Reduce your use of energy reliant products, especially heavy consumers such as televisions and computers. Visit the Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR ® website to see a list of energy efficient appliances. The United States would need 30 fewer power plants if all Americans used the most efficient refrigerators. Household energy savings really can make a difference: If each household in the United States replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we would save $15 billion in energy costs and eliminate 175 million tons of heat-trapping gases. These items may cost a bit more initially, but the energy savings will pay back the extra investment within a couple of years. When it comes time to replace appliances, look for the Energy Star label on new appliances (refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters use the most energy). Top of Page Look for the Energy Star Label Not only will you be reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but you will save money on your electric bills and light bulbs as well. CFLs use a quarter of the energy incandescent lights use and last 20 times as long. So, replace your incandescent bulbs with more efficient LEDs, which now come in all shapes and sizes. If every household in the United States replaced one regular light bulb with an energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming pollution by more than 90 billion pounds over the life of the bulbs the same as taking 6.3 million cars off the road. While they are most useful to interior rooms with no windows, they could also be used to illuminate darker corners of rooms with windows. Inside the house, they magnify the sun, delivering strong, natural light, with no power needed. Install solar lightsįrom outside, solar lights look like small skylights on the roof. By using a programmable thermostat, you can automatically lower your monthly energy bill by giving your heat and air conditioning a break while you are asleep or out, in addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions another 1,050 pounds per year. Turning you themostat down 3 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and up 3 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,050 pounds per year. ![]() In many cases, funding of renewable energy, energy efficiency, or tree planting-particularly in developing nations-can be a relatively cheap way of making an individual "carbon neutral". Every unit of carbon that is absorbed by trees-or not emitted due to your funding of renewable energy deployment-offsets the emissions from your fossil fuel use. The principle of carbon offset is fairly simple: you decide that you don't want to be responsible for accelerating climate change, and you've already made efforts to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions, so you decide to pay someone else to further reduce your net emissions by planting trees or by taking up low-carbon technologies. Numerous green tag programs exist and can be readily be found on the internet. If your energy company doesn't offer green power, you can offset your carbon dioxide emissions by purchasing "green tags," or compensatory energy credits that add renewable power to the grid equal to the power you use. With the federal and state governments offering residential renewable energy incentives, solar energy is more accessible than ever before, not to mention an excellent long-term investment. For a complete list of green power options, visit the US Department of Energy's Buying Clean Electricity web page. In most states, alternatives are available for customers who want to purchase green power (50 to 100 percent renewable energy). These methods of energy production emit no greenhouse gases once they are up and running. The wind energy produced in Denmark, for example, provides about 10 percent of the country's total energy needs. Fortunately, the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro energy, is gaining increased support worldwide. And power plants are the single largest source of heat-trapping gas. More than half the electricity in the United States comes from polluting coal-fired power plants. Replacing single-paned windows with dual-paned windows and installing insulated doors will also greatly reduce heat loss from your home. Simple measures, such as installing a programmable thermostat to replace your old dial unit or sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts, can each reduce a typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by about 5 percent. Then put the recommendations into practice. ![]() Take advantage of the free home energy audits offered by many utilities.
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