Green is the new black. Well, maybe not the new black, but it sure is the new word you hear everywhere. People are talking about going green, companies are trying to save the planet, and hippies telling everyone else “I’ve been recycling my toilet water for 30 years, where have the rest of you been?” But whether you have been living an eco-friendly life style since you realized using hemp was good for mother earth, or you are gleefully saying the heck with it and filling up the gas tank of your H2, I am going to share my helpful tips on how to Go Green. This is will be the first part in a several part series, and for now, we are going to keep it simple.

In the past couple of months going green has started to become an obsession for me. And it hasn’t helped that Discovery launched a new TV channel called Planet Green. I love to daydream about the things I would do with solar and wind power, geo-thermal heating, etc. if I had the money. Living in my apartment, there isn’t much I can do in a place I don’t own and on a budget. Wait one second, that is where most people go wrong. Most of us look at big solar arrays and expensive projects and then get depressed we can’t afford it; instead of taking small steps we just give up. But fear not my eco-conscious friend, there are a lot of things that you can do in your home that will cost you little or no money to do, and in fact you won’t just save the planet’s green, you will save some of your own over time.

Simple things to change around the house with electricity

Before we get into alternate forms of energy, let’s first change how we use the energy in our own home. The first place to start is the brightest thing in your home, your light bulbs. Anyone who has tried to change a light bulb right after it has burned out will tell you that it’s hot, and that’s because a lot of the energy that is used to heat the element inside and create the light is wasted as heat energy. All of that heat is just wasted electricity. The smart thing to do is to replace your old light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Lights, or CFLs. These use less electricity to produce the same about of light. Now I know what you are thinking, because I thought it too, you would love to change all of your lights but that would cost a lot of money to do in one shot. Well that’s true, it would cost a lot of money, and on top of that you would be throwing out light bulbs that still work. That isn’t very green. Instead have a plan like I use. Buy a 4 pack of CFLs, and as your lights burn out, replace them with the CFL. It may actually take a couple of years to replace all the bulbs in your house, but you will spread the cost of the CFLs over time, and you will start to see reduction in your energy bill.

Another waster of electricity is everything that we have plugged in. Today, many of us have a cell phone, a laptop, a desktop, couple TVs, cable boxes, video game systems… All of these suck power even when they aren’t turned on. Don’t believe me? Go and touch your cell phone charger while it’s plugged in and you’re not charging your phone. You might surprised to find that it’s warm. It’s warm because it is converting AC in DC even when you aren’t charging. Your TV and cable boxes are always on standby so that when you use the remote, it turns on right away. Ways to start saving electricity and money: invest in some power strips, and start plugging in all the things that don’t need to be on all the time into them. For instance, with your entertainment center. Plug in your TV, DVD/VCR, Game Console, and home stereo into the strip. When you aren’t using it, flick the strip off, and start saving that money. I didn’t say cable box because many of us now have DVRs, and you want those to record your shows when you aren’t there, so you need those to stay on. If you feel like getting fancy, companies are making power strips that have always on plugs, and switchable plugs, that way you can plug everything into it, and only shut off the items that you want to.

Today, I want to conclude with one more though about electricity. I started off by bringing up alternative energy sources, and then was depressed that I can’t afford them. Well, that isn’t 100% true. I can’t afford to buy them and put them on my house, but I can choose to get my power from them, and I bet you can too. Next time you get your electric bill, see if they have info in there about choosing your energy provider. In many states, it is the law that your electric company has to give you the choice of choosing where you get your electricity from. So even though I am an United Illuminating customer, and they will continue to be my point for problems with my electricity, I have made the choice to get my electricity from wind, solar, and hydro sources. It only cost on average $5 – $10 more a month, but will save the planet years of life.

Check back soon where I will be talking about recycling – how you can recycle, and how you can use the products made from your recycled materials.

