Some steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint and live a more earth friendly lifestyle

1. Don’t use the dryer:
a. I know this is kind of a challenge, especially if you’re in a particular region where it doesn’t have much sunshine to dry it outside, BUT whether electric or gas, less use of any energy to heat air to dry your laundry is LESS ENERGY consumed.
b. Do not dry towels, as they contain a lot of water.

2. Wash clothes with cold water
a. Hang dry your laundry maybe over a sink or a tub. I know this might be a hassle, but it will SAVE you some money in the long run as well as keeping it earth friendly.

3. Take mainly cold showers!
a.It’s actually healthier for you to take cold showers compared to long hot showers by boosting your immune system! Plus you SAVE energy so it’s pretty much a win/win situation IF you can handle it.

4. Replace any incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs or light emitting diodes
a. Bulbs are more expensive. Plain and simple, but replacing just one incandescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide and, because it lasts eight to fifteen times longer than an incandescent bulb, it will SAVE approximately US$30 over the course of its lifetime.

5. Use the microwave
a. They use a lot LESS ENERGY then conventional ovens and stoves.

6. Turn off your lights
a. When they aren’t being used, turn them OFF!

7. Regulate your home temperature
a. Rule of thumb, move your thermostat two degrees cooler in the winter and two degrees warmer in the summer.

8. Clean or replace air filters
a. At least once a month.

9. Use a dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand
a. You actually use more hot water by washing dishes by hand. Oh yea, and try not to use the heated dry mode on your dishwater, kind of defeats the purpose, if you know what I mean.

10. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth
a. You will SAVE roughly around 25 gallons of water a month.

11. Reduce water in your toilet sink
a. Putting a liter bottle filled with water in your toilet tank can SAVE 300 gallons per month.

12. Buy used furniture
a. Because there is a surplus of it plus it is often cheaper then new.

13. Unplug your electronics
a. Most electronics still use some energy even when they are turned off. The standby mode drains up to 10% of electricity used in most homes.

14. Use surge protectors
a. Instead of unplugging each electronic, you can just unplug one! Plain, simple and EFFICIENT!

15. Consider carpooling
a. Common sense!

16. Buy local products
a. Buy goods that were produced locally rather then transported across long distances.

By Andrew Kim