Okay, so it’s Tuesday, and I want to talk about the environment again. Sure there are lots of ways that life needs to be sustainable, but making sure that our planet remains inhabitable is number one on the list for me. I don’t know about anyone else (but I assume others feel this way too) if I think about the environment long enough I get kind of depressed. Sure I’m enthusiastic when I get out and use my clothesline, but when I read about how horribly dirty coal is and that 50% of the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal, and that coal is the biggest air polluter in the U.S, it seems like I’m quite the insignificant little speck.

So, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been thinking about coal lately. I often muse to my husband that my 5-10 year goal is to have our house off the grid. I don’t really know which route we’ll go for that, possibly it will be a combination system of solar panels and energy efficient appliances. Or maybe it will be something new and innovative that I don’t even know about yet. However, it sometimes feels like there’s nothing much that I can do at the moment to reduce our country’s coal consumption. So to combat the feeling of ineptitude, I’m writing (in hopes of getting others going on this, too).

Here are some tips to help reduce coal usage (and also save some dough):

1) Turn off and unplug unused appliances and electronics. Okay, I know everybody says this, and I thought I was doing it, but the truth is I had missed a bunch of stuff. For example, our coffee maker only gets used for 20 minutes every day, and we don’t use the clock function on it. But it was using up power 24 hours a day. Guess what…it’s unplugged now. Also, I only use my printer once a month or so, but it is plugged in all the time using that notorious vampire power (up to 14% of an appliance’s power is used when it is turned off but still plugged in). And, unplugging your cell phone charger when not in use can save you up to $15 a year in energy costs (we have two of those, so by unplugging them, we’re saving 5 dollars every couple of months).

2) Replace dirty energy with clean energy. This might sound impossible, but it actually isn’t. Many power companies have renewable energy as an option. You can call them up and ask that they switch your house to renewable power. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the power plant that flows directly to your house will be from a clean source, however it does mean that a larger amount of energy that enters the pool of energy on the grid will come from renewable sources. You will be having a great impact on the environment. The higher the demand for clean power, the higher the supply will be…Planet Green explains it better than me. Another easy way to replace dirty energy with clean is to buy small devices that don’t use electricity from the grid (like solar chargers for your cell phones, iPods, and other gadgets).

3) Use your appliances in a smart way. I ran across this post on how much it costs to run appliances. Surprisingly the washer and dryer came up as the most expensive (I’ve always heard it was the fridge). They suggest that you use the moisture sensor to let the dryer turn itself off when the clothes are dry. I, of course, am going to tell you to line dry when possible. Also, it saves a lot of energy to wash your clothes on cold. The Appliance Parts Blog also mentions that you can save $20 a year by letting your dishes air dry rather than letting the dishwasher do the dry cycle. Also, every degree that you can stand to turn the thermostat up or down saves you 2% on your heating or cooling bill.

4) Purchase more energy efficient items. CFL’s are a pretty easy first step. They are compact fluorescent bulbs that use WAY less energy than their incandescent counterparts. They save about $30 each over their 7 year lifetimes. So, if you install 7 does that mean that you save $30 a year? And…when it does come time to replace those bigger ticket items, doing a little research to find the best deal for an energy efficient product can really pay off.

5) Inform yourself. I know it can be depressing at times, but our climate crisis isn’t going to go away by switching to a more efficient light bulb. Sure we can all do our best to make small changes, but the problem is much more complex than that. A read that I would highly recommend for anyone (even if you are into energy conservation for national security reasons rather than environmental ones) is Hot, Flat and Crowded : Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How it Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman. I recommend picking it up at the library, or buying it used and then passing it on to a friend…but you know me, I’m weird that way.