I'm confused on how be more energy efficient. Help?
I’m very committed to saving our planet – in theory. I’ve tried to get my parents to buy florescent light bulbs and start recycling, but they don’t. I’ve written my state’s governor and the President about Global Warming – but I still feel like there is so much more that I could be doing. Any suggestions?
On How *To* Be. Excuse the typo.
10 Responses
Bob
19 Jun 2010
riss
19 Jun 2010
Keep the shades closed during the day to keep it cooler inside. Unplug things when not in use. Use natural light during the day instead of light bulbs. Car pool. Recycle magazines. Even if your parents won’t recycle it doesn’t mean that you can’t. Many rest areas and dumps have specific recycling bins. Instead of buying pack after pack of the bottled water, refill and reuse the bottles. Instead of buying new ink cartridges, get them refilled. buy recycled products….the list goes on hope it helped.
tink24mls
19 Jun 2010
Keep pushing your parents. You be the one to start recycling at home and I bet they will follow. What about walking more instead of driving or having them drive? Using less water in the shower, in the bathroom and when you are washing dishes. You start something and stick with it and others will see you and follow. Don’t be scared to be a leader when it comes to our planet.
jessica
19 Jun 2010
You could also try hanging your clothes out to dry. You can even start a compost bin/ pile, which is also great for gardens.
NeKro Lust
19 Jun 2010
put it this way. we cant "destroy the planet" which just killing all living species, were gonna destroy ourselves one way or another, dont worry so much on helping tjhe world , becuase one person cant do it. its a thing called moderation. excess isnt something to indulge in, just make sure your not trying so hard that your unhappy, because last time i checked, we through all our garbage in huge holes. we say were concerned, but really were not
Jimmy K
19 Jun 2010
Get an LCD TV, LED lights, front loading washing machine
bebop
19 Jun 2010
have your window open at night. or if its too hot, have the fan on. not the a/c though. u should keep pushing your parents about the florescent lights!!! i did! once they see their bill go down. they will invest a lot in those bulbs. what i did. is i timed how much each bulb was on per day. and what kind of bulb it took. example. brothers room. light is on 8 hours a day. he has 2 light bulbs at 75 watts each. so thats 1200 watts or (1.2 kilowatts) a day times that by 30 days. thats 36,000 watts. or 36 kilowatts. same thing. average electricity price is 10 cents per kilowatt. so 10 cents times 36 kilowatts is $3.60 a month just to power my brothers room. and i told them if we just switched that one room to florescents that use 14 watts each. thats 2 bulbs 28 watts. times 8 hours thats 224 watts times 30 days. thats 6000 watts or 6 kilowatts. times 10 cents which equals 60 cents a month to power the room. thast a $3 saving every month. and since the bulbs cost bout $4 a piece, they will pay for themselves in 2 1/2 months. after i told them that (PARENTS ARE ALWAYS ABOUT SAVING MONEY) they bought 12 of them. and now we have 74 floresecnt bulbs in our house. and now our energy bill is $100 less every month now b/c of that. dont tell your parents about how it will help the earth. tell them how much money they will save.
after that topic..lol, u can buy food localy, dont buy a suv! buy something nice like a toyota prius or if u dont want a hybrid get a car with good mpg. take a bike to school or work. turn off the lights when not in use. turn off computers when u are done. if u are down to the last thing on the list on how to save evergy, u cna unplug things. a tv set for example. through out the tv’s life, 25% of the energy use will be to power it and to watch tv. 75% of the energy is wasted by letting it sit there in standby mode.
when u go to a store, bring your own bags, so when they are putting your food in bags, make sure they put them in your bags. dont use plastic bags! and dont use paper bags. use reuseable cups. if u go to school and u pack your lunch. dont use a plastic bag for your food. use tupper ware. u can reuse the tupper ware. again it will save u money in the long run.
washing clothes, only do it with a full load. if its hot outside, leave your clothes outside to dry.
bathroom- if u have a big toliet. put a 1/2 gallon jug in it so it uses 1/2 gallon less water every time u use it.
landlady
19 Jun 2010
I just learned that you can unplug your appliances to save on electricity bills. That would save on energy as well.
mgerben
19 Jun 2010
Keep pushing your parents.
But in a positive way.
Not so that you moan and complain that they have to do something, after which you can lean back and say you’ve saved the planet.
Giving the right example shows that you are really serious about it.
Buy a fluorescent for your own room.
Seperate garbage (if your city supports it!).
Don’t just sit back and complain that your parents don’t take the glass out. Do it yourself.
Show you are committed yourself.
It starts with you, not with your parents.
M. H
19 Jun 2010
There are alot of things you can do. The flourescent bulbs are great. Buy them as presents. I’m putting together ‘save the planet’ bags for christmas. Stop using plastic bags. Most are not biodegradable and take a 1000 years to decompose. I bought heavy duty reusable plastic bags from my grocery store and most stores give you a bag credit for bringing your own bags. Recycling is great as well. Keep the lights off, light candles. Open windows instead of running the air conditioning. Buy a manual carpet sweeper instead of an electric one. Use your dryer less, I don’t dry jeans or t-shirts. I do full loads instead of half loads. Take public transportation or walk.
Most of the stuff you could do is up to your parents. Two ideas.
Learn all you can about global warming and persuade them with your knowledge. Hopefully, they’ll be impressed. Good place to start:
http://profend.com/global-warming/
Buy them this book. Tell them to read the preface, it’s hilarious. Hopefully they’ll keep going. Should be at any book store. Once again they should be impressed that you actually bought them a book.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781555916213&itm=2