A very easy way to save money is by reducing your utility expenses. There are some simple do-it-yourself fixes that you can implement right away in your home or business.

The first one requires no special skills, other than being able to screw in a light bulb. Compact Fluorescent Lamp(s), more commonly known as CFL’s, are a huge energy and money saver.

Five to 10 percent of your residential energy bill goes to pay for lighting. You may not believe that there’s much savings in using CFL’s, because of the initial cost to purchase them. But, by going onto the Energy Star website at www.energystar.gov and using the CFL Cost Calculator,
the energy and cost savings is easily demonstrated.

In our own home, we have around 56 CFL’s and so I used that number in the online cost calculator. The results showed that annually, our household saves $311 using 56 Energy Star CFL’s versus 56 conventional lights. Then, spanning the lifecycle of these same 56 CFL’s, and taking into account the cost difference of a CFL & incandescent, we will still save $3,845!

A statistic that I heard recently was; “If, every American home replaced all their incandescent lights with CFL’s: we could save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 800,000 cars”. Very cool, if you ask me!

Another huge power hog is what is called “Phantom” or “Vampire” power. This is the power that is drained by idle electronics that are turned off, but still plugged in. Examples of this would be TV’s, VCR’s DVR’s, computers/monitors/printers, and stereo equipment to name a few.

An easy fix for this, is to put the related equipment on a common power strip. You can then turn the power strip off, when you’re not using those items. An even better option is to purchase what’s called a “Smart Strip”.

The Smart Strip surge protector lowers your energy bills by
turning off your computer’s peripherals when your PC is shut down. Six “automatically switched” outlets are all turned off when wattage through the “control” outlet drops below a user settable threshold. The Smart Strip also has 3 “constantly hot” outlets that maintain a constant current to devices that require it.

Ceiling fans are another useful way of conserving energy. In the winter, switch your fan to the “reverse” setting and run the fan on low. This will push the warm air up by your ceiling down the walls and back into your room. It can be up to 15 degrees warmer up around your ceiling and just by doing this; you may reduce the temperature difference to within 2 degrees.

We’ve barely touched the surface of ideas to reduce energy consumption and save money. There are numerous resources available to research other basic and more advanced choices for saving energy. Be sure to check Idaho Power’s website at: www.idahopower.com/EnergyEfficiency for information on programs, tips and tools. Also, Energy Trust of Oregon is available to Oregon residents at www.energytrust.org . And, don’t forget Energy Star at www.energystar.gov for even more resources and ideas.

[This is an article that I recent wrote as a contributing writer for the Urban Liaison Lifestyle Magazine.]

What do I define as doing “what’s right”? Obviously, there are a plethora of options from the basics of Reduce Reuse Recycle, to the complex processes of alternative energy, etc. “The sky’s the limit”, as they say. It just depends how high you desire to soar!

Recycling

There is more than enough information in every community and state, as well as online recycling resources. Besides setting aside an area at your home to store recyclables, the process of recycling is relatively painless. If, curbside recycling isn’t available in your area, there are definitely other options in your community. A slight detour on your errand running day, can usually take care of getting the recyclables to the proper disposal facility.

Non-Toxic Cleaning

Not only is the use of non-toxic cleaning products beneficial to the planet, it’s also proven to NOT be detrimental to your family’s health. Actually, credible studies are being released fairly regularly regarding this issue. The word is finally out that about the fact that there are over 80,000 chemicals in household products that have never been tested for safety for humans or animals. It’s really a simple transition to change over to safe cleaning products, and there are several that are less expensive than the toxic ones.

Energy Efficient Lighting

These might be a little more costly up front, but in the end, they buy earth more time and you also. The CFL and LED light options are getting better all the time. No longer is it necessary to sacrifice good lighting, in order to use a more environmentally efficient product. The facts speak for themselves, it’s just a matter of educating yourself. Take a look at your daily habits and activities.

What changes can you make to improve your environmental ethics? Remember, the sky’s the limit!!

Come soar with me….

Watch this Mythbusters video that tests whether or not we should turn the lights off, everytime we leave the room, or leave them on.

P.S. The results are good for us and for our planet. !!

So, I’m at my “Like-a-brother” hairdresser’s home last week, getting my gray washed out. I’m chatting with his roommate, who’s an awesome guy and on the management team of a Lowe’s store in Boise, Idaho.

I ask this Lowe’s manager, if he is aware that Home Depot has gone to accepting used and damaged CFL’s for recycling and ask him, “When is Lowe’s going to step up to the plate and start doing good things like Home Depot?”. He then proceeds to diplomatically inform me that Lowe’s has been recycling CFL’s for sometime, and in fact, Lowe’s also recycles batteries (AA,D,C,etc.).

Well, naturally I apologized for my assumption of Lowe’s lack of environmental responsibility, and just thought I’d share my ignorance, with the rest of you. This just goes to show you, that “one” never knows what another person or another company is doing to make a more positive impact on the planet.

This was my reminder on continuing my education of the plethora of resources and options that are available and never A S S – U – M E !!

Sorry guys, another lesson learned!