Eco-Friendly Home Improvement
with
Jonathon E. Stewart
Just a few small changes to your home can make a big impact on the amount of energy and water you use. Take a few minutes to implement these easy energy adjusters, and you'll save money while helping to save the planet.
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Transcript: Eco-Friendly Home Improvement
Hey guys - Jonathon Stewart here for About.com. With gas prices soaring and the world heating up, why not take a few minutes to update your house and your routine with a few easy energy-saving tips? You'll not only be saving dough, you'll also be saving the planet. Check it out.Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Tip One: Install compact fluorescent light bulbs. Every bulb in your house is going to burn out eventually, so why not start replacing them with energy-efficient CFLs? They use less than 1/3rd the amount of fuel as regular bulbs and can last up to ten times longer.Which means that if every household in the US switched just a single bulb in their home, it would save enough energy to light up 2.5 million homes for an entire year. My math is a little fuzzy, but that means if we switch five or six light bulbs, we could light up like a gagillon homes for the next century!
Be Water Conscious
Tip two: H2O. We all know about turning off the water when you're brushing your teeth, but how about installing low-flow shower heads? If your water heater's ready for an upgrade, consider getting a coil heater that will save you literally thousands over the years in your heating bill. Installing a water filter for your home or sink will allow you to drink straight from the tap, saving all the oil and energy it takes to make all those plastic water bottles.It says here I should also remind you to recycle all of your plastic, glass, aluminum, paper, cardboard, packing peanuts, clothes... but I don't need to go through all this do I - recycling's been a given since like 1982, hasn't it? You do recycle, don't you?
Stop Draining Unused Electricity
Tip three: Stop standing by. Chargers that remain plugged in, even when not charging, continue to draw electricity from the outlet. Likewise, so do most computers that remain on standby, coffee makers not making coffee, and laptops that are turned off but still plugged in. To solve this, either simply unplug them, or plug them all into a power strip - when you're done for the day and everything is charged up, shut it all down and switch the power strip off, and you're good to go.Determine Your Carbon Footprint
And, if you're a true tree-hugger, look up a carbon footprint calculator on the web and figure out where you stand. Offsets can be as cheap as 30 bucks a year, and go to funding cool things like clean energy development. Which just might make things a little cooler, for all of us.Thanks for watching! To learn more, visit us on the Web at About.com.