Blog Action Day 15th Oct 2007: 20 Tips For Laying The Foundations Of Your Environmentally Friendly Habit [Organize IT]
Today is Blog Action day which I previously discussed in my weekly recap. The topic for this year is the environment and my little contribution to this huge issue will be discussing those first small steps you can take to develop your environmentally friendly habit. After all, a lot of people are so used to being wasteful, leaving appliances and lights on, etc that it’s become a bad habit they really need to break. In a previous post I discussed the key concepts that you can use to take those first tentative steps to building a new habit. By combining that article with the following points you will have all the groundwork you need.
- When cleaning your teeth don’t just leave the tap running and wasting water, only turn it on when you have finished and you need to rinse your mouth.
- Turn lights off when you leave a room, even if you are only in for a few seconds. The story that turning lights off costs vastly more is overrated. The difference is so minor, especially on modern bulbs as to be insignificant.
- Feeling a bit cold? Try wearing a jumper first before you start cranking up the heating. At the very worst you won’t need to have the heater on as high.
- Boiling some water? Don’t fill the kettle all the way to the top, just boil as much as you need. If you are making yourself a cup of tea/coffee you don’t need to boil enough water for six people…
- Fill up your dishwasher/washing machine before using them. They use the same amount of water and energy regardless of how much you put in, so make the most of it!
- Speaking of washing machines, turn the heat down to 30 degrees as it can cut electricity consumption dramatically. And don’t worry about the state of your clothes, most washing detergents work just as effectively.
- It’s not suitable for everyone, but if you regularly have warm weather dry your clothes outside, instead of using costly tumble dryers. It’s a lot nicer to your clothes as they get that natural freshness no machine can give you.
- Avoid sleep or standby mode! Monitors and TV screens are the worst culprits, so if you are not using them just switch them off. It’s bizarre to think some people will put their TV on standby and then go on holiday for weeks. In fact…
- Switch items off at the socket when they are not in use. It’s surprising how much electricity they can still use. Recharging devices are especially bad as they will continue to waste electricity when nothing is plugged into them.
- Check for water leaks. That leaky tap may not seem to be dripping much at first glance, but consider how much water it leaks over a day or a week.
- Clean your windows and open the curtains wide so as to make the most of the natural light outside, instead of switching on lights everywhere.
- Encourage yourself to recycle by having multiple bins for different materials. At the very least have one bin for regular rubbish and another for cans, paper, plastics… whatever you use the most. And never throw away shopping bags! Reuse them or take them back to the supermarket to be recycled.
- Buy local and organic produce. For instance, none-local fruit has to be transported long distances which increases fuel costs and makes them less fresh. Also, by buying organic produce you discourage the use of nasty chemical fertilizers.
- Replace your bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. They may be initially more expensive but they last dramatically longer and use less electricity. If that initial cost is a problem do what I did and just buy one at a time, whenever existing, inefficient bulbs went bust.
- Don’t litter. There will usually always be a bin nearby to throw away any rubbish, but in the worst case scenario just put it in your pockets till you get home.
- Buy energy efficient appliances. I can’t comment for other countries but here in the UK we have energy ratings. Go for the highest rated appliances you can afford (”A” being the most efficient and “G” being the least).
- There is hot and then there is boiling. I assume you don’t want to have a bath in the latter so turn your water heating down a few degrees. Likewise, turning your thermostat down slightly won’t make much difference to your room temperature but will save lots on your bills in the long term.
- Drive efficiently and smoothly. Excessive revving and breaking just puts you on the fast track to poor fuel usage and an empty tank.
- Learn to use public transport more often, or better still if you are going small distances try walking or biking it. Yes, the car is almost always the most convenient option but don’t let it become the default choice for all your transport needs.
- Generally speaking take a show instead of a bath, though be aware of power showers as they can use at least as much water as the bath. If you have one of those types of showers, consider something less wasteful.
Original post here: SpiKe
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