*Use a dishwasher rather then hand washing. If used on a full load, a washer can actually save you money. However check the dishwasher to make sure it’s energy and water efficient. Using a full load on a effiecient dishwasher can save you 24$/Yr.
*Washing your dishes with standing water. Fill up your sink with water and wash away in the sink. Uses much less water then washing under a running faucet. If you wash for 15 minutes a day everyday with running water, and then instead you switch to just allowing the sink to fill and washing like that you can save 35$/Yr.
*Switch to CFL’s. A regular 100W incandescent light bulb has a life of 700 hours, while a 27W CFL (which emits the same amount of light as a 100W incandescent) has a life of 10 000 hours. Resulting in savings of around 70$. A 13W CFL is equivalent to a 60W incandescent. Switching 4 60W incandescent light bulbs, to 13W CFL’s will save you 26.28$/Yr.
*Energy Efficient Appliances. Using a Energy star refrigerator can save you 38.87$/Yr.
*Thaw frozen foods in the fridge. Just because it’s cold in there, doesn’t mean it will stay frozen. Good alternative then using running water to thaw out foods. Possible savings of .50$/Yr.
*Use microwave more often then oven. Microwaves use a lot less energy then ovens to warm up food. This can save 50$/Yr.
*Use less hot water. Substituting cold or warm water for hot can save you 50$/Yr.
*Dishwasher at full load only. Also use it during the night when energy is cheaper. You can save over 15$/Yr.
*Don’t leave lights on when not in use, if you do then use a dimmer. Some CFL’s now can be bought that have dimming settings on them. Do not use dimmers on regular CFL’s.
*Fix any leaky faucets. Stopping a faucet dripping at a drop a second will save you 5.40$/Yr
*Recycle containers. Reuse every container you get as so you won’t need to buy new ones. Save yourself 3-4$/Yr.
*Recycle plastic bags. At some places, each plastic bag you get will cost you 25 cents. Also you can use plastic bags instead of garbage bags. You could save 1$/Yr.
*Reuse Ziploc bags. You could save 3-5$/Yr.
*Reuse cups. That way they don’t have to be cleaned every single meal because you don’t know which cup belongs to who. This could save you 1$/Yr.
*When you want to check the food in the oven, don’t open the door but instead turn on the light to see how the food is. By opening the door you can instantly drop the interior temperature of the oven by 25 degrees.
*If you have hot foods and you wish to place them into the refrigerator, then allow them to cool down in the air before placing them in. As it takes more energy to for hot food to be refrigerated. You may be able to save .50$/Yr.
*Catch all running water. Even if you are just rinsing off a fruit, still catch the water in a bowl below it. Otherwise it goes straight down the drain and is wasted. Use the water to clean something outdoors. You can save 16$/Yr.
*Compost food and food scrapes. Think of it as free fertilizer for your garden, also by not allowing food scrapes to go down the drain you lessen the risk of plugging up your drain and having to buy a drain cleaner or even a plumber. Using compost instead of fertilizer could save you 10$/Yr.
Total Savings : 281.05$/Yr.
