You may not be aware, but it is more than
likely that the town/city where you live offers a service known as
an energy audit. This is where an auditor comes to your home and
looks in detail at your home and suggests changes that will help
you to conserve energy and ultimately save a lot of money! It is a
win-win situation – you will be saving money and helping the
environment at the same time. It doesn’t take a genius to work out
that this is the best way forward.
There are a great deal of changes which can
be implemented in your home which will have a huge impact on the
environment at the same time of saving you money and the auditor is
there to help and ensure you save as much energy (and money) as
possible.
A first step is to have recycle bins brought
to your home. This will help you sort the items out as to what can
be recycled and what can’t. Just doing this by itself will have an
enormous impact on the amount of waste which ends up in
landfills.
Another handy hint is to keep TVs, DVD
players, VCRs, stereos and computers plugged into a power strip or
surge protector rather than plugging the directly into the sockets
on the wall. You can then turn off the power strip while you are
not using them and this will cut back on the amount of power used
and reduce power leaks will significantly reduce your electricity
bills. It does take a bit of effort to remember to turn these items
off, but it will be a lot easier if they are plugged into a power
strip – just one switch will turn everything off and save money and
energy.
Remember to switch off lights when you leave a
room. Leaving lights on drains power and also costs a lot of
money. It is also possible to change your light bulbs from the
traditional ones to compact fluorescent ones. These newer
light bulbs use 75 per cent less energy and will out live
traditional bulbs by an astonishing 10 years. Another great
money saving idea.
Try not to run your dishwasher or washing
machine until they are full. It is a waste of both energy and water
– not to mention money. It will not take too long to wait for a
full load of washing and running the machine when it is only half
full is counter-productive.
Another great idea, which most people don’t
think of is to use micro fiber cloths for cleaning surfaces such as
furniture, counters and sinks. These clothes can be chucked into
the washing machine and reused again and again – imagine how much
money you will save by not using paper towels – in fact not just
the money, but also the environment. Much fewer trees will need to
be cut down if everyone switches to cloths.
If you take shorter showers, you will save a
lot of water and you can actually buy shower heads which conserve
water. You won’t even notice the difference, but again you will be
saving money!
At the end of the day, the ideas are endless
but efficient! If you begin, others might follow but at least you
can rest in the knowledge that you are doing your part!
Pop and Rock Listings New York Times, United States - 12 hours ago (Amanda Petrusich) BLIP FESTIVAL (Friday through Sunday) Just when you thought it was safe to hurl your Commodore 64 into the recycling bin, ... EcoTrack 11: Who's better at recycling? - WTOL
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Remember to switch off lights when you leave a
room. Leaving lights on drains power and also costs a lot of
money. It is also possible to change your light bulbs from the
traditional ones to compact fluorescent ones. These newer
light bulbs use 75 per cent less energy and will out live
traditional bulbs by an astonishing 10 years. Another great
money saving idea.
