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- Lowering the thermostat by just 1 degree can reduce costs by about 4 percent. A ceiling fan in both summer and winter also helps lower cooling or heating energy costs.
- Washing clothes in cold water saves money and still cleans well. By choosing cold water the average household can avoid emitting over 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually and save on energy bills too.
- As the temperatures start to cool, resist the urge to turn on the heat. Instead, use an age-old way to keep warm. Wear an extra sweater. Keeping the thermostat off as long as possible saves a lot of energy, and helps keep the bills lower.
- Seal drafts around your windows and doors. It helps to keep your home warm and cozy - and cut your heating costs - by preventing heat escaping through your windows and doors. To find leaks, light a candle adn hold it front of windows and door seams. The flame will flicker in drafty spots. Weather-stripping can help seal the drafts.
- Using clean towels and napkins can make a difference. If just one family of four switched to cloth napkins for one year, this green step would prevent over 4,300 paper napkins from ending up in the trash.
- In the kitchen the right pan means a lot. According to The American Council for an energy efficent economy, using a six inch pan on an 8 inch burner can waste more than 40 percent of the burner's heat. The correct size pan saves energy.
- About 90 percent of the energy we use for a load of dirty clothes goes to heating the water. Try doing the laundry in cold water-it saves energy and gets the clothes just as clean. It's also good to wait until you have a full load.
- When it's hot you can give the A.C. a rest. Even when you're away for just a few hours. Set programmable thermostats to kick in a half hour before you return home. Cranking the A.C. to frigid temperatures doesn't cool the house faster and with every degree you lower the A.C., cooling costs increase by 7 percent.
- Replace pre-1992 showerheads with low-flow models, which deliver 2.5 gallons or less per minute. If you're not sure whether your showerhead is a low-flowtype, place one gallon bucket under the shower. If it fills in 24 seconds or less, you need a new model. Aerated ones give the feeling a high pressure and waste less water. To save even more water, shave a few minutes off your shower time.
- When you hardboil eggs for potato salad or cook pasta allow the water to cool. Then store it in a pitcher and use it to water your houseplants.
- Another way to conserve water is to make or purchase a rain barrel. This barrel sits outside and collects rainwater. This water is perfect for using on your flower and vegetable gardens.
- It's tempting to flush unused or expired prescription medicine but it's very unhealthy for our water. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the meds are entering the lakes and streams and are affecting the fish. Returning old medicine to the pharmacy is the safer way to go.
- Use an old, clean sock to dust and clean house with. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of paper towels we'd save 544,000 trees a year!
- Now that it's warmer, run outside instead of the treadmill. By doing this twice a week for a month, you'll conserve the amount of energy required to do 24 loads of laundry!
- Leftover cooking grease? Pour it into an aluminum can instead of the drain. It can save your water pipes. The buildup of grease has clogged municipal sewers in some cities.
- Take shorter showers. Those low flow showerheads do get all the shampoo out and one with a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute or less can conserve almost 15,000 gallons of water a year for a family of four.
- Clean the kitchen with a cloth rag instead of paper towels. If every U.S. family replaced one 70-sheet roll of paper towels with a reuseable alternative, it could save over 500,000 trees. That's over 6 million trees a year for families that use one roll of paper towels a month!
- As it gets warmer, keep the curtains or blinds closed during the day to keep out the sun's heat. Open them up for the cooler night air. Ceiling and window fans can move enough air to delay turning on that air conditioner too soon.
- Tin foil is made of aluminum. So rinse off food and throw it away with your recyclables. Remember for plastics, they have to have a number 1 or 2 on the container to be recycled.
- You could be wasting a $100 a year if you leave your X-Box or Playstation on 24/7. So save the game and power down when you're done playing. Also enable the auto shutdown, powersaving mode if you've got it.
- Washing your car at home uses more than 500 gallons of water and any cleaners can be washed into the storm sewers which go directly to rivers, lakes and streams. Commercial car washers use about 32 gallons of water per car so that's the greener choice.
- Set up a compost bin and turn your kitchen scraps into natural fertilizer and mulch for a great garden this year. The homemade compost reduces the amount of petroleum-based fertilizers going into the ground.
- Cut your energy use on your TV as much as 25% by reducing the brightness. When shopping for a new set, look for TVs bearing the Energy Star Mark. They are up to 30% more energy efficient.
