All the items below are suggestions on how you can make the World Better. Producing less trash and plastic waste is better than producing more. Burning less fossil fuels is better than burning more. Even if we could fully convert to solar, the need to produce less is better than the need to produce more. We’re not here to tell you how to live but rather share some ideas on how to do Better.
Turn off unused lights. A light ON in an unused space is pure waste! Over 60% of the World’s electricity comes from burning coal and natural gas. The supply of these fuels won’t last forever and burning them contributes to pollution. Please use what you need but try not to waste.
Did you know: If you leave a 60 watt light on for 1 hour, it burns approximately 1 cubic inch (around 1 golf ball size piece) of coal or equivalent in terms power generation.Share this campaign. The more people doing better, the bigger difference we can make. Influence is everything!
Cut down on your shower time. It takes a lot of energy to heat water for a hot shower. Burning less fuel and producing less pollution is one way of doing better for better.
Did you know: A typical 10 minute hot shower will burn approximately 18 ounces of liquified natural gas or equivalent.
Unplug devices when not in use. Of course you can’t really unplug your refrigerator and it’s not practical to unplug the microwave, dishwasher, or any frequently used digital device. But you can easily unplug phone chargers not being used, rarely used Televisions/DVD players….etc. You may not see a huge difference in your electric bill but you will be cutting down on wasteful power consumption.
Recycle More and Recycle Less. Try to recycle everything you can. At the same time try to eliminate the need for recycling. Recycling is very power intensive and it does produce waste.
Example: View the following video from EcoStar Recycling to see all the steps involved in recycling PET plastic. Again, we do support the efforts of companies like EcoStar as they provide a better option over landfills. At the same time, we also promote re-use as an even better option.
Cut down on water use where you can. It takes about 1.5 watt-hours per 1 gallon of water to be sourced, treated, and distributed to your home according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Tip: Don’t let the water run while your brushing your teeth. If you brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes while letting the water run, you’ll waste ~2000 gallons and 3 kilowatt-hours per year. That’s a lot of wasted water and energy for just 1 person brushing their teeth.Try to eat locally produced foods. It takes energy to deliver the food, so the further it needs to go the more energy it takes.
Use re-usable shopping bags. If you just throw away a few bags a week, not a big deal right? There are over 7 billion people on this great earth. Numerous estimates show that worldwide over 100 billion of these bags are used and thrown away each year. Yes that’s billion with a B.
Work from home when you can. Not all of us have this option but for those who can, it does make a difference. Even if it’s only once a month, it will make a small difference and can make a big difference with a lot of people doing the same.
Install a whole house fan. If you live in a climate that has hot summer days but cool nights, a whole house fan will save a lot of energy and money. Since we installed ours, the A/C is rarely used. If you just happen to live in San Diego, we recommend House Fan Pros. We used them for our install. They were in and out in just over 1 hour and did a great job. The Fan works Awesome!
