Thursday: Energy

Thursday's challenge was to "Replace kilowatts with ingenuity - explore no-energy alternatives to accomplish your daily tasks."  In assessing my energy use habits, I realize how much I take electricity for granted.  I'm happy to say that I'm pretty good about reducing unnecessary use, but there's still room for improvement.

Things I do on a regular basis to conserve energy are unplugging phone and computer chargers, small appliances, hair dryers, etc. whenever I'm not using them so that they're not sucking up phantom power.  The TV and DVD player are plugged into a power strip with an on/off switch.  However, there is a fair amount of stuff that I leave plugged in - the refrigerator, microwave, modem, airport, cordless phone, printer, paper shredder, lamps, stereo, and my desktop computer.  One thing I plan to do is get another on/off power strip for the printer and paper shredder - those have no use sucking up phantom power.  The Energy Star website estimates that the electrical usage of all the devices we leave plugged in all the time - because they are all sipping power even when turned off - creates the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions to 3 million cars on the road.  That's crazy!

I use CFL light bulbs (which I then drop off for recycling at Home Depot so that they won't sit in a landfill leaking mercury into the ground).  Luckily, there are so many options for CFL bulbs now that it's easy to find ones that give off the same quality of light as incandescent bulbs.  When I buy new appliances I make sure they are Energy Star, and I also try not to buy devices that use disposable batteries.  And of course, one of the most basic things I do is turn off lights when I leave a room... I guess I learned that habit young.

I am going to look into whether I can buy green power where I live, because if so I would be contributing to the development and proliferation of renewable energy, rather than the unsustainable reliance on limited fossil fuels.  Too bad I don't own a house and can't go all solar.  Some day... :)

P.S. For tips on saving energy in the kitchen go here, and for saving energy with appliances go here.