We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow the earth from our
children.
-Native American Proverb
We have been treating the Earth like we don't live on it.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

GSG: Turn Off the Lights

(Image snagged from Treehugger.com, go read.)

There are so many ways to save on your electric bill and the environment that I could write for days on the subject. And if you are an avid green blog reader you already know what to do. If you don't here is a helpful source for you at Mr. Electricity.

What I found was it is so easy to do everyday saving for the planet and your bill with the appliances you already have at home. Turn them off or down. Over this last summer I turned up my A/C and saved an average of $150/month. I asked if I could compare my bill to my neighbors' bill. Her electric bill in August was over $300 and mine was $160. I could have done better, and I will next year. I also turned off lamps in rooms I wasn't using at the moment, shut down my computer at night, kept curtains closed. and washed with cold water. The biggest energy hogs in my house are the KIDS. They leave lights on everywhere. I had to follow them around, and still do, to turn off lights. It is tiring work. I even let my hair air dry to avoid the hairdryer. (This is huge for me, hee hee.)

Simple solutions. I wish I could go solar but money is tight so we won't be buying any solar panels at the moment. I also tried to convince hubby to look into electric companies that use alternative, cleaner sources of energy and he wasn't ready for that yet. So I did what I could to help my pocketbook and the planet.

2 comments:

Allie said...

That's interesting. I never thought about seeing if I could compare my bill to my neighbors. We all pretty much have the same house, so it would be a good way to see if there's anything we could be doing better.

Allison said...

Allie- Yes, unfortunately my house and 150 other ones in my neighborhood are all about the same everything. So I was able to ask my neighbor friend a favor and get her electric bill amount.
I also try to compare to last year and be lower.