You don’t have to save the cheerleader to save the world :-). You can even save money while doing it, so says the Live Green Movement.
So here are some more tips on reducing energy and water consumption that’s also easy on the checkbook, in addition to the very informative links from qwerty.
Living green at home.
A sizeable 46 percent of energy use is energy loss. That’s electricity being consumed for no productive use, such as when you keep your cellphone charger permanently plugged into a wall outlet. By keeping unused electronic appliances truly switched off, you save more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and around P12,500 a year.
Ortigas skyline last July 14. Photo from PDI.
Put a brick in the toilet.
A brick wrapped in a plastic bag or a water-filled bleach bottle kept inside the toilet reservoir displaces and saves a half or full gallon of water with each flush. You can also reduce your potable-water use by flushing with “gray water” such as shampoo-rinse water saved in a bucket.
Don’t tolerate a leaky faucet.
Even a slow drip can waste about two gallons of clean water daily. (With the Angat dam water level at critical lows, this made my eyes grow wide as saucers.) Invest in water-saving devices such as aerators for your faucets, shower heads and drip-irrigation watering systems. Even something as low-tech as a rain barrel is helpful.
Switch from incandescent lighting and go LED and CFL
A compact fluorescent bulb lasts ten times longer than an incandescent bulb and uses only 25 percent the energy. A single CFL bulb can save you about P1,900 in electricity over its lifespan! Light emitting diodes are an efficient option for mood and task lighting and use even less energy than CFLs.
Rethink your garden.
Plant trees, grasses and shrubs that require less water. Practice deep watering in the early evening to avoid daily watering.
Halve your consumption.
Use half the toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, detergent, bleach, fabric softener that the TV ads urge you to squeeze or pour out, and see how it still does the job. By consuming less, fewer chemicals go into the air and water supply, and fewer product packaging end up in landfills.
I tested this during the weekend. My teeth still feel clean and my bath cream will last a lot longer! This tip is so proven hehe. Now, how to get the maids to use less detergent…
October 30th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Collective consciousness. Cost saving for environmental preservation would be for naught if we are collectively unaware or indifferent to our environment. 90% of urban dwellers can be classified as urban poor - conserving resources only as they see fit and only for monetary reasons and motivations.
Environmentally conscious and concerned citizens as us are very few and it would be too late before a collective solution is rendered by a collective effort.
True a drop multiplied by seconds by minutes by hours by days by weeks and by months could be as significant as the waterless urinals now making a killing in commercial applications.
Bottom line: We have to force change politically - and by force.
July 24th, 2007 at 10:11 am
@ big G!
hahaha! noted!
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:49 pm
little g… ewww… just to make it clear that there’s another person here who signs with (capital) “G” for comments who neither dilutes his shampoo nor scrimps on toothpaste hehehe! =)-G
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
on a note anyway, i recently took my 6 year old daughter to mcdonald’s, (because i ran out of reasons for her not to go there after she kept going at it for more than half a year already.)
more than the cost-cutting measure, a personal reason i had since the last time we went there was their refusal to cut down on their styrofoam usage i think a year ago, (i think i mentioned the said credible email i checked against verifiable articles in salve’s first post nudging on environmental issues. that was basically what prompted me to discourage my kid to patronize the place.)
it was heartening to see that the advocacy bore fruit as we didn’t have our chicken meals in styro’s anymore. there are still plastic cups but i’m contented with the step towards that direction in the meantime though.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
@g: you and salve are starting to sound like my mom.
@salve: one thing i heard from someone else was to label consumables, (coffee, creamer, sugar, etc) with the date it was purchased or opened. she claims it was effective.
i think it doesn’t sound right though but you might want to take a look at that for your detergents anyway.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:58 am
i know i may seem like such a cheapskate but i actually add water to my shampoo bottle. makes it a little less creamy but it still lathers my hair nicely.
and yes, i do only use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.