Posts Tagged ‘energy efficiency’
1) Chargers and Electronics
Unplug chargers for cell phones, computers, and mp3 players when they are not being used. When left plugged in, they leak energy. Another solution is to use a power strip; turn it off if you are not using the items plugged into it. Setting your laptop into sleep mode reduces energy use up to 80%, even better: turn it off completely if it will not be in use for an hour or longer.
2) Lighting
Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They produce the same light level as regular bulbs, but use about a quarter of the energy and can last up to ten times longer.
Unlike ordinary light bulbs, CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury in the glass tubing, so special clean-up and disposal methods are needed. In case of breakage, have people and pets leave the room. Open the window and shut off the central air heating/conditioning system, allowing the room to air out for 15 minutes. Pick up the pieces of broken glass and put them in a jar with a metal lid or a plastic bag. Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining glass shards or powder, and then wipe the area with a wet paper towel. If a spill comes in contact with any absorbent surfaces, the items become contaminated and must be disposed of accordingly. For further information: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm
You can also replace ordinary switches with dimmers or motion sensors. Whenever a dimmer is not turned all the way up, you are saving energy. Motion sensors will turn on a light and keep it on only if someone is in the room. Utilize natural light as much as possible; try reading a book or doing your work during the day.
3) Clothes
Instead of throwing away old clothes, recycle them! By donating textiles, you can help reduce the number of unwanted textiles that end up in landfills and incinerators. In New York City alone, over 193,000 tons of recoverable and recyclable textiles are disposed of every year. GrowNYC’s Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE) provides drop off locations at NYC Greenmarkets. Click here for locations.
4) Fans
We all know that turning on a fan during the summer will cool down a room. But turning one on in the winter can help improve heating efficiency. As your radiator heats the room, the warmer air rises to the ceiling. By turning on your ceiling fan to the lowest setting, the warm air is circulated around the room. A fan uses much less electricity than a heating system, reducing energy use.
5) Cleaning
Whether they are empty or full, washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers use about the same amount of energy. It is more efficient – and helps you save on your electric bill – to wait until these appliances are full before use.
When buying a washing machine, look for front-loaders. These models use up to 25% less energy and water than a standard washer. You can save an additional 10 cents a load by washing with cold water whenever possible. Almost 90% of energy consumed by washing machines is used to heat the water. Keep the lint filter in the dryer clean, since a clogged filter can increase energy use up to 30%. During the spring and summer, another eco-friendly alternative is hanging your clothes up to dry!
6) Colors
If you are painting a room, consider using a lighter color. Dark colors absorb more light, requiring you to use more energy from light bulbs to achieve the same effect as a room with lighter walls.
7) Insulate
Whether during the summer or the winter, insulating your home is an effective way to save energy. An insulated home does not gain or lose heat as quickly as a non-insulated one, so it is easier to maintain a comfortable temperature indoors. Close your windows and seal drafts around the window and doorframes to keep the hot or cold air out. In the winter, you can also use clear plastic barrier film to cover window frames; the film traps cold air that might come into your house even if the windows are closed. Up to 16% of your heat can be lost through unprotected windows. Insulating lowers the demand on your air conditioner and heating system, reducing your electric bill and extending the life of the system.
Faucets
One way to conserve water is to seal leaks in plumbing fixtures. Repairing the plumbing with replacement washers can easily stop leaks. This is something that you can do on your own, though novices might ask a handy friend or a plumber. Fixing a leak from a hot-water faucet is doubly beneficial; the leak makes the water heater work harder and wastes energy. Another thing you could pick up at a hardware store is a faucet aerator. These aerators add air to the water coming out of the sink, reducing the amount of water used but maintaining water pressure.
9) Plastic
Try to cut down on how much trash you generate in a normal day. Instead of using disposable cups and utensils at delis and coffee shops, bring your own. Instead of grabbing plastic cutlery along with your lunch, eat with metal ones from home. Carry a reusable plastic or stainless steel mug with you for hot or cold drinks. At the end of the day, bring your cups and cutlery home to wash them and be ready for tomorrow. Bring cloth bags to the supermarket to carry groceries home in, and bring your own reusable plastic containers when you go to buy take-out. Reusable containers and utensils help keep plastic and Styrofoam out of the landfills.
