Steps You Can Take to Help the Environment and Save Money

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Watch your thermostat. Air conditioning and heating account for 60% of home energy bills. If you keep your thermostat at 78 degrees or above in the summer and 69 degrees or lower in the winter, you could save up to 10% off your utility bills. If every house in America did this, our total greenhouse gas production would drop by about 35 million tons of CO2. This is about the same as taking 6 million cars off of the road.

Choose energy efficient appliances. Because they use less energy, EnergyStar appliances like refrigerators can reduce carbon pollution, and have a big impact on your bills. When buying, look for the EnergyStar logo and you'll have a product that typically exceeds the federal energy standards by at least 15%. You can also use the Energy Guide card when buying appliances like heaters, air conditioners, water heaters and refrigerators, to help you choose the one with the lowest annual energy consumption.

Use compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs). They use 66% less energy and last 10 times longer. Since CFLs operate at cooler temperatures, you'll reduce the risk of fire and save nearly $30 over the life of the bulb. According to the government's EnergyStar program, if every American home replaced their five most-used light fixtures with EnergyStar rated CFLs the savings would add up to $8 billion annually in energy costs. That's like taking almost 10 million cars off the road.
Wash your clothes with cold water. If you usually use hot water for your laundry you can cut your energy consumption in half by choosing warm water, and up to 90% if you choose cold water. Your current liquid laundry detergent will work fine and your laundry will be just as clean.
Find a carpool buddy at least once a week. Sharing a ride to work is one of the most efficient ways to cut down on drive-time emissions. Ask around - odds are someone else is heading in the same direction.
Turn off computers and monitors when not in use. These common pieces of office equipment consume a lot of electricity. The single most powerful climate change tool on these machines is the off switch. Forget what you've heard about how powering up equipment repeatedly wears it out. That's old information, dating back decades. New equipment can be safely switched off and powered back on when it's needed again. Also, make sure the hibernation and sleep settings are enabled.
Save money by making energy-efficient renovations. Click here to see the programs the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority offers to help homeowners and renters reduce energy costs. New York will pay you to save energy!
Urge your elected representatives to ACT. Mayors, county executives, legislators and every other elected official needs to do their part to fight climate change - and they could save taxpayers money by doing so. E-mail, call or write your elected representatives today to let them know how you feel about climate change!

To see more tips and learn more about what you can do visit NYSERDA or WEcansolveit.org

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