Easy ways to cut your energy use, one day at a time

05 Nov 2007

Grist prez Chip Giller appeared on NBC's Today show on Monday, Nov. 5, chatting with Meredith Vieira about easy ways anyone can cut their energy use and help fight global warming. Follow one hint a day and you're on your way!

Day 1: Turn Down the Heat

Here's a quick, easy solution that will save you money and save energy: turn down your thermostat. Lowering your heat in winter by just 2 degrees can cut your energy bill by 10 percent. Get an automatic or programmable thermostat to make it easy to save on heating; set it to turn down when you're away from home or sleeping, and to turn back up half an hour before you'll be up and about.

Day 2: Unplug Gadgets

Electronic equipment and appliances suck up energy even when they're turned off -- they've actually earned the nickname "vampires." Americans waste $1 billion a year powering items like TVs and DVD players while they're turned off. So unplug your TV, stereo, computer, microwave, and other equipment when you're not using them -- or plug a bunch of things into a power strip that you keep turned off unless you're using one of the items. And make sure to unplug your cell-phone and MP3 chargers as soon as the devices are powered up.

Get tips from Grist advice columnist Umbra Fisk on using power strips and electric-use meters.

Day 3: Wash Clothes Efficiently

When it comes to laundry, there's lots of room for savings. Ninety percent of the energy used in clothes washing goes to heat the water, so washing in cold is a simple way to cut energy use drastically. Wash only full loads. When it comes time to dry, make sure to check the lint screen before every load and clean it afterward. And if you want to take efficiency a step further, hang some or all items and let them air-dry instead of running them through the dryer.

Check out advice from Umbra Fisk on air-drying laundry and buying an efficient washing machine.

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Day 4: Eat Less Meat

Meat production requires heaps more energy and resources than growing vegetables or grains; in fact, 18 percent of human-caused greenhouse gases comes from the livestock industry. You don't have to be a strict vegetarian to make a difference in this area: try skipping meat just one day a week. If every American had one meat-free day per week, it would reduce emissions as much as taking 8 million cars off the roads.

Read more reasons to cut meat consumption from Grist advice guru Umbra Fisk, Grist staff writer David Roberts, and activist Bruce Friedrich.

Day 5: Get Out of the Car

Vehicles consume half of the world's oil, and spew a quarter of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions. Leaving your car at home even one day a week can save a lot of gas and emissions over a year. Try walking, biking, carpooling, or taking the bus or subway to get where you need to go -- or see if you could telecommute to work one day a week. When you do drive, make sure your tires are properly inflated -- underinflated tires can cut your gas mileage by 5 percent.

Day 6: Green Your Home

Pick one small project you can do around the house to cut energy use. Here are a few ideas: Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs use about one-fifth as much energy as regular bulbs, and last about 12 times longer). Install a low-flow showerhead, which will save on water heating and use. Lower the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees, and insulate the tank. If you're feeling ambitious, undertake a home energy audit to identify projects for the future.

Day 7: Write a Letter

While it's true that small changes at home can make a big difference, one of the most important things you can do when it comes to climate and energy is let business and political leaders know that you care about these issues. Take some time to write a letter to a store, a manufacturer, or your representative to thank them for their good work -- or to encourage them to do better. Look at their websites for contact info. You don't have to be an expert on the issues to speak up. And if we all put in our two cents, it will add up to some positive planetary change.

Get tips from Umbra Fisk on writing letters to representatives and businesses.

But Wait, There's More!

Curious about additional things you can do to green your lifestyle and protect the planet? Check out Grist's new book, Wake Up and Smell the Planet. It's chock-full of friendly advice, and 100 percent free of preachiness and pomposity.

Grist's Chip Giller and Katharine Wroth also appeared on NBC's Today show on Tuesday, Nov. 6, talking about recycling things you didn't know you could recycle.

Comments: (10 comments)

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Little thing

I'm really annoyed at the plastic packaging that is used for practically everything, including fluorescent light bulbs. The packaging can't be recycled (as far as I can tell) and it's molded to the product, so you can't reuse it. You literally have to cut it apart and throw it away. Why can't light bulbs come in the nice little cardboard squares? The packaging would be recyclable and much less energy-intensive to create in the first place. Why is it cheaper (for it certainly must be) to use plastic than just box the little suckers?

by blueberrysushi at 9:21 AM on 05 Nov 2007

My Grist-inspired Easy Steps

I had occasion to meet and greet Grist and company when y'all traveled to DC back in June. It was a great crowd to mingle amongst at the Grist event in Adams Morgan, and it helped me spark my new social venture project shortly thereafter: the Earth Aid Kit. ( http://www.earthaidkit.com )

The Earth Aid Kit is meant to serve as an easy way for folks to follow-up on precisely the sort of simple steps that Chip advocated.

Our website allows you to browse home energy efficiency products - and estimates both your energy and emissions savings right as you shop. The site also rewards you for doing more to fight global warming - if you buy products from at least four different categories of energy efficiency, it automatically drops your prices.

Grist readers in DC have been exceptionally helpful in developing this idea, and I'd be very grateful for your feedback on our site and on our project. You can visit our Kit-building site at www.earthaidkit.com or our company site at www.earthaidenterprises.com.

Thanks!

