Little Things You Can Do to Save the Environment

There are a lot of eco-friendly tips out there that are just not practical for many of us. The only eco-friendly tips that I recommend are ones that are cheap and convenient for all of you who, like me, want to save the environment but often feel like you lack the time and money to do so.

Use a canvas bag next time you buy groceries.

The first time I did it I felt like a huge dork carrying my big, canvas beach bag into the store, but I did discover that my grocery store offers a discount if you bring you own. So while 5 cents a week isn't a huge savings knowing that I'll save $2.50 by the end of the year, and keeping about 400 plastic bags from polluting the environment makes me feel good. You don't even have to buy a canvas tote since you probably have a beach bag or backpack that can do the job. The best thing is that by using two big totes, I can sling my groceries over my shoulders and get a week's worth of groceries to my upstairs apartment in one trip. So not only am I saving all that plastic, this is actually one little tip that's actually more convenient for me.

For extra eco-friendly points, you can buy a few lightweight mesh bags to replace those plastic produce bags. At reuseablebags.com you can buy a heavy-duty organic cotton bag for only $10 and a pack of 10 produce bags that promise to increase the life of your vegetables for $7.

One a similar note, taking your own travel mug to the coffee shop will also safe you a few cents, and keep your coffee warm longer than those paper throw-away cups.

Let your computer sleep.

Screen savers do not save any electricity, so if you're away from the computer for more than 10 minutes it's time to use the sleep feature which saves a lot of energy by turning off the monitor. You can either choose sleep or standby mode as an option in shut down menu, or set it to enter sleep mode on its own after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. And if you one of those people who leave the computer running all night, stop it, or at least put it in hibernate mode which greatly reduces the amount of energy used but still saves you from having to reboot in the morning. Most computers still draw a little power even when turned off so the best thing to do is plug the computer and it's accessories into a power strip and flip the switch off after you turn off the computer. This is one way that you save the environment, money and time by turning off your speakers, printer, and scanner at one switch.

Fight the energy vampires.

They are all around you, and they are all adding to you're electricity bill when you aren't looking. Home stereos, TVs, and DVD players and even little items like your cell phone charger or electric toothbrush draw power 24/7 which can add up pretty quickly. According to the Economist, over its lifetime "a typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food." The solution is simple. Unplug electronic devices that are not in use. The simplest way is to plug your TV and it's accessories into a power strip that you can click on in the morning and off at night. In the kitchen, keep your appliances unplugged except for when they're in use. It takes some getting used to but once it's a habit you could be saving 5-10% on your electricity bill. A 5-10% savings per house hold is a major difference when considered on a nationwide scale. According to Mark Pierce, a Cornell energy expert, "we're using the equivalent of seven electrical generating plants just to supply the amount of electricity needed to support the standby power of our vampire appliances when they're off."

For more information and tips on how to save the environment one little step at a time visit my sources. Also look at my previous article, Make Your Cleaning Greener and Cheaper which includes information on picking out eco-friendly cleaning products, and easy recipes for making your own from ingredients you already have (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/238400/make_your_cleaning_greener_and_cheaper.html).

Sources:

Conservation International: What you can do at home. http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/getinvolved/whatyoucando/athome.xmlConservation International: What you can do at work. http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/getinvolved/whatyoucando/atwork.xml

ScienceDaily: "Vampire" Appliances -- They Suck Electricity Even When Switched Off -- Cost Consumers $3 Billion A Year, Says Cornell Energy Expert http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020926065912.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standby_power The Economist. Pulling the plug on standby power. http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5571582