Energy Saving Ideas!

Here are a few ideas from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program to help you engage your employees, residents, and others in your community.

• Test Your Energy IQ. Think you know how to go green? Ask employees and residents to take this short interactive quiz to learn how the choices they make every day at work and at home can save energy and fight global warming.
  
  
• Host a brown bag. Use the ENERGY STAR Energy Education Tool Kit, an off-the-shelf resource that provides everything you need to host a brown bag session to educate employees and residents about energy use, its impact on the environment, and what they can do to help. The Toolkit includes a ready-made PowerPoint presentation and speaker notes to deliver a fun, interactive session.
  
  
• Hold an energy awareness event. Invite employees, residents, their families, and other groups. Highlight importance of energy efficiency to the environment, spotlight your energy initiatives, distribute tips for saving money and energy, and communicate how all can help further stewardship. Event planning tips.
  
  
• Watch the recorded webinar, titled Ideas for Energy Awareness Month: Employee Brown-Bags, Competitions, and More.
  

Save Energy and Money with ENERGY STAR

Energy saving ideas that don't cost much money from Smart Money's article, "13 Simple Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill". 

• Keep it clean. Clean air filters monthly for central air and individual window or wall units. Dirt and dust hinder air flow, reducing efficiency.
 
• Seal up the house. Cooled air can leak through cracks along window and door frames. Invest in some caulk and weather-stripping to plug up these drafts. A home that s properly insulated and sealed improves energy efficiency by up to 20% year-round.
 
• Change light bulbs. Switching one incandescent for a compact fluorescents saves $35 in energy costs over the projected 10-year life of the bulb.
 
• Unplug. Gadgets like a cellphone charger or microwave suck energy -- and generate heat -- as long as they're attached to a power source. Standby power for appliances not in use typically accounts for 5% to 10% of residential electricity use. Suggestion: Plug devices into a power strip that can be turned off when not in use.