- Choose the right size burner for the size of the pan on your stove. If the pans too small you send unused heat into the air and if the pans too small it takes extra energy to heat things up.
- Surprise your Valentine with a candlelight dinner. To make it even more eco friendly go with soy candles, made from natural ingredients. Compared to parrafin, soy candles reduce the amount of soot released into the air by 90 percent.
- Add your fireplace ashes to the compost pile. After they cool, of course. The ashes are a valuable soil amendment that will nourish your garden, when spring finally arrives!
- Drafts seep in through your electrical outlets and let heat escape. Insulated electrical outlet plates are simple to install, cost around 2 dollars and will help save energy this winter.
- Believe it or not toothbrushes account for 50 million pounds of trash in U.S. landfills yearly. You can protect the environment and your pearly whites by choosing a toothbrush with a handle made from recycled materials. Check out Recycline or natural food retailers.
- In the winter, ceiling fans recirculate heat into living areas and can reduce your energy bill by 10 percent. But remember to reverse the fan's setting to circulate warm air.
- Women across the country are now having green-cleaning parties, as so many household cleaners contain toxic chemicals linked with asthma and reproductive health. Find out how to clean green by going to Women and Environment.
- Turn down the thermostat to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and you can save about one percent on your heating bill for each degree you turn down the temperature over an eight hour period. A programmable thermostat is great to use when you are at work.
- You can really reduce your carbon footprint by limiting red meat in 2009. It takes a lot of energy to grow feed for livestock and process red meat. Cattle also produces methane, a greenhouse gas. Try limiting your red meat to twice a week for a healthier new year.
- Add your fireplace ashes to the compost pile. The leftover ashes are a valuable soil addition that will help nourish your garden next spring.
- Can you believe that you can save 1,000 gallons of water each morning by limiting your shower to five minutes. Use a sand timer and try and beat the clock each day.
- Pass on the beauty products int he plastic bottles and stash your green tea bags in the fridge. Use them as cleansing pads in the morning to gently exfoliate your skin. The tea has anti-inflammatory properties that can help get rid of morning puffiness.
- It's tough to clean the pesticides off soft, thin skinned fruits and vegetables. Try organic versions of peaches, apples, strawberries, celery and bell peppers. How do you know if they are organic? At the store, check the produce sticker for a 5 digit number that begins with a 9. A 4 number digit means it was conventionally grown.
- Overloading your refrigerators uses more energy to circulate air and it makes it harder to find those yummy leftovers.
- For home and holiday displays L.E.D lights are the way to go. They use 90% less energy and are not so hot when you touch them.
- If you are cooking a big meal, make sure to reverse your ceiling fan to make sure warm air gets forced down in your room. Remember when turning off your oven to be sure to turn off the kitchen exhaust fans. They are a major source of heat loss.
- The next time you purchase paper towels, toilet paper, napkins or other paper products, buy recycled products. Look on the label for the percentage of post-consumer content – the higher the percentage means more of the materials have been used before.
- Truly, go GREEN. Purify the air in your home naturally by decorating with PLANTS. Live plants act as natural air filters, removing harmful chemicals like benzene and carbon monoxide from the indoor air.
- Cut down on the use of paper and plastic products in your kitchen– and even as you're out at your favorite festival this summer! Bring your own reusable container or plate, cup, and cloth napkin. Enjoy the summer festival season in a greener way!
- You can can "go green" right in your own yard by using compost. Composting reduces the burden on overcrowded landfills and makes a great natural fertilizer for plants and gardens. You can find a composting setup at a garden supply or hardware store. Start off with yard trimmings, fruit and vegetable food scraps, and coffee grounds.
- Save in the shower! Showers account for 32% of home water use. Install a low-flow showerhead and you’ll reduce your water use by nearly two gallons per minute. A family of four using low-flow showerheads can save about 20,000 gallons of water per year.
- Hot weather or cold weather, energy-efficient windows are a wise investment. Look for the Energy Star label on windows that are lined with special coatings that reflect heat and provide insulation, keeping your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, saving you money on energy bills.
- Is there a baby in the house? Reduce or eliminate your use of disposable diapers, which are the third largest single consumer item in landfills
- Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
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