52 Weeks Down – Week 2 – Turning Things Off
Sharon May 7th, 2007
Here’s a simple, but vitally important one. This week, we’re going to practice turning things off. I know, I know, it sounds easy, but these things are so little it is easy to forget them. The best estimate is that if everyone in the nation simply avoided unnecessary energy waste we could reduce our national consumption by 15%. All of us can use a reminder here.
So here’s what we’re going to do this week – walk around your house, your office, your life and look for places to turn things off, or down. That means when you run to the post office or pick up your kids from school, don’t idle the car. Unless you are baking, put your food in the oven when you go to preheat things (your food will warm with the oven) and then turn the oven off 10-30 minutes before you expect your food to be done – it will still be hot. Disconnect all those phantom loads – the VCR, the microwave. Don’t leave your cell phone plugged in after it is charged. Turn your computer *off* over night, and make sure you turn off the printer. Turn down the heat or up the air conditioning. Turn off the heat cycle of the dishwasher, or open it up when you get to the drying part. Try doing some things by hand – knead your bread, mash the potatoes, wash a few dishes, hang your laundry. Find as many ways as possible to cut back, and get your family in on the game. Perhaps offer to take everyone out to dinner/lunch/ice cream with the amount you save over last year on this month’s electric bill. If it is a lot, they get something fancy, if a little, they have to share junior cones. Find some way to get everyone in on the game.
Do it for a week, and it gets to be a habit!
Sharon