This morning, I decided to be more conscious of how much electricity I use throughout the day. If you read my blog, you will know that I am a stay-at-home mom which means, I use electricity all throughout the day. This challenge was quite interesting for me. I can honestly admit that I thought today was going to be an easy day but somehow I underestimated it!
Our of my normal routine, I changed things up a bit. I made myself aware which is always the first step to noticing anything, right? This is how I changed my day:
- Very limited TV
- Used full loads for wash machine
- Literally, followed my children (who are ages 4 and 2) and flipped off the lights, over and over and over
- Ran dishes twice instead of three times. (I know this sounds a lot but I have a very small energy-efficient dishwasher so three to two runs was really good)
- Open the windows!
I felt pretty good about myself.
This is what I learned:
- My children do very well without the TV on, even though the majority of the day it’s on the music channel. The silence was very peaceful
- It was really nice to run the wash machine every other day instead of every day. In return, this was less work for this Mama!
- It’s good to teach my son how to turn off the bathroom light at this age, then trying when he’s a teenager 😉
- I love the sunlight! Love, love, love. If I could live in a glass house, I probably would. I crave for sunlight way more than artificial so to turn off the inside lights and open the curtains, everywhere, was an amazing experience on its own!
When you become aware of being Eco-friendly or aware of any part of your life, you are noticing, observing, learning and eventually will make the changes necessary to you.
Did you know that you can also purchase Green Energy appliances? Yup, it’s true. These green appliances are used to reduce environmental impact and to save money on utility costs. The U.S Department of Energy’s Energy Star program helps determine if an appliance is considered a Green Energy appliance. This site is filled with lots of green goodies!
In my dream home (pray it’s the next one!) I would love to have solar panels. Oh yes! I love the sunlight. We currently have energy-efficient windows which are nice but I would ultimately love to live in a glass. Well, yes but not really… :/
As I mentioned there are lots of green goodies that you can add to your home:
- dishwashers
- wash machines
- dryers
- windows
- panels
- use energy efficient light bulbs
- Home Energy Monitor (oh yea!) Take notice of where the energy is being used at to decrease usage!
Not only are you being Eco-friendly but you can also receive tax credits, rebates and lots of savings so BE SURE to check it out!
What are some of you energy saving practices? Do you cook one meal and save it for two nights? How about eat raw so you use no appliances at all?! What are some more ways to save electricity?
Fabulous … you have every reason to be good about yourself. The steps you’ve taken go far in helping to reduce energy use! Here are a few things that we do … we cook with counter top appliances (crockpot, toaster oven, etc.). We also plug everything into power bars and turn them off at night … things like the TV actually continue to use energy (phantom energy) when the unit is supposedly turned off. We try not to use our A/C but rather use ceiling fans and adjust our curtains. Our biggest energy savings came from lowering the heat on our water heater … that has saved a lot! Thanks for your tips and ideas!
Thank you so much for your tips as well!!!
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