10) Driving
You don’t have to buy a new hybrid or electric car to be environment-friendly when you drive. Follow the speed limit, regularly clean your air and oil filters, keep your tires inflated, and carefully step on the gas and brakes. While pushing the pedal to the metal is fun, maintaining a cruising speed (e.g. 55 mph) uses less gas. These simple tips can improve your fuel efficiency up to 25% on highways.
11) Plant a Tree
The MillionTreesNYC program, one of the 127 initiatives of PlaNYC, intends to plant one million trees across the city’s five boroughs within the next ten years. Not only do the trees beautify our urban landscape, they enrich our environment and the quality of city life. Trees capture atmospheric carbon dioxide in their tissue, alleviating the greenhouse effect. Trees also help filter out air and water pollution, and capture and retain stormwater. To make New York City a greener place, you can volunteer for MillionTreesNYC (http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/involved/get_involved.shtml) or plant a tree in your own back yard.
Programs:
ConEdison
• The Power of Green – A list of 100 facts about conserving energy.
o Visit http://www.coned.com/thepowerofgreen/100tips.asp for more information.
• PowerMove – Use PowerYourWay to shop for electricity and natural gas from a variety of suppliers and qualify for a 7% discount off the ConEd price of energy supply for two months.
o Green Power – Purchase green power through ConEd. The service will cost a little extra, but you will help make New York a cleaner, greener city.
o PowerMove – Use PowerYourWay to shop for electricity and natural gas from a variety of suppliers and qualify for a 7% discount off the ConEd price of energy supply for two months.
o Visit http://www.poweryourway.com/powermove_residential.asp for more information.
• Green Power – Purchase green power through ConEd. The service will cost a little extra, but you will help make New York a cleaner, greener city.
o Visit http://www.poweryourway.com/greenpower.asp for more information.
NYSERDA
• BeCool – Replace your old air conditioner with an ENEGY STAR qualified model to be to save money and conserve energy.
o Turn in your old, functional through-the-wall air conditioner to be eligible for a $100 BeCool incentive.
o Turn in your old, functional window air conditioner to be eligible for a $35 BeCool incentive.
o Contact GetEnergySmart.org or 1-877-NY-SMART for more information, and a list of locations to turn in old units and participating retailers.
Recycling is the process of turning one products useful parts into a new product; this is done to conserve on the consumption of resources, energy and space used in landfills.
By recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle.
For every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.
Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil. This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It’s the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource. Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum.
Taking Just A Moment
Taking just a moment to put your newspaper, soda can and glass spaghetti jar in the recycling bin will save everyone years in environmental harm from production of new materials, over crowded landfills and the depletion of our natural resources.
4000 Years
When we do not recycle at least our glass or aluminum we cost the earth in power usage, water and oil usage and landfill usage; glass takes up to 4000 years to decompose in a landfill yet can be recycled indefinitely.
Earn Money
Recycling can be done at home as well as in conjunction with city programs. Many scrap yards pay for scrap metal including the soda cans and soup cans we use every day.
Be Creative
Many useful items can be made from our everyday trash; the cardboard tubes left over from paper towel and toilet paper can make useful storage containers for our extra extension cords and prevents a tangled mess in the Christmas lights.
If your going to throw these out don’t just throw it in the rubbish bin, put it the recycling bin.
Baby jars can become snow globes the kids can make and give as gifts, old Christmas cards can become new hand made cards and a glass or plastic bottle along with some clear oil and food coloring and a few other common household items can become a groovy lava lamp!
The possibilities are endless and instructions can be found in books and on the internet.
Start Today
Recycling is a very environmentally green activity; however, there are ways that you can make it greener as well as building a strong beginning if you do not currently recycle.
