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

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

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...

Energy comparison: wind turbines

Hello, Finally, we are back with another energy comparison. Today we're looking at wind turbines. Wind power is a fast-growing renewable energy source. In the US, the wind power industry currently employs 120 000 people across all 50 states. It could grow to employ hundreds of thousands of people by 2050. 9% of the electricity in the US in 2021 came from wind turbines, that’s 136 000 megawatts. The wind power industry saves 329 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. General knowledge and categorisation We should probably start off by clarifying how wind turbines actually work and what types there are. I’m not going to give an in-depth description of how wind turbines work because I don’t want this post to turn into a physics lesson. To put it very simply, the wind turns the blades, which turns the rotor. The rotor then turns the generator, which converts the kinetic energy (movement) into electricity. There are obviously a lot more...

Deforestation and why it’s a problem

Hi everyone, Welcome back to another post. Today we’ll be talking about deforestation and its impacts on our earth. Deforestation, the widespread clearance of natural forests, has been happening for thousands of years. One example is Western Europe, where, two millennia ago, 80% of the land was cloaked in dense forest cover. However, over time, a significant portion of this green expanse was sacrificed to create room for crops, livestock grazing, and as a source of fuel and building materials. Presently, a mere 34% of Western Europe retains its woodland. Today, the tropics deal with the brunt of deforestation. Activities such as mining, agriculture, road construction, and the establishment of vast cattle ranches drive the mass clearance of tropical rainforests. This results in the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating the global climate crisis. The consequences come in two waves: first, the reduced number of...

08.11.2020 Animal of the week: Dolphins

Hello, This week we are going to talk about dolphins. Habitat Dolphins live in all of the oceans in the world. They also live in big rivers such as the Amazon in Brazil. Different species live in different parts of the world. Some species prefer coastal waters while others spend days at a time out on the high seas. Are dolphins fish or mammals? Although dolphins live in water they are not fish. Here are only two of the main reasons why dolphins aren't fish. Dolphins have lungs, whereas fish have gills. Because dolphins have lungs, they have to come up to the surface every few minutes. Fish are cold-blooded. Dolphins are warm-blooded. Dolphins are related to whales, who are also mammals. Different types There are almost 40 types of dolphin that live in the ocean and 6 types of river dolphins that live in rivers. The biggest type of dolphin is the orca or the killer whale . The smallest type of dolphin is the hector's dolphin. ...

How much do you know about the greenhouse gas effect? - Quiz

Welcome back to Green World! Today we have a quiz that will test your knowledge about the greenhouse gas effect and its effect on the world. Enjoy! Questions True or False? Carbon dioxide is the only greenhouse gas. Burning fossil feuls mostly emits ... a) methane b) nitrogen c) carbon dioxide True or False? One ppm (part per million) is the same ratio as one drop of water in 13 gallons of liquid. Which one of these is not a greenhouse gas? a) carbon dioxide b) nitrous oxide c) oxygen True or False? Some greenhouse gases are only in the atmosphere for a few years. Which sector has the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the US? a) Agriculture and other land use b) Electricity c) Industry True or False? 94% of global methane emissions come from human activities. Which sector has experienced the highest increase in...

Rachel Carson 1907-1964

Hi everybody, Today I am going to tell you about a really inspirational environmentalist. Her name is Rachel Carson. I hope her story inspires you to be more careful about pesticides. As a girl, Rachel adored writing stories about animals. She got a degree in zoology but had to go home to care for her ageing mother. She wrote a series of radio shows about fish for a living. Rachel's program, called 'Romance Under Waters', was a big hit. Her ways of writing were different to anyone else and no one had made that sound so interesting before. It proved that she was talented in not only science but also writing. She wrote two books called 'The Sea Around Us' and 'The Edge Of The Sea'. When Rachel moved to the countryside, she realized the impact of pesticides. At that time farmers sprayed chemicals on their fields a lot to protect them from animals that may want to eat them. Rachel worked out that they were killing pla...

How much do you know about extinction? | quiz

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the blog! This week is our last monthly quiz! We'd love to hear which one was your favourite in the comments! We also have a quick online survey for what our monthly post should be next year. We really appreciate any feedback and this is the best way for you to tell us what you want to see us post about and share! From a monthly challenge to an environmental book of the month - we just want to know what you think! 🍂 click here to vote! So, how much do you know about extinction? You may know some from our " animals you don't know are on the edge of extinction " series, or from the news as extinction is such a buzzword. All of these facts are from reliable sources such as National Geographic, as well as the statistics being cross checked with other websites. 1. How many years ago was the most recent mass extinction? a) 44 million b) 55 million c) 66 million 2. How many species could be threatened ...

The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg | review & thoughts

Hi Everyone! You may be aware that Wednesday was International Women's Day, so today I wanted to share a book review for a book written by one of the most inspiring women of our generation: Greta Thunberg. She is, of course, the legendary creator of the Fridays For Future movement and has inspired thousands of children to skip school on Fridays to protest for the climate. She recently compiled a book, simply entitled: The Climate Book. Here are my thoughts. This is a compilation of articles and essays from the best climate scientists, activists and high-profile people, which makes up, in my opinion, the climate bible . It quite literally encompasses everything you may want to know about the climate crisis, from the science, to how it affects us, what we've done and have yet to do, and so much more. This book is everything. I have not yet read the whole thing, because let me tell you, this book is HUGE. It's also of course very den...

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day. Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...

Green World

Search This Blog