Going Green
May 13, 2013 | Filed under: Energy,Environmentally Friendly,Homeowner Tips,Newsletter Articles,Uncategorized
Here in Ohio, we seem to have gone from winter to summer almost overnight. Yet we have friends in the plains states who still seem to be stuck in winter. Even for them, though, summer will be here soon, and summer is always the perfect time to have some fun but also to make things happen.
We wanted to share some ideas with you this month from earthdaycentral.com where they always have great advice on going green to make our lives more friendly to the environment with which we’ve been blessed. Following are some of their wise steps to improve your level of “green”.
Evaluate Your Life
What are your normal practices? How big is your family? Do you drive a lot? What sorts of food do you buy? Have you taken steps to cut down your use of electricity, water, and natural gas? Do you see yourself having five bags of trash each week while your neighbors only have one? Do you tend to re-use and recycle things or do you live a more disposable life? As you work through these questions, and more, you will begin to see for yourself the “low-hanging” fruit where improvements can be made versus those areas where it will be hard to make changes.
Change Your Habits
After the initial evaluation, think about things you can gradually change. Can you combine activities and make fewer trips in the car? Can you carpool with someone? Turn off lights more frequently? Take shorter showers? Adjust the thermostat? Do you have chargers for things like cell phones and laptops that you keep plugged in all the time? They still pull power even when the device is fully charged and, if they’re plugged into the wall, even when the device is disconnected.
Re-Think Assumptions
The trend lately has been toward buying more efficient things such as appliances and vehicles. This is being done to reduce our carbon footprint, but, the reality is, buying that new item is a huge hit on our carbon footprint. Maybe sometimes the best thing we can do is make our current cars and appliances more efficient. This can be done by reducing the weight of things we carry in our vehicles, making sure the tire pressure is correct, and removing unused things like luggage racks. We can also run shorter cycles on things like washing machines and dishwashers, and make sure that we don’t run our clothes dryers too long. Sometimes the most green thing we can do does not involve buying something more efficient but instead making our existing equipment more efficient.
Evaluate Your Driving Habits
How often can you combine trips, or walk instead of drive? If your car is idling for more than two minutes, it’s better to shut it off and re-start. Having the windows down on your car increases drag and fuel consumption. Avoiding harsh acceleration or braking can also save fuel.
Little steps taken by all of us can be a very effective and common sense way toward reducing our own individual expenses as well as our dependence on natural resources.
As always, don’t forget to call us at 1-800-543-8938 if you have any questions about roofing. You can also read here to learn more about the energy efficiency of a Classic Metal Roof.
