Reduce Your Impact
Reduce your energy consumption
- Turn off lights, TVs, and stereos when not in use for 5 or more minutes.
- Use power strips to switch off televisions, home theater equipment, and stereos when you’re not using them.
- Unplug your chargers when you’re not charging.
- Use task lighting whenever possible instead of brightly lighting an entire room.
- Install compact fluorescent lamps.
- Set computers to stand-by when idle.
- Purchase Energy Star appliances.
- Turn the thermostat down, especially at night.
- Dress warmly in the winter and coolly in the summer to relieve the thermostat.
- During the winter season, leave shades and blinds open on sunny days and close them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.
- Close shades and blinds during the summer or when the air conditioner is in use or will be in use later in the day.
- Carpool, ride a bike, or take advantage of public transportation.
Reduce your water use
- Shorten showers to 5 minutes or less.
- Report leaks immediately.
- Match water level in the washer to load size.
- Turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
- Wash only full loads in your dishwasher, using short cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes.
- This saves water and the energy used to pump and heat it. Air-drying, if you have the time, can also reduce energy use.
Reuse
- Donate unused items to Surplus Property or From Old2Gold.
- Use a reusable mug or water bottle.
Recycle
- Aluminum, tin, metals, glass, newspaper, wood, cardboard, paper, and plastic.
- Print front/back and use narrower margins.
- Recycling one ton of newspapers saves 4,074 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
- Recycling one ton of plastic milk jugs saves enough energy to light a home for a year.
- Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
“Consult green.nd.edu for even more tips >”:http://green.nd.edu
Compiled from resources provided by the National Resources Defense Council, Recycle at Work, and GreeND