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

How much do you know about trees? - Quiz

Hello, This month's quiz is all about trees. Questions: What is the name of the network that trees use to communicate? a) the mycorrhizal network b) the mythcorhinia network c) the symbocommunial network How much of the amazon rainforest has been lost due to deforestation in the last 50 years? a) 12% b) 17% c) 23% True or False? Over 75% of land-based species are found in forests? How much carbon do tropical forest contain? a) 230 gigatons b) 280 gigatons c) 330 gigatons In California, there is a rather strange tree that has survived 13 000 years by cloning itself. What species? a) Pin oak ;b) English oak c) Palmer's oak True or False? The oldest surviving tree species, Gingko trees, have been around since just after the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs struck. Where do acacia trees grow? a) cold and ha...

Animals 11-15 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, We have another five amazing animals for you today. Enjoy! 11. Dhole This is a dog species which looks rather like a red fox . They are difficult to put into any of the dog subfamilies. They aren't foxes, nor wolves, nor domestic dogs. Dholes are fast runners and live in packs of 5-12 individuals. Although sometimes, different packs will join forces to become a pack of 30 or more individuals! However, these super packs are broken up after a successful hunt. The different packs rarely attack each other as neighbouring packs are often closely related. Dhole packs live in burrows with multiple entrances. They can be found in eastern and southern Asia. They eat wild berries, insects and lizards and as a pack hunt deer, rodents and other wild mammals. Interestingly, unlike other dogs, they rarely kill by biting at the throat. They are also good swimmers! 12. Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin can be found in coastal areas of south a...

Ecosia

We all need to do something to save our planet: it is no use just leaving it to Greta Thunberg! She is very inspirational, yes, but she can only do so much. She isn't superhuman! The climate crisis is up to us; up to you. We all have to get stuck in. Research, learn, discover and most importantly: never give up! The world's animals need us. The world's trees need us and a simple way to do this is to switch to Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine but it plants trees while you search the web. Okay, it doesn't have as many websites as google so you may want to have google as a backup but it plants trees: this is your opportunity to make a simple change. Just google Ecosia and search to plant trees. Make a difference. Image: This image is owned by Binyamin Mellish on pexels.com .

30.08.2020 Animal of the week: Whale Shark

Hi! It is International Whale Shark Day today, so we thought, we would do this week's animal of the week about whale sharks. Are whale sharks, sharks or whales? Whale sharks are not whales and they aren't a mix of whale and shark. They are sharks. So, why are they called whale sharks if they aren't whales? Well, they are very big. Whale sharks normally grow to a length of 5.5-10 metres. However, the largest whale shark to be accurately measured was 18.8 metres long! That is about as long as a lorry or as high as a short oak tree. Basically, whale sharks are massive. Habitat and Diet Whale sharks prefer warmer waters. They live in all tropical seas. Every spring, they are known to migrate to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The whale shark is one of the three known filter-feeding shark species in the world. Like whales, they eat plankton. Images: Image 1: This image is o...

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...

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

Energy comparison: natural gas

Hi everyone, Today we're talking about natural gas. Natural gas is a commonly used fossil fuel. So we thought we would go over the pros and cons of natural gas. So first of all, we can quickly cover what natural gas actually is. In its natural form it's a mix of mostly methane and then some other chemical components like propane and butane. However, it's normally processed so that it's almost pure methane. Natural gas forms when organic materials (like dead plants and animals) are crushed into the ground. So it's like coal in that sense. The most popular theory is that the different conditions like temperature and pressure then control whether coal, oil, or gas is formed. Natural gas reserves are found globally. The largest gas fields are in Russia, under the North Sea, in the United States, Canada, Algeria and the Middle East. It's often found near to or even in oil fields. Natural gas is colourless, odorless, tasteless and ...

How well do you know the ocean floor? - Quiz

Hi Everyone and welcome back to Green World! Today we have another quiz to test your knowledge about the natural world. This is, of course, part of our monthly series of quizzes, so please give us some feedback on how you are finding it so far in the comments! This time, it's all about the ocean floor. Questions How much percent of the earth's surface consists of ocean floor? a)50% b) 60% c) 70% True or False? Just like on dry land, the ocean floor has mountains, plains and valleys. Which ocean can the Mariana Trench be found? a) Pacific Ocean b) Altantic Ocean c) Indian Ocean True or False? The Mariana Trench is 11km deep. How much of the earth's surface is covered by abyssal plains? a) about 33% b) about 50% c) about 10% True or False? Studies estimated that 90% of deep sea species haven't been discovered yet? Tr...

29.11.2020 Animal Of The Week: Jaguar

Hello, Today (29th November) is world Jaguar day so this week our animal is the Jaguar. The Jaguar is an animal I know pretty much nothing about so I am going to learn a lot too! Jaguars (panthera onca) live for 12 - 15 years. Their heads and bodies are 150-180cm long and their tails are 70-90cm long! They weigh 45 - 110 kg. Habitat Jaguars live primarily in the Amazon Basin, though they can be found in smaller numbers in Central America. They once lived everywhere from central Argentina up to the southwestern United States but since the 1880s they have lost over half of their territory. They are mainly found in tropical rainforests but can live in savannas and grasslands. Diet They eat fish and turtles as they are actually quite competent swimmers as well as deer, iguanas, birds and monkeys; they will eat almost anything! Are they endangered? Jaguars are classed as near endangered and face several threats. South and Central Americ...

New Year's Eve 2020 Challenge!!!

Challenge New Year's Eve is only a week away now. Hundreds of people set goals for the coming year on New Year's Eve. We would like you to set some goals that are about the environment. For instance cut down on how much meat you eat or use less plastic. You can chose the easy, the normal or the hard challenge. Easy Challenge For the easy challenge you only need to set one environmental goal. Normal Challenge To complete the normal challenge you will need to set three environmental goals. Hard Challenge This one is for people who are willing to give things up for the environment. To do the hard challenge you must set five environmental goals. Completion Date 31.12. (New Year's Eve) You have one week. Other info Tell us about your goals We would love you to tell us about your goals. If you wish to share them with us: just write them in a comment. Tips Don't set goals that you know you won't be able to complete. Just...

Green World

Search This Blog