Inexpensive Ways To Go Green In Your Home

Contrary to popular belief, going green is not that expensive. One of the simplest, least-expensive things that you can do to go green is drive less. If there are fewer cars on the road, then there will be less air pollution. You should consider carpooling with friends or taking public transportation a couple of days out of the week. You may also want to consider walking to some of your destinations. Driving less will not only reduce air pollution, but it will also help you save money.

In fact, families can save over 9,900 a year if they take public transportation. You may want to consider filing your taxes electronically. This may be able to help you save money also. Recycling is another very easy thing that you can do to go green. Plastic bottles, aluminum cans, milk cartons, paper, and plastic bags are examples of some of the things that you can recycle.

When you are done with your computer, you should consider shutting it down all the way. The computer will still use energy if it is sleep. Furthermore, if you will be taking a road trip in the near future, then you should consider renting a hybrid or a full-electric car.

Conserving Energy, All Day, Every Day

As our planet’s resources continue to vanish, it is more important now more than ever to conserve energy, also in your business activities. There are many easy ways to do this. Quite a bit of energy is lost through the home. For example, houses with poor insulation lose energy as heated or cooled air escapes through cracks and empty spaces.

The heating and cooling unit have to work much harder to keep the house at the desired temperature. Better insulation means less work for the units, which in turn means less energy consumed. Even turning the thermostat down a few degrees in winter or up a few degrees in summer will also help.

Turning off and unplugging appliances and electronics when they are not in use will also help to conserve energy. Even if they are off but are still plugged in, appliances and electronics still consume up to 40 of the energy they consume when on. And remember, you don’t just need a smart home, but also a smart office.

Finally, switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs is one of the easiest ways to conserve energy. They create the same amount of light as a traditional bulb but use 75 less energy.  Conserving energy for our future should be a way of life for every household and business.

Why Americans Fail At Energy Conservation

While there is a great deal of increased awareness of energy conservation on the part of many Americans, not very many people conserve very much. The reason for this is often lifestyle. Americans love large home and they like to drive big cars. Large homes mean huge utility bills. SUVs and sports cars mean far more gasoline consumption than other vehicles. Many of those homes are in the suburbs which means long (gasoline consuming) commutes to work.

Americans also have a huge love for technology. Buying technological devices means further electricity consumption which leads to fuel and petroleum depletion. Plastic is a major component in technological devices. If you have a home, for example, that has a roof, check out if making a roof garden is possible. Again, the more petroleum that is used, the less conservation will be possible. Americans also like to own the newest technological devices. Yes, that means more depletion of natural resources.

American might very well become involved with recycling and be going green in other ways. However, many of these steps are completely undermined by their actions in other areas of life. Will Americans ever change their behavior and start conserving more energy? It is doubtful. Americans like their lifestyle and will likely only modify it slightly at most. Even the Chinese do a lot better! The only way this will change would be if energy consumption became too costly.