Photo Credit - Suto Norbert: Dreamstime.com

When was the last time that you left the kitchen with every intention of returning and then getting distracted in another room of the house? Did you leave the lights on? When was the last time you left the front porch light on all night? When was the last time that you turned on all the lights in the living room, just to watch television? Did you ever stop to think that you were wasting energy? Well, today you will.

The moment you flip the light switch off, you are saving money. That means you save money by the hour, minute, even second. Every light bulb has a watt rating printed on its surface. This rating will tell you how much electricity the light bulb uses. A 60watt bulb uses 0.06 kilowatts per hour. If you can get into the habit of turning off those lights, you could save 10 to 20 percent of your electricity usage.

It’s a pretty simple habit and one that can have great benefits. The cost may not be that high for a room with only one light bulb, like a closet, but think of those rooms where we tend to leave the lights on even when they are not in use. The kitchen and living room in most houses have much more than one light bulb and that is draining energy. Work with as little light as you can, this will help save you some energy. During the day try to work in rooms with lots of natural light, that will diminish the need for artificial light (and it’s a good stress reliever).

Living a sustainable life style doesn’t have to be hard, you just have to be conscientious of what you are doing. Always think about how you can get by with less. In today’s society we waste more than is really necessary. You would be surprised at how easy it is to get by on less.

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There is something very simple that can be done to save you money. There is something very simple that can be done to reduce climate change. There is something very simple that can be done. The only question is: are you willing to do it? My blog posts are going to help guide you into living a more sustainable and ecolonomic life with spending little to no money.

Today I’m going to discuss how to slay those nasty vampires sucking the life out of your house. You may not know you have them because they disguise themselves as friendly intruders. They are your appliances. Your appliances amount to 20% of your energy bill, but what’s worse is that 75% of the energy used by appliances is when they are not in use. The simple solution: unplug your appliances.

When you are leaving in the morning go around and unplug things like TVs, DVD players, VCRs, stereos, cell phone chargers, microwaves, computers and printers (don’t unplug your fridge; that would be bad news). These items, when not in use, suck watts and hike up your energy bill. If you make a routine of unplugging these items in the morning before leaving for the day, than it will quickly become a habit and not a hassle.

If you really don’t think you can get into that habit, or if your electronics are plugged into outlets that are hard to get to there is another solution. Plug your TV, DVD player, and related items into a power strip. When you are leaving for the day all you have to do is flip the switch to turn off the power. It really is that simple.

If you are curious about how much energy your appliances use, the U.S. Department of Energy has a simple formula that can open your eyes to just how much energy you really do use.

If households would start slaying these energy vampires than power plants would be supplying less energy and thus less fossil fuel will be emitted into the air. So, unplug your appliances, save some money and save the o-zone.

It can’t be emphasized enough that going green is the newest trend. One of the biggest fads for this trend is energy. The concept is using plentiful and eco-friendly ways to generate energy. Two ways that I see as being successful are solar panels and wind turbines.

Solar panels use the sun’s rays to generate energy. The most brilliant aspect of this technology is that it is using a resource that will never fail (at least when it does we have bigger things to worry about than our solar panels no longer working) and cannot be owned or contained by any one nation. Although countries might try, I don’t see how anyone can break out into war over the ownership of the sun. Solar panels can be used by individuals as well as power plants. The idea of solar power plants has already been implemented in places like Brazil as well as cloudy Germany. The fact that there is a fully functioning solar power plant in a part of Germany where the sun is an infrequent visitor denotes the myth that solar panels only work in sunny places. Though you get the full power of the panel on completely sunny days, you can still get half the power on cloudy days because the sun’s rays break through the clouds.

Wind turbines are also a great way to create energy. This is not a new concept, just look at wind mills, but it is being used in significantly different ways. Windmills were used once for grinding grain and pumping water. They made life simpler for people. Now, that same technology has been reinvented to produce electricity. Though solar panels can be used more effectively almost anywhere, wind turbines would be perfect for anyplace with lots of wind. Wyoming is one perfect example.

Just think about it. You could save hundreds of dollars on your electricity each month. You could spend no money on electricity each month. You could sit outside and watch your electric meter run backwards! Now, wouldn’t that be an exciting event? It’s your decision. You may have to put a pit of money down for your energy alternatives, but you will be making one grand investment in the end.