Goin' Green

Well, Molly and I decided it was time we take energy and environment conservation more seriously. I wouldn't say that we were exceedingly wasteful - at least not compared to other Americans, but that's just not good enough. This isn't about saving money either. We just want to see what we can do to make our impact a little less. Here are some of the things we've done, and maybe some others we're going to do.

Replace Incandescent Light Bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs.
I went through the house and replaced 54 Incandescent Light Bulbs with CFL Bulbs. What a pain in the rear! A CFL uses approximately one-fourth the wattage of an incandescent bulb producing a similar level of illumination, and they last 8,000 to 10,000 hours. This equates to a definite non-zero reduction of energy. I can't find a reference, but I had read once that lighting makes up about 10% of the overall bill. So, we perhaps shaved that 10% down by 75%. It was a decent initial cost to replace them all, but it was not too bad. We picked up the CFL bulbs at Sam's Club for about $10.50 for a package of 8 bulbs.

Reusable Grocery/Shopping Bags
We were looking into reusable bags that we could purchase, and we were about to narrow it down. Well, I was working and the conversation came up with a friend and colleague of ours, Christina. She just recently made the same purchase. So, we decided to go with the brand that they just purchased and raved about. ACME Bags EarthTote™ - Heavy Duty Reusable Shopping Bag

Turn down the temperature on the water heater.
This one was triggered by the pending arrival of the little peanut (Sept. 1), but it makes good energy sense too. Our house has two water heaters, of which we hardly tax one of them with two of us here. There really is no need for the water to be so hot that it can scald you. We're going to be playing with this one for a while until we can find the right temperature. Perhaps we could turn it up when company comes in to visit. According to the US Department of Energy, For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs.

Wash and Rinse Clothes in Cold Water
"Most of us are unaware of the full extent of energy required to wash our clothes. A staggering 85-90% of this energy is used by the water heater. Only 10-15% actually goes to running the washing machine." From TerraBlog. We actually wash most of our clothes in cold water, but this will be a reminder.

Unplug Unused Electronics
According to the DOE, Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These "phantom" loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance. Oh, and this includes little things like cell phone chargers, etc...

Possible Future Endeavour. Still researching this one.
Addition of Radiant Barrier in Attic
Radiant barriers are materials that are installed in buildings to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss, and hence to reduce building heating and cooling energy usage. The potential benefit of attic radiant barriers is primarily in reducing air-conditioning cooling loads in warm or hot climates. Radiant barriers usually consist of a thin sheet or coating of a highly reflective material, usually aluminum, applied to one or both sides of a number of substrate materials. These substrates include Craft paper, plastic films, cardboard, plywood sheathing, and air infiltration barrier material. Some products are fiber reinforced to increase the durability and ease of handling.

DOE Fact Sheet

Wikipedia Entry

So, any suggestions to further reduce our footprint? What are you going to do? Let us know!