How Can We Conserve Energy?

Conserving energy is especially important in a culture that is economically supported by nonrenewable energy sources. With yearly population expansion, we are faced with various issues, including the dilemma of how to provide billions of people with electricity, clean water and gas.

Switching over to renewable energy sources is not as simple as it sounds. Therefore, we must first learn to conserve energy as homeowners and responsible citizens in order to ensure that our nonrenewable energy sources are used wisely until our country can find a way to compromise on instituting more renewable energy sources, such as solar cells and wind turbines.

The United States is addicted to the oil that supports our economy, runs our cars and heats our homes. Nowadays, many new homes have electrical heating and electrical stoves have replaced gas stoves. According to the Environmental Protection Agency in 1997, 50% of a household's energy consumption is due to the use of air conditioners and electric heat. 20% comes from lighting and various appliances, while the refrigerator uses roughly 10%.

19.5% of electricity in the United States is provided by nuclear power plants (EPA, 1997). Nuclear waste must be disposed of properly and this causes problems-where do we put it all?

Most electricity comes from burning nonrenewable fossil fuels. The most important reason for conserving energy is that we have a limited supply of these fuels. Deposits cannot be found everywhere in the world, and when they are gone, they are gone.

Burning fossil fuels also pollutes the environment, causing things like the "greenhouse effect" and acid rain. Nonrenewable energy sources cannot be replenished, or take centuries to build up. Oil and coal are two examples of nonrenewable energy sources.

Renewable energy sources are always there, and will not run out. Wind can be harnessed to create electricity and hydropower comes from the creation of dams. Solar cells can harness the sun's energy to heat a home. Although these methods can be very expensive (certainly installing solar cells in your home is an expensive process that many cannot afford at this time), there are ways that we can conserve the energy from nonrenewable sources until we can afford to completely switch over.

Sometimes it is hard for us to imagine what we can do as individuals to conserve energy. It may seem hopeless, but we all have to do our part for ourselves and for the environment. Because motor vehicles use so much energy, riding a bicycle is a good way to cut down your monthly costs and get some exercise. If you live in town or close to your job, buy a bike.

The EPA suggests that we use energy efficient light bulbs, which save a lot of energy, reduce electricity bills and last ten times longer than regular bulbs (EPA, 1997). Do you have a dryer? Use it as little as possible. If you can, dry your clothes on a line and save the dryer for bigger things, like sheets that won't fit on the clothesline.

If you have an older piece of equipment, such as out-of-date air conditioner, this appliance probably uses more energy than a newer device. Replace older appliances with newer ones. Many companies make more energy efficient products, such as air conditioners that use very little energy.

There are also programmable thermostats that will turn off or on depending on the time of day. You can program it to use less energy while you are at work or visiting a friend. This saves on your electric bill and ensures that you are not wasting energy. It is also important to remember to turn off lights when you leave a room. Also, unplugging appliances and lamps when they are not in use saves more on electricity than one would think.

Recycling is very important. Companies that make products out of recycled material spend less energy on creating their products because they are not working with raw materials.

Many of us are wasting more energy than we realize. When we think about our energy output and our daily carbon dioxide emissions, we find it difficult to put "the big picture" into perspective. Peter Miller, a senior editor at National Geographic, tried to do just that. In National Geographic, he writes about his experience in attempting to cut down his CO2 emissions by 80%. According to Miller and the EPA, the average American family produces 150 pounds of CO2 emissions per day. Miller and his wife discovered that cutting back was more difficult than they had at first imagined (Miller, 2009).

Americans have become accustomed to more luxury than most countries have. We have appliances that make life easier. We have gas power appliances, such as mowers. Interestingly, during his "energy diet," Miller discovered that a push mower emits as much pollution as eleven cars, and worse yet, a riding mower creates as much pollution as 34 cars per hour. It shouldn't be difficult for people to switch back to old reel mowers-my grandmother used one up until a few years ago. It shouldn't be difficult, but it is. In order to change our lifestyles, we must be willing to work harder and accept alternatives that won't always be easy. Americans have grown so used to their "easy" appliances that it is likely that almost no one would be willing to switch back to old-fashioned push mowers. Some of my friends have grown up using microwaves and they do not know how to cook on a stove.

We can try to drive less, turn off lights, use dryers less and unplug appliances when they aren't in use. These are simple ways of conserving energy that everyone should be able to take part in-even if you aren't willing to use your grandpa's push mower.

The government can get involved by passing laws that enforce energy conservation, and they can work with companies to encourage more reliance on public transportation, such as buses and trains. Years ago, there were more train stations and more passenger trains, but the reliance of the common citizen on the automobile changed that. There are many abandoned train tracks nowadays and many abandoned train stations. With more public transportation, people would not be forced to rely on themselves to get from place to place-they would have options.

The government can put limits on the yearly or monthly energy outputs of various companies, although this kind of thing would take a lot of time and would involve politics, as well.

As homeowners and citizens, we must do our part to ensure the protection of the environment for future generations. A lot of people shrug their shoulders and say, "Why should it matter to me? This won't impact my life." The fact is, mass climate change is affecting the world faster than scientists predicted that it would several years ago (Miller, 2009). Carbon dioxide emissions cause heat to be trapped in our atmosphere and this "enhanced greenhouse effect" causes global climate change (Berg & Hager, 2007, 2009).

We must all work to conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprints. Otherwise, this world may not be fit to live in any longer. We have nowhere else to go and eventually, our nonrenewable resources will run out and we will be forced to rely on something else. This is only common sense.

The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations."

Miller, P. (2009). It Starts at Home. National Geographic Magazine. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/energy-conservation/miller-text

Berg, L. & Hager, M. (2007, 2009). Visualizing Environmental Science, 2cd Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Environmental Protection Agency. (1997). Energy Conservation, Pollution Prevention Education Toolbox. http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/wptdiv/p2pages/energy.pdf