Switch a couple of light bulbs to energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. They are 75 per cent more energy efficient and last 10 times as long as regular bulbs. Each energy efficient light bulb keeps half a tonne of CO2 out of the air over its lifetime.
Let the sun shine in all winter. Keep your blinds, drapes and shutters open to allow daylight in. Even in the winter, sunlight creates passive solar heating. This can provide a couple of degrees of extra heat to a room for free.
Wash your clothes in cold water. Unless you’re a rugby player, it’s probably all you need. It can save you $85 a year and cut emissions by a third of a tonne.
Look for the Energy Star label on appliances. Products with this internationally recognized symbol use 20-40 per cent less energy than standard products. A new fridge could save enough energy to light an average house for three months.
Choose a laptop over a desktop. A desktop computer uses as much as five times more energy. Make sure you have your computer’s power management function turned on; screen-savers don’t save energy.
This fall, properly seal your house with weather stripping and caulking. In the average Canadian house the combined ‘heat leaks’ would equal a hole the size of a basketball. Keeping ‘leaks’ to a minimum can reduce your heating bill by 25 per cent.
Switch to a water-saving showerhead. They use half the water as a standard head, meaning half as much water to treat and pump.
Switch to a renewable energy provider, such as Bullfrog Power.
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