Many people beginning a recycling program look around and wonder what they can put in the recycling bin; there is so much information available on this site, so don’t panic.
By reusing your recycled storage containers you save on the environmental impact as well. Paper and plastic bags are good for recycling storage; however, a plastic reusable bin is even better.
Spread The Word
Share what you know. If you notice abundant trash in your neighborhood start spreading the word and your experience with recycling and if there isn’t already one in place strive to get a city recycling pick up program started.
The fact is many of our resources as well as our Earth is not renewable and we have to start taking control of our selves beginning with the world we live in.
Trees, Water & People is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1998 by Stuart Conway and Richard Fox, and is staffed by a group of dedicated conservationists who feel strongly about helping communities to protect, conserve, and manage the natural resources upon which their long-term well-being depends. Their work is guided by two core beliefs:
- That natural resources are best protected when local people play an active role in their care and management; and
- preserving local trees, wetlands, and watersheds is essential for the ongoing social, economic, and environmental health of communities everywhere.
TWP develops and manages continuing reforestation, watershed protection, renewable energy, appropriate technology, and environmental education programs in Latin America and the American West. TWP’s international programs have been recognized nationally and internationally, receiving the Ashden Award for Renewable Energy, as well as awards from Kodak, The Conservation Fund, and etown, the nationally syndicated environmental radio show. TWP’s programs have been featured on National Geographic Television, National Public Radio, and in the Christian Science Monitor.
In the nation’s poorest communities — Indian reservations of the American West — bitter winters force many families to spend up to 70% of their total income to heat their homes. Choices are few: expensive electricity, polluting propane, or firewood from the few trees that remain.
Energy costs on these reservations create hardship for almost every family. The harsh cold can be deadly for tribal elders living in homes that aren’t adequately heated. The high cost of heating often puts other necessities, such as health care and medicine, out of reach. The result is more suffering for a people that has already suffered much.
Trees, Water & People’s Tribal Lands Renewable Energy Program puts the power of nature — the warmth of the sun, the power of the wind, the shelter of trees — to work for Native Americans. Working with reservation communities, TWP plants windbreak and shade trees around homes, and builds and installs supplemental solar heaters for families in need. These solutions are sustainable, economically beneficial, environmentally friendly, and celebrate the Native Americans’ respect for Mother Earth.
Since the program began in 2003, more than 300 supplemental solar heating systems have been installed at Pine Ridge, Rosebud and other Great Plains reservation communities. In 2006-2007, TWP expanded the Tribal Lands program to include a pilot installation of a household-scale wind turbine and solar electricity (photovoltaic or PV) system at the Little Thunder home on the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota. The home had previously been outfitted with a supplemental solar heater and windbreak and shade trees. Working with our partners in the Rosebud Housing Authority and Tribal Utility Commission, we’re testing the viability of this multi-modal approach to helping Native families.
In 2008, TWP and our Pine Ridge partner, Lakota Solar Enterprises, established the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, where tribes from around the country can receive hands-on training in renewable energy applications from Native American trainers. Visiting tribal members are currently being trained in the theory and practice of solar heating. These newly-certified solar technicians then return to assemble and install heating systems for families in their own communities.
The program is currently working on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations in South Dakota, Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Reservations in North Dakota, and with Winona LaDuke and the Honor the Earth organization on the White Earth and Red Lake Reservations in Minnesota.
Volunteering with Trees, Water & People
Office Volunteers. The vast majority of our volunteer opportunities are office-based. TWP receives over 1000 volunteer hours per year, and we could not accomplish everything we do without this help. Normal office tasks include data entry, assistance with mailings, and organizing our recycling and reuse programs within our operations.
Planting, weeding, mulching xeriscape demonstration garden. This garden is located at the TWP office. We have plants that need care, weeds that need to come out & mulch to put down as well. So far we have had some excellent help, but there is always more to be done!
Internships: We offer varied internships every semester. Spring 2010 internships have been filled. Please check for opportunities this summer!