So last week I told you about the Walmart/Seventh Generation Sustainability Challenge that I am participating in. I’m very excited to have this campaign as an incentive to change our lives to be even more sustainable. .. but I was also a little lost.
I mean we already do a lot of things in the Frugal Upstate household to make our lives green & sustainable.
- We garden organically, make compost and can our own organic produce.
- We recycle about 80% of our trash.
- We don’t use much in the way of disposable paper products (yes, TP & tissues, but rarely paper towel, plates, etc)
- We shop used whenever possible and donate our own unwanted used items to the thrift store.
- We don’t use AC (except a unit on a timer in our attic bedroom-trust me, you couldn’t sleep up there otherwise) and keep the heat on timers and way down in the winter.
- I cook from scratch which cuts down on packaging waste & allows me to control the quality of our food.
- I clean using mostly homemade eco friendly products.
So what was I actually going to do for this challenge?
After some thought I decided that these four weeks were the perfect time to take some of the areas we do “pretty well” in and strive to do even better! Not only that, but I’m going to use Walmart & Seventh Generation’s own sustainability initiatives as my inspiration.
Over the next 4 weeks I vow to save more electricity, recycle even more, control my indoor air quality and reduce our family’s fossil fuel usage!
I’m starting this week with saving more electricity.
One of the areas that Walmart has set some impressive goals and made great strides in is the sustainability of their buildings. I was especially impressed by the ways they are cutting back on the electricity used at the stores. Things like using LED’s in their exterior building signs & refrigerated food cases (52 percent more energy efficient operation than fluorescent) and using daylight harvesting via skylights (75 percent reduction of the electric lighting energy used in a supercenter during daylight hours).
So what can I do at home that mimic’s Walmart’s example?
Well I too can reduce the amount of electricity that I use on lighting my home.
1. Use daylight whenever possible.
Photo by Mike Webkist
I already do this frequently-but I can be much more deliberate about it. I can also police my kids to make sure they don’t just flip on an overhead light out of habit when there is plenty of daylight in the room.
2. Turn out lights when not in use
Photo by Christopher Saccaro
This is one of those things that we do. Sometimes. When we remember. The kids in particular are bad about turning their bedroom lights on in the morning, then heading downstairs without ever flipping them off again. Sometimes I don’t go upstairs until 2 or 3pm and realize that their lights have been on ALL DAY. This week I will make sure I do a “light check” upstairs in the morning and afternoon to ensure no lights are left on unnecessarily.
3. Use Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CF bulbs).
Photo by Erica Marshall
Since saving energy is also saving money, we’ve been interested in using CF bulbs for years. Slowly over time we’ve replace bulbs as they burned out, but we are far from 100% CF. I went around the house today and actually counted the number of light bulbs.
Are you ready for this? If you count everything, light fixtures, lamps, appliances, floodlights outside, etc. . . we have 97 lightbulbs at our house.
Eeekkk!
Out of those 27 are already CF bulbs, 41 are various odd sizes or required types that I don’t believe come in CF (18 chandelier bulbs, 6 appliance style bulbs, 7 odd shapes/sizes, 10 Halogen, 2 fluorescent tubes & 3 large porch bulbs), that leaves 29 regular incandescent bulbs.
Wow. At a guess of $3 a pack, that would be $87 to replace them all. Hmm. I’m going to have to get a bit creative on this one!
4. Use timers.
Photo by Jo3Design
We already have the AC in our bedroom on a timer (no point in air conditioning a room while we aren’t in it), the thermostats for the heat are all programmable, and our Keurig coffeepot has a timer function to keep the water in the reservoir hot. All of these ensure that the power is only being used when we are most likely to need it. What else in the house could benefit from being on a timer?
5. Turn off energy thieves.
Photo by Darren Hester
Many appliances and chargers use energy even when they are turned “off”. I know that we have a bad habit of leaving cell phone chargers plugged in, and I frequently leave my laptop plugged in and on-even when I’m not using it for hours. . .we also leave the desktop computer on constantly. I’ll really have to look at this one and see how I can improve!
