February Top Tips // ways to easily save energy

Hello everyone!

January is over, and today we have top tips for you on how to save energy in February. Because it is such a big topic that you can do so much with, we will be exceeding our normal number of 5 tips to 10 or even 15 this month! With Covid going on all over the world, it is important more than ever before to protect the planet in every possible way. The smallest acts count, if everyone commits to them. Now, it seems like most people are up to changing small things in their lives, so we will be focusing on different ways you can save energy in your daily lives. These tips will be easy to apply and might even hold advantages for you. Have fun saving energy this February!

Introduction

Every day, millions of people wake up on this planet. Every day, thousands get up, turn on the lights and flick that switch on the coffee machine. Every day, thousands waste energy consciously. Every day thousands more energy unconsciously. You can do better. Many, many sources say that we waste an extraordinary amount of energy throughout a single year and that that is easy to change. By simply altering the smallest habits, a massive amount of energy can be saved, along with the amount of money you usually spend to pay for it. The good thing is that, out of the experience, I can tell you that changing energy-wasting habits like this, is surprisingly easy. You can probably ask anyone around you that has developed energy-efficient habits, and they will tell you the same. Here are the top ways we all waste a whole lot of energy every day:

Lights

When talking about energy consumption, lights are a topic often addressed. Many people might discard it, thinking that you can save energy more efficiently in other places. That is the wrong thing to do. There are at least two great ways to save energy with light:

1) Use energy-efficient light bulbs (LEDs). They save a lot of energy, save money over time and hold a lot longer than an average light bulb! You can literally look it up anywhere.

2)If that for some reason is not an option for you, simply turning off the lights when you leave a room is a very good habit, and very easy to adapt. I used to leave on the lights where ever I went, but now I don't even think about turning them off anymore. Often people leave their houses and apartments without turning all the lights off, wasting masses of energy when they are gone for the entire day for example! It's crazy!

Dishwasher, Washing machine and Tumble Dryer

1) Do not run the dishwasher, tumble dryer or washing machine half full! You waste energy running it, for heating the water, for running the extra water that you use to wash by hand and lots of detergents. Fill them to the brink of explosion and then run them!

2) When washing your clothes, it is often unnecessary to do so with really hot water. Instead, just wash with cold or rather room-temperature water

3) Instead of drying all your clothes in the tumble dryer, just hang them up on a washing line to dry. In summer (in most countries) you can also just hang them outside and they'll be dry in no time at all!

4) Only wash what needs washing. Honestly, who doesn't sometimes just throw something in the washing that isn't actually dirty? But try not to do so much! Wear your trousers two or three days in a row before washing them, or clean the tomato stain with a wet towel. But don't throw all your stuff in the washing every day. Now, please do not use this as an excuse to wear your underwear three or four times in a row :).

Heating

Please do not heat unused rooms

Do not continue to heat when you are away or asleep

Insulate your home, so you don't have to heat as much. For example, draught stoppers under the doors and an insulated roof are great ideas.

I can vouch for this. We moved into a single-glazed bungalow with very little insulation. We renovated it, adding a lot to the size of the house. But we insulated it and put new windows in. Despite the house being much bigger, we now pay much less for energy.

Avoid opening windows or doors when the heating is on, that is no use.

Dress weather appropriately, inside and outside, so you don't have to have the heating on full power all the time. Maybe a belly top isn't the right decision for mid-winter.

When you do turn on the heater, don't have it on full power all the time. You can turn it down once there is a base warmth.

Water

If you avoid wasting water of any kind, you always save energy. There are many places you can save water, just don't start in the wrong place, your drinking water for example. Don't save that. You need it.

Everyone knows taking a long, hot shower is the best thing in the world, that is absolutely understandable. It is fine to do so, but only from time to time. If you can make it short and cool, that'd be amazing, since almost every person wants to shower every day. Imagine how much energy that saves! Shower time also makes a huge difference. Limit each shower to a certain amount of time. There are so many timers you can get. In the UK, you can even get one for your household for free!

Now, I'm not going to make a list of occasions where you can save water, but you probably have lots of ideas yourself! We would love to hear what you can think of, if you want to, you are very welcome to leave them in the comments.

Devices

Unsurprisingly, the use of devices uses up a massive amount of energy. So please unplug your:

-Telephone

-Computer

-Powerbanks

-Drones

-Etc

Before leaving your house. They do use up lots of energy!

