10. April 2009 at 11:31 pm :
Becky wrote: “use natural lawn mower (goat)”
I wanted to get a goat when I had a house, but we moved before I could. Maybe next time, I love that idea!~
10. April 2009 at 11:51 pm :
Brook’s Mom wrote: “Question here is where did the money go the first twenty years of people paying?”
Developing the insurance company. A little fear here, a bit of manipulation there, and a dash of greed completes the recipe~
11. April 2009 at 1:44 am :
Hey, I like the idea of a goat.
11. April 2009 at 2:05 am :
This is such a great idea I even started turning my computer and monitor completly off at night. I’m going to go green yet. Thanks for all the great ideas.
12. April 2009 at 10:18 am :
Yeah! You can do it! Be creative and have fun with it. I’m glad to see you are interested in going green. You can save money and the planet at the same time.
13. April 2009 at 10:17 pm :
here is a good way to recycle and raise money for your cause. recycle cell phones. just google it and pick a company
14. April 2009 at 12:15 am :
We keep lights off as much as possible and turn the heat off in some rooms and when it is air conditioning time we have it only turned on the hottest part of the day. This is a good topic and very good ideas from everyone.
14. April 2009 at 3:39 pm :
Alex, thanks for joining in! Recycling cellphones is a great idea…
22. April 2009 at 10:24 pm :
Ahhh yes get a goat! LOL
They not only will keep your grass mowed down but your bushes and trees too!! As in stick bare. I found this out when I goat sitted for a friend. I walked out back and all I could say is where is my rose bush??? ( those thorns had to have hurt) No grass, no bushes, no weeds… no rose bush….but had one happy (and full) goat.
This was some interesting reading by the way.. learned alot!
20. October 2010 at 11:14 am :
you can also use security lights that are made from LED to reduce power consumption’,’