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Another Doomsday, Another Dollar: Shifting Science Towards Peace and Ecology
In his book, Our Final Hour, Cambridge professor and Britain’s “Astronomer Royal” Martin Rees predicts humanity has no more than a 50/50 chance of survival into the next century and that by 2020 a million people will perish due to scientific error...
Drive slower, save the planet!
Site: Hoot
Article
Release details: Immediate
Date: 23 September 2005
Drive slower, save the planet!
The environment is a hot issue that we just can't afford to ignore any longer. To some, being environmentally aware is a way of life, a...
National Parks - Get Out of Your Car!
The national park system in the United States is full of beauty
and surprises. Still, you'll be wondering if they're worth it
when you run into the crowds of other visitors.
Road Side Viewing
Sure, millions of people visit our national...
Shedding Light on Cheaper Solar Energy
Renewable sources of energy are the key to solving two of the worlds most pressing yet seemingly irreconcilable problems. On the one hand the developing world needs vastly to increase access to affordable energy because, at present, 1.6 billion...
Straw as real estate building material
In the famous kid’s fairy tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’ one of the pigs built a house of straw that made him almost pay with his life. The pig was blamed in the tale for choosing the wrong building material. But his material was definitely the right...
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Saving Money by Saving Electicity
Are you aware of how much electricity you consume every day?
With the rising price of fuel, energy costs are on the rise. And
yet, electricity is still one of the most wasted forms of energy
on the planet. There are many ways to save electricity, and with
it, money. There are simple things you can do, ones that require
a little more effort, and then there are choices you can make
while shopping that can reduce your kilowatt-hours. By following
just a few of these steps, you can take control of your energy
use and see a real difference in your electric bill.
Level One - Simple and Easy
The items in Level One are simple, straightforward, and take
less than five minutes to do.
Learn to turn off the lights when you leave a room. It doesn't
seem like a big deal, but your average light bulb is one of your
biggest power-wasters. You can see a significant difference in
your bill by making sure that unnecessary lights are off. You
might even consider looking at the light-bulb shopping points in
Level Three.
Another great way to save on power with lights is by using
sunlight as much as you can. Opening your curtains or blinds and
turning the electric lamps off will not only save electricity,
but give better light in most cases.
If you have an electric air conditioner or heater, shut it off
or turn it down when you leave. Why waste energy and money
heating or cooling an empty home? You can also turn these down
when you go to sleep. Thermostats with built-in timers help
here, but you can do this just as easily with a manual one.
Also, always turn off fans - ceiling or otherwise - when you
leave the room. They don't actually reduce the temperature in
the room; the moving air only feels cooler against your skin. So
if you're not there to enjoy the breeze, turn it off.
Level Two - More Power to You
Level Two consists of actions that may take an extra few
minutes or half hour to do, but can save quite a bit more.
Find all the electronics in your house that have a big
transformer, or "wall-wart." Almost all of these devices have
what's called a phantom load; they use up to 80% of normal power
even when turned off. TVs and stereos in particular are big
drains. Be particularly wary of devices who have remotes, or
whose manual refers to being off as "stand-by" or "sleep mode."
If you don't want to unplug these devices every time you finish
using them, a power strip or light-switch-controlled outlet can
be an easier option. Flip a switch and save money.
The biggest power-waster in your home is likely an iron or hair
drier. Converting electricity to heat is among the most
inefficient processes
in everyday use. The solution is simple -
reduce your use. Ironing all your clothes at once keeps you from
heating up the iron several times. Towel-dry your hair as much
as possible; the power drain of a hair drier is enormous. Space
heaters are also electricity-wasters, so keeping their use down
will also help.
Level Three - Shop Smart
Level Three consists of things to consider when buying
electrical appliances in order to save money long-term.
Almost any electrical appliance will fall into the wall-wart
category described above. Most of them have labels on the box
with how much power they consume. If this rating isn't given in
watts, arithmetic can help: Power (watts) = current (amps) x
voltage (volts). So if your appliance's wall-wart says "Output:
12V, 1.5A", then it will require 12 x 1.5 = 18 watts. The lower
the wattage, the lower your bill will be.
When buying light bulbs, consider switching to compact
fluorescent bulbs. These new bulbs will use less power and last
much longer, resulting in a double savings.
If you're buying a stereo, television or something else that
has a "memory," see if you can find one that will keep its
settings when unplugged, so you don't have to decide between
reprogramming every day or paying more for electricity.
When buying audio equipment, the current fad is to get the
loudest, most powerful stereo or set of speakers you can afford.
Yet in most cases, using this device at more than 1/3 of maximum
volume will result in the police knocking on your door. Also,
the bigger speakers use more electricity; the idea is to reduce
your wattage, not increase it. Buy a reasonable system and save
money both up front and on your power bill.
When buying a monitor for your computer or a television, know
that liquid crystal (LCD) screens use significantly less power
than the Cathode Ray Tube ones of old. Also, a smaller display
uses less power, so choose only as big as you need, and you'll
save a great deal.
The generation of electricity is a high-pollution industry.
Anything that saves electricity helps reduce that pollution
while saving you money. These ideas are just a few of the many
ways in which you can help the environment and your wallet.
About the author:
Juan Anselmo Borla is a freelance writer and poet. He lives at
Dancing Rabbit, a
sustainable ecovillage in northeast Missouri. There, he hopes to
make the world a better place by using his Chemical Engineering
degree to develop an alternative fuels program. His fiancee and
two cats hope he doesn't blow himself up in the process. He can
be reached at jaborla[at]gmail[dot]com
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