Entertainment

Movies, Video Games, VR, TV, Drones, Videos and Clips are wonderfully entertaining (and addicting) but also really energy-consuming ways of spending your time. here are some good ideas for things you could do instead:

-read a book

-Hang out with a friend

-Do some sport

-Play board games (Did you know that chess grandmasters burn up to 6000 calories a day?!)

-Go to a concert

-Visit a museum

-Learn an instrument

-Write books

-Start an initiative

Cooking

Here's a fun fact to start this with: I hate cooking. But I like baking. Here are some tips to make cooking and baking less energy-consuming!

-Cook with a lid on

-Turn the oven on when you need it, not hours before

-Turn the oven off when you're done, not hours after

-Keep your kitchen clean, means you find things quicker and the oven doesn't run while you're looking for that stupid spoon

-Carry your ingredients up the stairs, it's good for your muscles and you don't use elevator energy!

-browsing the fridge for something edible add up to a lot of wasted energy! It's like heating but always keeping a window open for fresh air. People actually do that, I don't know why. So, know what you have in the fridge. Maybe you can memorize it while carrying all of it upstairs!

Sharing

Here is the one word, along with the one sentence:

Sharing always makes a difference, share your knowledge and you did good!

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/12/seven-things-you-do-every-day-that-waste-energy/
https://www.ase.org/blog/10-biggest-energy-wasting-habits-home
https://www.energysage.com/energy-efficiency/101/ways-to-save-energy/
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2020/03/how-to-save-energy-at-home

Image:
This image is owned by a blog editor.

Comments

The limits of the Earth - the planetary boundary model

Hi everyone, So today we're talking about a model that was introduced in 2009 and has offered a new perspective to thinking about environmental issues. The planetary boundary model has 9 boundaries, each has a safe zone. Once the safe zone is exceeded, the stable conditions on our planet are considered at risk, and there can be severe and possibly irreversible changes. The nine boundaries are considered separate however, they greatly affect each other. Novel Entities describes the introduction and accumulation of man-made novel chemical compounds. These include pesticides, nuclear waste and microplastics. Stratospheric Ozone Depletion refers to the depletion of the ozone layer which was a major problem in the 90s. Atmospheric Aerosol Loading is air particle pollution. Ocean Acidification is self-explanatory. The boundary Biochemical Flows is composed of two separate boundaries; nitrogen and phosphorus. Both of the ele...

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

October 2021 Factfile | news, animals and more!

Hello, October is over and November is here - let's hope it's a cosy month full of stunning Autumn colours and beautiful rainy days! News Good news Judge postpones wolf hunt in Wisconsin Every year in Wisconsin there is a wolf hunt in autumn. But this year, something amazing happened: A judge halted the season. For years there has been a dispute, on one side environmentalists, and on the other hunters and farmers. The farmers claim that wolves destroy their crops and that killing them is the only solution. Environmentalists argue that wolf populations are too weak and that the animals shouldn't be killed. Let's hope that this is the first step toward stopping the wolf hunt altogether. Bad news Pacific islands are disappearing For many of us, the threat of climate change feels distant. But for the people of the Pacific islands, the terror is all too real. These are their homes, and they are rapidly becoming submerged b...

Energy comparison: solar (PV) panels

Hi everyone, Today I'm looking into the first on a long list of energy sources: solar (PV) panels. Are they actually sustainable and could they become our main energy source in the near future? After all, enough energy from the sun reaches the earth in 90 minutes to cover the entire world's energy consumption for a whole year! How they work There are a couple of ways to transform energy from the sun into electricity. The one we are looking at today is solar panels also known as solar photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is the key to solar panels. A solar panel is made of many PV cells. A single PV cell will produce 1-2 watts of power. They are very thin and are normally protected by glass and/or plastics. This is the best explanation I could find (click here for the source): When the semiconductor is exposed to light, it absorbs the light’s energy and transfers it to negatively charged particles in the material calle...

