10 Painless Ways to Save the Planet
We've all seen lists of things we can do to help save the Earth, and they typically involve major, life-altering changes like carpooling, replacing all your appliances with expensive, energy-saving models, etc. While all worthy ideas, they're probably not on your to-do list for today because, well, they're HARD. Here are 10 EASY, painless things you could do to start saving the planet:
1. FLUSH LESS. No, we're not suggesting you don't flush your toilet (that's just gross), but if you place something like a bottle of bleach or a brick in a plastic bag in your toilet's tank, you'll be cutting the volume of water you use for flushes and save a half or full gallon of water with each flush!
2. CUT HALF OF EVERYTHING. Cut the amount of everything you consume by 50 percent. Put half as much detergent in the dishwasher, soap in the washing machine, shampoo in your hair, even margarine on your toast. You'll end up disposing less packaging and saving money to boot.
3. COLD/COLD WASHES. Wash your clothes on the cold/cold setting instead of hot/cold, since the heating of the water is the most energy-wasting part of clothes washing. Your cottons won't shrink but your energy bill will.
4. TURN DOWN YOUR WATER HEATER. Odds are you're heating water at a higher temperature than you really need. Simply turn down the knob on your water heater by a notch or two.
5. ADJUST THE THERMOSTAT. In the summer, turn your air conditioner up one or two degrees, and in the winter, turn your heater down a degree or two. You'll hopefully feel little difference in comfort and you could save up to 5% on your energy bill.
6. CLOSE VENTS. Why do we have open vents in our closets and other places in our homes where we spend little time? Close them and reduce the energy you truly need to keep your home comfortable.
7. CHANGE YOUR SCREENSAVER. The brighter the image on your screen, the more energy it takes your monitor to display it. If your screensaver or desktop image has a lot of white or a bright color and you leave it on for a great amount of time, find darker images like space photos. Bonus points: redesign your website so it's not on a white background and every time someone visits you're helping them save energy as well. (No bonus points for this site.)
8. UNPLUG THE TV. No, we're not saying to stop watching TV (though that's a great idea in itself), but did you know when you turn "OFF" the TV you're not really shutting it off? It's just going into standby mode, or "less on." A bit inconvenient for your most-watched set, but consider this for TVs that don't get watched often, and make sure you unplug all sets when you go away for an extended period.
9. TURN OFF WATER WHEN BRUSHING. Why do we run a constant stream of water as we brush our teeth when we're infrequently dousing the toothbrush? Turn the water off and on as needed and the water savings will quickly add up.
10. NO DYE. Next time you shop, choose paper products that have not been bleached or dyed. These products pollute the environment. Is it that important that your kleenex match your bathroom towels?
Sources: We consulted these sites to put together this list... check them out for more ideas...
20 Easy Ways You Can Help The Earth
10 Ways To Save The Earth (& Money) In Under A Minute
Monitor Energy Information
It's Your Earth - simple ways to save the Earth
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