Ben

P.S. replying to the comment above, all but one of our CFLs ship in cardboard boxes - be sure to call your favorite CFL source to ask them to switch from the plastic if they haven't already. Consumer (and distributor) activism works.

by earthaidben at 10:29 AM on 05 Nov 2007

good to hear ...

Thanks, Ben. I'm glad there's an option.

by blueberrysushi at 11:06 AM on 05 Nov 2007

Leading to Complacency

I read those steps with interest, but dismay. While these steps will enable Americans to do less damage, they will not be a solution. Just a patch. Or a plugged leak in a VERY leaky sinking boat.

Day 1: Good way to begin saving. Some questions though: What temperature is reasonable? What size house is reasonable? How about suggesting to dress warmly and then turn back the thermostat? How about telling folks not to heat all rooms equally? How about warm water bottles instead of heating you whole house?

Day 2: Cute, but a drop in the bucket. Embarrassing that we design and purchase products that cannot be unplugged without loss of function or memory. Don't forget the microwave oven. It uses more energy while it does nothing than show time than when it is actually used for cooking! Not using gadgets has a much bigger impact than unplugging them while they are not used.

Day 3: Very good.

Day 4: Very good, but how much less is really enough? Indians eat on average 5 pounds of meat per year. Americans over 120 pounds per year. Does less mean just 100 pound per year? How much less decadent, wasteful behavior results in at least sustainable habits? Americans eating meat 6 days per week cannot be sustained on a planet with 6.5 billion people. Imagine other countries doing only a little less of what we are doing. Oh boy.

Day 5: Good. Not enough ideas. If you have to drive a car, go to the website below and learn how to drive a car well. I get 36-40 mpg with a 1997 Saturn. And do not forget that a new car is not necessarily an energy saving solution. They do not grow on trees, you know. There are energy and pollution costs before and after you are using anything.

Day 6: Focus on the things that matter: Heat and hot water. And cooling if you are using machines to do it. The rest is peanuts in comparison. CFLs are a drop in the bucket if we continue to use energy the way we do. Shade your house. Open curtains to let sun in in winter. Close them to keep it out in the summer. Take 5 minute showers. Soap up with water off. So much more can be done. Again, see the website. http://www.polluteless.com

Day 7: Good. And while you are at it, start talking to all those who live those life styles we may be forced to give up one day (unless you are rich or don't mind killing people for energy, food, or water).

Don't forget: A product you do not use does not need to be made, transported, distributed, used, recycled, etc. All this pollutes and requires energy. In my mind, simple living is what will create the change. Today's children will have to learn that they cannot live like their parents and grandparents. They need knowledge, role models and ideas. And they need to be protected from those who will sell you anything for a profit, currently labeled "green" to sell better.

BTW, there is no true post-consumer "re"cycling. Just downcycling. Meaning that recycled materials are inferior to the individual collected materials and can only be made into less quality products while being shipped all over the planet using energy and creating toxic by-products. We have to learn what to do to avoid garbage altogether rather than learning what to do with the garbage that we continue to make because it is used for something that we do not really need.

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com

by PolluteLessDotCom at 12:39 PM on 05 Nov 2007

Buy Used

You forgot the greenest thing of all, buying things used. The most eco-friendly site in the world may be craigslist classifieds. Let's keep all the things we've already made in circulation for as long as we can.

by jrusch at 2:44 PM on 05 Nov 2007

Day 3

For Day 3, I would also add putting vinegar in your rinse dispenser. It does 3 things: 1-it replaces chemical rinse agents, 2-it removes odor from fabric, and 3-it actually helps keep your washing machine clean, meaning it will run more efficiently and last longer! -Stephanie at cleaning-green.net

by stephanieh at 7:56 PM on 05 Nov 2007

packageing

I cannot agree more. Packageing is simply rediculous. Individually wrapped prunes being one example of much less packaging............However............

by coveark at 4:37 AM on 06 Nov 2007
[ Parent ]

Good work

I thought it was a pretty good list. It mentioned some topics that other lists shy away from: the meat issue and getting political!!

My car is in the shop, so I've been carless the past few weeks and it's amazing how used to it you become. I'm certainly getting lots of exercise.

by amc89 at 8:45 AM on 06 Nov 2007

How about for renters?

It always saddens me that the lists of "easy things to do to green your house" so rarely seem to involve "how to talk your landlord into going along." Insulating a water tank (or a crawl space/attic/wall/etc), changing the water temp, installing a new thermostat, and changing the number of minutes that the (pre-set, coin-op) dryer uses are all hard for renters to do if the landlord is uninterested. So these lists just make us feel more powerless...

by eriqa at 6:28 AM on 13 Nov 2007

You are so right

And I feel for you. I would be furious if I still lived in an apartment where the only way to regulate the heat is by opening or closing the windows since it is always on full blast.

I have no idea how to change this. As long it is cheaper to abuse the environment many (if not most) people will do it. I only know how to change my own attitude and habits or offer advice to those who would like to change. Move if you can, but I can understand if that is not possible or easy. hopefully one day it will be at least embarrassing to have a house with tenants who cannot regulate their heat or have few options to be good.

I imagine many people are in the same boat as you.

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com

by PolluteLessDotCom at 11:52 AM on 13 Nov 2007

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Seven Days, Seven Ways