At Oliver, we love finding new ways to save money while saving energy. Last month, we wrote a blog titled “12 Easy Ways to Go Green,” so we thought we’d share even more simple ways you can reduce your carbon footprint:
** Recycle. More importantly – recycle glass. Glass can take up to one million years to decompose, but you can keep it out of the ground and reduce both air pollution and water pollution by recycling it.
** Be a vegetarian one day a week. It takes a lot of energy to produce a pound of meat (and that meat may have destroyed rainforest land, too), so opt for a plate of vitamins and minerals.
** Air-dry your hands. Whenever there’s an opportunity to use a hand dryer instead of paper towel, take it. You’ll waste less paper.
** Buy local. Food at a grocery store has traveled an average of 1,500 miles to get there, which means a lot of gas has been used. By buying local, you can cut down on energy consumption and have fresh food.
** Use cruise control. By setting your car to a standard speed and not constantly tapping the gas pedal, you could get up to 15% better gas mileage.
** Close your chimney flue when you’re not using your chimney and when your heat or air conditioning is on. You’ll help keep out unwanted outside temperatures, which can make your heat or air conditioning less effective.
** Donate extra wire hangers. Many wire hangers can’t be recycled, so if you have extras you don’t want, try donating them to local dry cleaning stores.
** Use rechargeable batteries. The majority of regular alkaline batteries don’t get recycled, so by using rechargeable ones, you’ll keep batteries out of landfills. Plus, you won’t have to worry about running out of them.
** Carpool to work. By sharing a ride with a coworker who lives close to you, you can use less gas and save some money.
** Don’t leave the water on while you brush your teeth. Instead, just turn it on when you need to rinse and our plumbing repair experts say you could save up to five gallons of water every day.
** Plant a tree. They’re not only good for the air and the land, but they can also provide you shade and help you use less energy to keep your home cool.
** Get rid of that screen saver. While your computer may be asleep, it’s using energy to keep a screen saver going. Instead of using a screen saver, turn your computer off when you’re not using it.
