10 Steps to Get Energy Smart

1. Change that light bulb
It’s said that if every household in the U.S. would change just one standard incandescent light bulb to energy-saving compact fluorescents (CFLs) it would be the equivalent to taking 1 million cars off our streets! So go ahead and make that change. Use compact fluorescent lights or LED’s throughout your house or apartment—you’ll save energy, money and you help emit less carbon. Just FYI, Congress has already banned incandescent bulbs. The 100–watt bulb will phase out by 2012 followed by the 40-watt in 2014.

2. Use energy-efficient equipment
When upgrading your appliances and electronic equipment choose those that are meeting Energy Star standards. Once you have all the new and fun gadgets turn off their ‘vampire power’. Electronics like DVD players, TV’s, computers and game consoles use power even when in standby mode. To avoid this connect all your equipment to a power strip. By turning off the power strip you turn off all of the connected devices at once.

3. Get smart around the house
Solutions for using energy more efficiently around the house and apartment are not as hard as you may think. Little changes can have big impacts on your electricity bill. Get smart about Insulating your attics and crawl spaces, weather-strip and seal the windows and doors. Don’t forget about the garage door too. Set your water heater to 120 Fahrenheit for best energy efficiency. Energy Star can help you find the tax incentives and rebates when making energy improvement decisions.

4. A/C and heating
If your HVAC is 12 years or older Energy Star recommends upgrading to a more energy efficient system. You might be able to get a smaller unit that is paying for itself by saving on utility costs over just a couple of years. Your carbon footprint can be greatly reduced by switching to more efficient systems. Maybe you can install the increasingly popular geothermal systems. These units use the earth's natural warmth to provide heat. Use a programmable thermostat and set the temperature settings for day, night and weekend. When used properly it can save several hundreds of dollars a year. When setting the temperature for both heating and A/C remember that just one degree difference over a longer period of time can have a great impact on your energy bill. Whenever possible use ceiling fans instead of cranking the air up in the summer. Let the ceiling fans run in reverse in the winter to bring the warm air down into the room. If you are a Columbia Water and Light electric customer you can use their Super Saver Loan to finance your energy improvements.

5. Smarter transportation
Walk, ride a bike, take public transit and commuter trains or carpool to meet your local transportation needs.
By buying highly efficient vehicles you can save as much as two third in CO2 as a gas-guzzler does. A good comparison site for fuel economy is the United States Department of Energy.
Increase the efficiency of your car – keep your tires fully inflated, keep a light foot on the accelerator, and avoid long idling times. You don’t really have to change the oil every 3,000 miles, do you?

6. Recycle, reuse, reduce
Did you know that our landfills generate methane gas, which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a green house gas? So you can feel really good about recycling those newspapers. Just a stack of four feet high can save a good-sized tree. Add the plastic bottles, cans, metal products and glass and your are saving 70 to 90 percent of the energy and pollution, including CO2 and methane, that would be produced if the products came from new resources.

7. Buy smarter when grocery shopping
Getting your groceries and dairy products from local producers can save on transportation costs and therefore emissions since your meals don’t have to travel 3,000 miles. This is the average distance of a North American meal from farm to plate. The food that is grown locally was most likely picked within the past day or two, so it’s much fresher too.

8. Embrace canvas bags
Going shopping for the first time in an average American supermarket as a European I was instantly struck by the lavishing amount of ‘plastic or paper’. When I handed the lovely bag person my canvas bags he looked at them and then neatly tucked them in a plastic bag….After reassuring that I wanted to actually use my own bags he was baffled but started putting my groceries away. Now that was in 1994 and we have come a long way since then. In most of Europe people still bring their own bags but if you happen to be without one, you can buy a sturdy recycled plastic bag for approximately $1. Some American stores won’t carry any free bags anymore, like for example in California. Big lot stores like Costco and Sam’s don’t offer them either. China, Bangladesh and some 30 remote Alaskan villages have already banned the flimsy plastic altogether. Parts of South Africa, Taiwan and Ireland are passing similar laws.

At Whole Foods you will receive a store credit for every bag you bring with you. And since Earth Day on April 22 Whole Foods no longer offers free plastics at all. Now that is smart indeed. Only 10 % of these famous white free grocery bags get actually recycled. We ‘reuse’ them mostly as trash bags or dog waste containers but this white pollution is choking the waterways, cities and environment and will not be biodegradable. Companies like Coca Cola and Anheuser Busch have joined the canvas bandwagon and give away neat bags with their green emblem. I suppose they could become collectors items too. Show me the bag!

Tip: Just keep a couple of canvas bags in the trunk of your car or have the groceries delivered if you live in a big city. Another alternative are the tiny nylon bags that you can have in your car's glovebox or even in your purse. They are quite sturdy and folded up fit in the palm of your hand. Give your mom, sisters, in-laws and friends ideas about smart shopping and we can leave the paper and plastic behind in no time.

9. Buying green power
In Missouri, AmerenUE Pure Power is a voluntary renewable energy program for their customers. By choosing to pay an additional 1.5 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) for power used, the residential customers support the purchase of certified renewable energy certificates. Ameren has been implementing this program since 2007 and they already have a growing community of people willing to fund wind farms built with the extra money they spend each month. More information about REC’s are found through The Center for resource solutions.

10. Ask your city to be cool
The ‘Cool Cities’ program calls for reducing global warming pollution by seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. By asking your Mayor to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement you are having a direct impact on your cities green status. Call, write or meet with your federal and state legislators. Tell the public officials that you want them to make decisions in the interest of reducing CO2 and to foster investments for renewable energy.

Of course there are many more steps to be creatively energy wise. You can make your own list and share them with family and friends. Happy savings!