I’ve been working with a green builder based in North Carolina, and this process has piqued my interest in the idea of green buildings. While most of us tend to think about cars, heavy industry and livestock as the major polluters, the buildings that we live and work in do not get much credit for the damage that they exact. Buildings account for 12% of all freshwater use, 30% of all raw materials consumed, 48% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and 70% of all electricity use.

I recently finished “The Green Building Revolution” by Jerry Yudelson. The book goes into great depth about how each part of the process of building, from placement to materials to building processes and landscaping, contribute to how much environmental impact a development or building has. Withcareful planning and engineering, the inputs and outputs from commercial and residential dwellings can be significantly reduced.

Specifically, the development that my friend is working on is called Lennon Hills. The team that has conceived this development is working to bring intelligent building practices to a region, Brunswick County NC, that is undergoing a great deal of rapid development. By incorporating innovative building materials and the latest in construction techniques with ENERGY STAR appliances, recycled-content cabinetry, natural daylighting throughout the house, environmentally friendly hardwood flooring, in addition to highly efficient Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), these homes plan to use 60% less power, 40% less water, and 60% less heating and air conditioning than a ordinary home.

Sound like a commercial? I can’t help it, I did write the web site and most of the marketing materials (and borrowed liberally for this article). But the point is, speaking with my friend has gotten me very excited for the possibilities. Imagine the potential for energy savings in all of our homes with old windows, drafty doors, and poorly insulated walls? In fact, the other night, I went to see Former President William Jefferson Clinton speak at Radio City, and he was speaking about his excitement about the same concept. He is working closely with Mayor Bloomberg’s office here in New York, and they are going to refurbish the City’s public housing to make it more energy efficient. The result? While the current utility bill for public housing is about 500 Million dollars each year, it is projected to be only 350 million after the renovations. The money that is invested can be paid off with the energy savings alone.

I imagine that the public housing where these improvements are taking place will also become more pleasant as a result. Drafty windows and old leaky fixtures not only waste energy, they make life unpleasant. America needs to make more investments like this in upgrading our infrastructures and our buildings. These projects save energy, save money, and create jobs.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed in what could seem to be costly renovations to your house, but there are actually some small things that you can do today to “Green” your house a little bit. You’ve probably seen this stuff before, but it doesn’t hurt to add a couple reminders:

• Compost: I know, it sounds pretty hippie of me, but I’ve just started doing it, and it is embarrassingly easy. Actually, once you start, you’ll start to think that it’s absurd how much organic material gets thrown away, especially if you are like me and trying to grow things too. This guy has a great site that sells everything you need to get started. If you don’t want to go that far, community gardens are often happy to take your eggshells, coffee grounds, peelings and other degradable scraps.
• Make Smart Use of Daylight: In the summer, keep heat out with blackout or filtering shades and curtains. I just upgraded, and it makes a world of difference. In the winter, let sun in during the day, and close them at night to help insulate the windows.
• Opt for Paperless Billing: Some people like a paper trail. But most of us let our mail pile up as we pay our bills online. Most businesses offer an option to pay online, and if you take advantage of that, they usually offer an option to opt out of paper bills. In addition, ask to be removed from junk mail lists for catalogs and things you aren’t interested in. 44 percent of junk mail is never opened. Junk mail and unread bills not only waste paper, but also account for unneeded bulk in the mail system. That means more planes, more trucks and hence, more gas, used to bring you something you don’t want.
• Put Plastic On Your Windows: Sure it ranks up there in tackiness with putting plastic on your sofa, but if you live in an older house without double-pane glass, a layer of film behind curtains is hardly visible, and can make a major difference in draft and heat loss.
• Unplug Power Adapters: Notice those power bricks are always hot? That’s because they are busy stepping down voltage, and in the process turning expensive electricity into wasted heat energy. If something isn’t being used, it shouldn’t be plugged in, especially if you are on vacation. Power strips have a convenient little switch, and it’s good to get into the habit of turning it off when nothing is in standby mode.

There are tons more things you can do. For further reading, visit the Department of Energy, energysavers.gov, or the Us Green Building Council

Stay tuned- the next environment-related article will be about Geothermal heating. Oooooh.