10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Energy Bill This Winter

Here are 10 other tips to green your home... 1. Let there be energy efficient light! Light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) use 90% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 40 times longer. Tip: Replacing a 60 watt incandescent bulb with a 6 watt LED, can save $280 in energy costs over the life of just that one bulb. (lighting solutions available at http://www.kuuala.com) .....2. Clean with green. Stop buying home cleaners that are potentially toxic to both you and the environment. Look for these eco-friendly ingredients: Carpet & Window Cleaner - USE Grain Alcohol NOT toxic butyl cellosolve (which can cause liver and kidney damage and is also a neurotoxin that can depress the nervous system) Detergents - USE coconut or other plant oils NOT petroleum (which can cause rashes, itches, allergies, sinus problems and other health problems) Disinfectants, Soaps, Deodorant - USE plant oils (eucalyptus, rosemary, or sage) NOT triclosan (which is strongly linked to abnormalities with the endocrine system, particularly with thyroid hormone signaling, weakening of the immune system, birth defects, and uncontrolled cell growth) ........3. Save a tree, use less paper. Tip: You can buy "tree-free" 100% post-consumer recycled paper for everything from greeting cards to toilet paper. One box of 100% post-consumer recycled paper saves 584 pounds of wood, 52 pounds of solid waste, and enough water to take 50 eight-minute showers. Tip: Opt out of credit card or insurance offers at OptOutPrescreen.com or call 888.567.8688, a single automated phone line maintained by the major credit bureaus. Each person will receive 560 pieces of junk mail this year, which adds up nationally to 4.5 million tons. About 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash and ends up in a landfill. ......4. Reduce plastics. Each year Americans throw away about 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags (from grocery and trash bags to the convenient sandwich bag). Reduce and recycle your plastics for one of the best ways to combat global warming. .....5. Watch the temperature. Almost 1/2 a home's energy consumption is due to heating and cooling. Tip: Each degree below 68 °F (20 °C) during cold weather saves 3-5% on energy Tip: Keeping your thermostat at 78 °F in warmer weather will save you energy and money A smart programmable thermostat will make these temperature changes for you automatically. ......6. Save H2O. Tip: Use an aerator on all household faucets and cut your annual water consumption by 50%. Tip: Use a broom instead of a garden hose to clean your driveway can save 80 gallons of water. Tip: Turning the water off when you brush your teeth will save 4.5 gallons EACH time. ......7. Get an EnergyStar appliance. Getting rid of your old refrigerator in the basement could save you up to $150 per year. Appliance use equals 18% of typical home energy usage. Tip: According to EnergyStar, if just 1 in 10 homes used energy efficient appliances, it would be equal to planting 1.7 million acres of trees. ......8. Use healthy paint. your everyday paints have solvents and toxic metals that can cause smog. These unhealthy ingredients are released into the air while you're painting, while the paint dries and even after the paints are completely dry. Tip: Choose zero or low-VOC paint. .....9. Want hardwood floors? Go for bamboo. Bamboo is a relatively eco-friendly flooring material because of its replenishing rate. It takes 4-6 years for bamboo to mature, compared to 50-100 years for typical hardwoods. ......10. Green your garden. Tip: Use compost instead of synthetic fertilizers. Compost offers a full complement of soil organisms and a balance of nutrients needed to maintain the soil's well-being. Healthy soil minimizes weeds and is key to producing healthy plants which can prevent many pest problems from developing. Tip: Use native plants. They have adapted over time to the local environment and support native animals. They use less water and require less of your attention. Tip: Pour boiling water on weeds. (direct links to solutions available at http://www.greenteamagazine.com/?p=770)

Most people don't use eco-friendly soap in their dishwasher and most rinse their dishes before putting them in the machine. Dishwashers have heaters that basically boil the water, so the result is sterile dishes, and then dishes are put away in non-sterile drawers and cupboards. I wonder, do people that use dishwashers really make the best use of the water they are using and do they really use less or was the rinsing not considered in the equation? Hand washers, like myself use biodegradable detergents for dishes and laundry, so it seems a shame to let your dishwater go down the drain, when plants could benefit from the water and the tidbits of food in it. I would like to see all cleaning solutions sold be biodegradable and once that happens maybe we could make changes to the way we plumb our homes, especially in the country, so that our gardens could use the grey water and the true black water would go into the septic. Or we would go one step future and use composting toilets.

Solar Panels! http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/blogs/30/160

Regarding the older refrigerators being rebuilt to be energy efficient: I do recall reading about the restoration of a kitchen in an older home where the owners wanted to keep a wonderful old fridge. They had it shipped to be upgraded to the new energy-efficient motor but am sorry I can't recall where it was done. Even worse I can't remember the name of the magazine that this article was featured in! I hope that someone else can provide the information for you!

Does anyone know if there are bar fridge sized energy star fridges? We want to get rid of our second old clunker fridge and replace it with something smaller and efficient - any recommendations?