What's your easiest 'Green tip'?

[Hippie Staff]

I find many people are surprised to see how EASY it is to go green, once they see the new green options available. (ie, paint, lightbulbs, local recycling programs)

What are your tips?

[Unkle_John]

Change Your Light Bulbs, Change the World: Save Money with Compact Fluorescents

by Charles Higginson, Mother Earth News Associate Editor

Here's your chance to take one small step that will help protect the
environment, save energy and save money. The Change A Light, Change
The World
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge )
campaign encourages Americans to replace a conventional bulb or
fixture in the home or workplace with a compact fluorescent light
(CFL) bulb that has earned the government's Energy Star label for
energy efficiency.

If every American home changed just five of its most-used light
fixtures to Energy Star bulbs, each family would save about $60 every
year in energy costs -- and together we'd save about $6.5 billion each
year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent
to those from more than 8 million cars.

Energy Star qualified bulbs and fixtures use one-third the energy of
traditional models, last up to 10 times longer and reduce utility
costs. In fact, consumers can save up to $30 in utility costs over the
lifetime of one bulb. And the less energy we use, the less energy
electric utilities must generate, and less demand means fewer
greenhouse gas emissions.

These bulbs are readily available at home improvement stores, discount
stores and many other retail outlets. And current bulbs are much
brighter, easier on the eyes and less expensive than previous versions
of the CFL.

The "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign is an annual effort by
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, and
this year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined the
campaign to extend its reach. It started in early October and runs
through November.

Make your own commitment to change the world today! Just take the
Energy Star Change a Light Pledge
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge ) to
replace any number of standard light bulbs. You also can sign up to
receive energy-saving tips quarterly from Energy Star. Individuals who
pledged during last year's campaign will prevent greenhouse gas
emissions equivalent to nearly 3,000 vehicles and save $2 million in
energy costs. Learn more
( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting ) about
Energy Star light bulbs and fixtures.

I switched over about 6 years ago and we have noticed a huge difference in our electric bills. The bulbs are great on your eyes too, when you enter a dark or blacked out room and turn them on there isn't "sudden light", they turn on dim an slowly elevate the light as they warm up. We bought all of ours from Home Depot under the brand name "Commercial Electric", which I believe is a Home Depot "brand". They are 60watt, put out 900 Lumens, have 10K in hours of life and only use 14 watts of power. The style that ours are are classified as "ultra mini spiral lamp" and comes with a 7 year guarantee.

Now not every light in our house (or even yours if you choose to use them) can hold a CFL. Night lights, certain types of ceiling fans and so forth call for smaller bulbs. But those bulbs don't pull a lot of watts either. I also signed the pledge listed above... too bad I could only choose 10 light bulbs, I believe I am using 25-30 CFL bulbs in the house.

Now there is something new on the market that I'm interested in trying out when they get it a little more perfected, LED bulbs. It's a cluster of small LED bulbs in one. To quote Mother Earth News:


Most of the promising research in lighting is related to light-emitting diodes, or LED lights. They’re more efficient than incandescents, because the bulbs don’t use heat to produce light. And unlike fluorescent lights, they don’t contain any mercury. Instead, LEDs are made with a semiconductor material that produces photons when electricity passes through it. LEDs are very good at focusing light exactly where it’s needed, plus, they produce light in a variety of colors and last a long time.

But for most home lighting, LEDs are still not as energy-efficient as compact fluorescents, usually not bright enough and not yet as good at producing the white light we use in our homes.

“LEDs have improved dramatically in the last five years or so, but efficiency is still well below that of fluorescent lighting,” Wilson says. He says that LEDs have promise of getting to that point, but while today’s best LEDs are much more efficient than incandescents, they are still not as efficient as CFLs.

At the same time, Wilson says that for some applications, LEDs are definitely the most efficient lights. That’s because they can efficiently produce brightly colored, low-wattage light: LEDs are now frequently found in traffic signals, building exit signs and appliances, and are even available as Christmas tree lights.

The future of LEDs is bright — significant research is focused on LEDs for general-purpose lighting, and the technology continues to improve. Environmental Building News recognized an LED luminaire as one of its top 10 green building products of the year for 2005. Permlite sells these luminaires for about $160. “For most applications fluorescents are still the way to go, but I would suggest keeping an eye on LED lighting,” Wilson says

[GoGreen]

That's awesome, thanks for sharing.
I have been replacing mine too over the years, as my bulbs die out and can honestly say the flourescents have come a long way. The older ones sometimes make a buzzing sound, but the new ones are quiet and even work great with dimmers.

A friend told me that flourescents burn out faster, but i haven't experienced that - in fact, probably the opposite.

I am going to check out the LED lights - seems like a great option for clean, bright light.

[Unkle_John]

No problem GG. I have more tips, just not on this computer.

[LIBRA]

I unplugg everything when its not in use. I have no fact on how much energy if any it may save but, I do it anyway.

[unclejoe]

here's an excellent site about led's
http://led.linear1.org/ :31:

[Hippie Staff]

The LEDs next to the dime graphic is a trip!!

[LIBRA]

nice we have new smilies! :48: :53:

These 2 are my favorites,lol

[PEACE FROG]

Not running the water while shaving or brushing your teeth is a good way to save on water. Grey water (if legal in your state) like the water from your laundry being used to water your garden. Grey water is'nt legal here but I do it anyways. Also rainwater catching in a uv protetected barrel. All are nice tips

[Kookie_Baron]

I've heard that unplugging your cell phone charger after your phone is thru charging saves a lot of energy. Those things continue eating electricity and converting it to heat even after you have removed the phone.

[hippielove]

This brings back memories of my parents hollering "Turn of the lights when you aren't in the room!", which saves power and money. Turn your a/c up a couple of degrees and use your ceiling fans help. Also, wear a sweater in the winter and save natural gas (what we use for heat) and money as well!

[TreeLove]

this was my signature for a little while, apparently it annoyed someone, but since this is about green tips i find it an appropriate place for a final resting place. this dumb little poem i titled "your car's butt smells bad" because the foul waste that a car creates usually comes out the back of it, and as a pedaller (bicyclist) i often find myself facing that end of the vehicle, and not enjoying it. so my tip:

put the fun between your legs or 'neath your feet
when travelin' through the summer's heat
if you don't have too far to go
save on gas and get there sssllllloooooooooow
drink good water, breathe fresh air
you don't have to hug a tree to show you care

there that's my little poem, you didn't have to read it, so i'm not sorry for writing it :smilie_lo

i don't own a car never have, and of course i use them! I borrow occaisionally, my boyfriend owns a car, i'm not saying burn them, well Hummers could definetly be melted into something more useful : ) but I think the best way to conserve resources is to acknowlege their true worth and true cost.

consider all the ways to get from point a to point b, and the mode of transport for you to take. we could massively cut down on gas consumption if there were more people carpooling. next time your stuck in traffic look around and count passengers in the cars around you, ever time i've done this i find more cars with a lone driver than any other.

[LIBRA]

there that's my little poem, you didn't have to read it, so i'm not sorry for writing it :smilie_lo


Ahhh, theres some sarcasm.... when none was givin.

I for one, LOVE the poem. Put it back as your sig. Be proud.


I know, totally not on subject so I ll add a green tip...

Save water, shower with a friend!! :D

[Hippie Staff]

yep..put back as your sig!

And, my car's butt does smell bad.