It’s Earth Day. The first Earth Day was held 40 years ago to promote environmental issues and call attention to protecting our precious environment. So make sure you do something to help improve our environment today! Here’s a few ways you can make small adjustments in your daily life that can make a huge difference!
So the typical person would think that using an appliances is better for the planet, right? Well not when it comes to washing the dishes. Running the dishwasher has less of an environmental impact than washing the dishes by hand. You’ll save the most energy by running the dishwasher only when it’s full and letting dishes air dry instead of using the heated dry cycle.
Washing the car with a bucket and a hose uses less water than running it through a commercial car wash where powerful jets of water are hitting the car from every angle. You’re wrong. It takes up to 140 gallons of water to wash a car at home compared with just 45 gallons of water at a commercial car wash.
You use plastic containers to tote lunch to work and microwave leftovers, pop them in the dishwasher and reuse them all over again.
But plastic leaches a chemical called Bisphenol A, or BPA, that has been linked to immune impairment, obesity and early onset puberty, explains Sara Snow, eco expert and author of Sara Snow’s Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home. Snow recommends storing and reheating food in glass containers because glass is a natural material that won’t off-gas chemicals into the environment.
Sometimes, gas gets a bad rap. The assumption that cooking an entire meal using a few briquettes and a lighter has less of an environmental impact than cooking burgers on a gas grill is false. When it comes to barbeques, gas is greener. Charcoal grills produce three times more greenhouse gases than propane grills.
You don’t want to run the heat or air conditioning when no one is home but turning it off isn’t a green act. Turning the thermostat off can cause temperatures in the house to get too hot or cold, forcing the furnace or A/C to work harder to warm or cool the house when you get home. Leaving the thermostat set at a constant temperature also wastes a lot of energy. The solution: Install a programmable thermostat.
Turning off the coffee maker, television and radio is much better than leaving them running 24/7 but shutting down the power doesn’t mean appliances and electronic gadgets aren’t consuming energy.
Vampire power refers to the energy that’s used when something is plugged into the wall — even if it’s not turned on — and it accounts for up to 10 percent of residential energy use. You can cut energy use by unplugging products, not just turning them off
So these are just a few simple ways that you can help make a smal change on a daily basis.
Happy Earth Day!
