Save Moo-lah Tip of the Day, Part 1

I recently received in my inbox a list of 50 things you can do to help take care of our world and save some money in the meantime. That email was titled "Going Green" although my husband would rather emphasize the fact that it saves you money, rather than worry about the possibility that he accidentally married a liberal. Some of the suggestions were easier than others. For example, I don't currently have $8500 for a solar water heater, even if it will pay for itself in six years. Sooo, that one's not likely to happen. My condensed list of "so easy it's stupid" things we can all be doing, will follow over the next few days.

1. Update your lighting
Make it a policy to buy energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. You can now get a variety of shapes and perfectly match the color hue and lighting for each room. They look good and use at least two-thirds less power than regular lighting.

2. Wall Warts
Those clunky power adapters draw energy from the wall all the time. Unplug them individually or attach them to a power strip and turn off the whole switch when not in use. Around 75-percent of all electricity in a home comes from appliances that are turned off, but are still plugged in. Make sure that you only have those appliances plugged in where you're actually using the electricity. You will save on bills and we as a society will save on energy

3. Save Water
Place a water bottle filled with liquid or pennies into your toilet's water tank. This will cause the tank to use less water every time you flush. Plenty Magazine Managing Editor Deb Snoonian estimates it wil save you about a quart to half a gallon per flush. (Seriously - her name is "Snoonian?")

Comments

Pete said…
The Wall Warts one, now that is big stuff, I vaguely remembered something like that from growing up. But today I unplugged some cell chargers before I left the house!

75% wow!
Amanda said…
Though this may be an official tip later, but I'll go ahead and share it now...In Europe they have the double flusher - two buttons to push. After some experimentation, we discovered that one was stronger than the other for reasons that will remain disclosed in this comment. I'm guessing that one uses less water than the other, so that also could be a money/water saving option if we follow the way of the European.
Amanda said…
*undisclosed (I need to work on my vocab)
Jay said…
I still want to invent something that sucks the heat from things like my computer and dryer and heats the house with it. Or at least HELPS heat the house with it. Also, any word on how much $$ is saved by shutting your computer down instead of leaving it run overnight?

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