The life of ... a koala

Hello everyone, Today we're talking about koalas. Also known as koala bears, koalas are marsupials. So they're actually not bears. Koalas, phascolarctos cinereus , are tree dwelling and probably best known for spending most of the day sleeping. They live for up to 15 years in the wild although captive koalas generally live for longer. Koalas have a stout, gray body and a cream-coloured chest. They have a broad face, small yellow eyes and big fluffy ears. In adaptation to climbing, their feet are strong and clawed. Adult individuals in South Australia weigh 14kg and are 60-84cm big. Their Eastern cousins are considerably smaller. Koalas are found in Eastern and Southern Australia, where they live in eucalyptus trees. They feed on the leaves of these eucalyptus trees, eating up to 1.3kg a day. With a body weight of up to 14kg, this means they eat just under 10% of their body weight every single day. However, the le...

July 2021 Factfile - some news from the past month, animals and plants!

Hi Everyone, July is over and August is here. This month we've divided the 'News' section into 'Good news' and 'Bad news'. This will hopefully make the post more structured and easier to navigate. News Good news: Pandas classified as vulnerable Giants pandas are now classified as vulnerable according to Chinese officials. They were originally classed as endangered , but now that numbers in the wild have gone over 1 800 they have been reclassified. This is due to hard conservation work in China and funds from volunteers all over the globe. However, they are still vulnerable so it is important that the good work continues. For all those who have supported giant pandas through websites or those who work actively with them: keep up the good work! First baby beaver born on Exmoor in 400 years A baby beaver has been born on Exmoor, England, for the first time in 400 years! This is due to ...

January Top Tips // 5 ways you can individually tackle climate change

Hi Everyone! This is the first of our new monthly posts for 2022! We will be sharing top tips every month, near the beginning, for things you can do during that month for the better. It's almost like a whole year of new year's resolutions (though let's hope they are achieved)! In these posts, we aren't just going to talk about climate change , of course, there will also be posts about animals , plants, habitats, plastic pollution and so much more! They will not be huge tips though, they won't demand too much of you (usually!). We need rebellions and people in the public eye spreading the word of course but we also need people like you, who can just do their bit. So, welcome to our top tips posts! We all know that we need to come together to fight the climate crisis, but we don't seem to be doing that right now. So here are our top tips for ways you can individually tackle climate change, even if this means simply spreading ...

Ecotourism: what it is, the advantages and the disadvantages

Hi Everyone! Today we wanted to talk about the idea of ecotourism, including the advantages and disadvantages of this concept. If you are looking to reduce your environmental and social impact when travelling, then this is the post for you! Ecotourism is a form of tourism which limits the damage to the environment and local community. It can involve helping in community projects such as planting trees, as well as taking part in local customs and festivals. It helps to keep the local culture alive, while preserving the natural environment. The advantages are abundant. By helping in a project conserving the environment, tourists gain a new understanding and appreciation for the natural world and may be inspired to make changes in their "real" life to live more sustainably. It provides a valuable insight to a country and community, perhaps also inspiring more respect for different people and the lives they lead. The projects also provide sustainable income sources for locals, h...

Animals 31-35 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to our blog, today we are sharing another 5 incredible animals. This is part of a series to celebrate our 50th blog post, all about unusual animals! Enjoy! 31. Pangolins These creatures are often mistaken for reptiles but they are in fact mammals. They are covered in scales and use them to defend themselves because similar to a hedgehog, they curl up into a ball. They eat ants, termites and larvae. They eat using their tongue, which is very long- sometimes even longer than their body! Sadly, Pangolins are in high demand as their meat is considered a delicacy their scales are used in traditional folk remedies, which means that there is an illegal trade. Luckily, there have been many initiatives put in place to help these animals by WWF and similar organisations. 32. Macropinna Microstoma This is a species of fish that live at about 600m below sea level. They hang nearly motionless in the water and have a very unusual...

Jane Goodall

Born: 1934 When Jane was a little girl, she loved climbing trees and reading books. She dreamed that she could go to Africa and see the wild animals there. So Jane flew to Tanzania determined to study chimpanzees in their natural habitat. When she first arrived, none of the chimpanzees would let her get near them. They would always run away at first sight. Jane kept coming back until they let her come closer. However, Jane wanted to become friends with the chimpanzees. So she started the "banana club" which meant that she would share bananas with them every time she visited the chimpanzees. She discovered that chimpanzees have rituals, that they use tools, that their language comprises at least twenty sounds and that they are not vegetarians. Once she rescued an injured chimpanzee and nursed it back to health. When she released it back into the wild, the chimpanzee turned around and hugged her as if to say, "thank you and goodby...

Green World

Search This Blog