15 Green and Money Saving Tips

Here is a list of 15 simple things that everyone can do to fight climate change and save money on your energy costs.

1. Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
   CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year
2. Install a programmable thermostat
   Programmable thermostats will automatically lower the heat or air conditioning at night and raise them again in the morning. They can save you $100 a year on your energy bill.
3. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
   Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
4. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
   Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
5. Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
   Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most energy efficient products available.
6. Do not leave appliances on standby
   Use the “on/off” function on the machine itself. A TV set that’s switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and in standby mode during the remaining 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.

Three Simple Rules for Climate-safe Living

Our fingers are glued to the global climate thermostat as we continue to pump ever more climate-altering gases into the atmosphere.

And, in a feverish delirium where the present has been severed from the future, we dial it higher and higher. Foolishly and dangerously.

An urgent shift to “Climate-safe Living” is necessary to dial down the temperature on our global greenhouse.

How can we make this shift?

Practice These Three Simple Rules:

1. Reduce.

Reduce fossil fuel consumption everywhere.

2. Eliminate.

Eliminate all non-essential activities and products that involve burning fossil fuel.

3. Demand.

Demand that business and government provide transport, activities and products that use minimize fossil fuel use.

Reduce. Eliminate. Demand. R.E.D.

Green Tips for the 21st Century

is dedicated to finding ways to shift to climate-safe lifestyles.

Please POST or SEND in your tips, ideas, suggestions and wacky notions.

You can reach me here: writer steve AT gmail DOT com (no spaces)

– Stephen Leahy, Environmental Journalist

Carbon-Neutral Towns Powered By Community

A great new footpath to the nearby railway station is helping to reduce our transport footprint

By Stephen Leahy

June 5 2008 Inter Press Service News Agency

The village of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, England is aiming to be the first carbon-neutral community in the England (Golden Lion pub included).

In just two years, the 1,000 residents have saved 20 percent on their energy costs and transformed their community.

“It’s been great fun and an amazing boost in community spirit,” said Garry Charnock, who put the idea to some friends in the local pub. “I thought they’d think of me as a bit of a crank, but they were all for it.”

More than 75 percent of the village showed up for the first meetings, something that had never happened before. Charnock told IPS that people are worried about climate change and want to do something but are reluctant to do it on their own. Unwittingly, Charnock’s notion of a carbon-neutral village unleashed the power of community.