So what other ideas do you have for me? How else can I save energy in my home?
Join me, along with my fellow  Walmart Moms, Sheena of Sophistishe, Jennae of Green Your Décor, Monica of MommyBrain Reports and Denise of Wholesome Mommy, on our four week journey to live a more sustainable lifestyle in the Seventh Generation/Walmart sustainability challenge.
*Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Seventh Generation has provided me with products. Â Walmart has provided me with compensation to blog about attempting a more sustainable household for a month. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.
Photos by Mike Webkist, Eric Marshall, Christopher Saccaro, Jo3Design and Darren Hester under creative commons copyright as listed on their individual pages.
I’m with you on this one. We already do a lot, so I have to hunt for the energy wasters. One other thing I do is, I use a pressure cooker a lot. I have a new Fagor that is much safer than the old kind, and it really cuts my cooking time down. There are plenty of recipes on the web, too.
I thought I was going greener by buying the new Bounce Dryer Bar, doing away with all the sheets, but they don’t sell refills! You get a holder and a new bar every time:( I’m interested to see what others come up with.
We were able to cut our electric bill by 20-40 dollars a month by deciding to turn off our water heater except for a few hours every evening. I turn it on when I cook dinner and we have plenty of hot water for the dishwasher and evening baths/showers. I let it run for a little while when those are done and then shut it off. The tank will hold the water inside at a warm temperature, and it stays warm enough to wash hands etc. the following day.
(We did this to be able to fund another child sponsorship through Compassion International.)
Laundry! Wash in cold water. It saves me about $30 a month. There are many detergents made specifically for cold water washing. I use Biokleen Cold Water Wash from Amazon. It’s phosphate and cholorine free and very very concentrated.
I also have several folding drying racks and no clothes dryer. It just takes a little practice to get the “hang” of it. All large clothing (shirts, jeans etc.) is hung on the shower curtain rod in the spare bathroom to dry.
We put a timer on our water heater but I have been disappointed in the savings so far. An electrician installed it for us so I feel like it should be working properly. It’s off peak hours (2pm to 7 pm) and overnight.
I noticed a big difference in our electric bill when I changed the bulbs to CFL’s. I think they pay for themselves pretty quickly.
Cindy
Norman, OK
There are actually quite a few lightbulbs for difffernt uses- you just have to go to a big establishment to get the different cost saving bulbs. Good luck!
You must have a pretty bright house. We only have 50 lights total. What about putting the kid’s rooms on timers for the morning?
I replaced all my chandelier bulbs with CFL’s. They have them in a few different sizes. Rather than replace all new, I bought them a bit at a time. That way I didn’t break the bank and I also didn’t feel like I was replacing a perfectly good bulb (I know it saves money in the long run).
I am looking into those surge protector/plug strips that turn off your computer or TV when not in use. I would love it if you could tell us about those. They vary in price greatly. I think I need a special one for the plasma TV – but not sure how much I should spend.
I like the idea about the hot water heater – that is a huge savings!
Another thing about using CF bulbs is that you rarely have to change them. I have 3 hanging fixtures in my kitchen all of which have 3 regular size light sockets (yes, I like a lot of light when I am working!). I was constantly changing one of the bulbs before using CF’s. Since changing to all CF’s over 2 years ago I have not had to change one single bulb!
1. Use non-paraffin candles for light during the evening meal and into the evening
2. Handwash smaller clothing items
3. Check your attic’s insulation – you may need more and a small investment now could mean $s saved in years to come
4. if you and your family are using a home computer, try unplugging it and using one at a public access site (like a library) once in awhile – they have them on all day anyway
5. instead of your stovetop, try cooking with smaller countertop appliances when possible
Jen-you are already doing alot to save electricity. I’d add the following:
-use a microwave heat water vs the stove top
-when using the oven, make an oven meal: bake a tray of browines alongside the roast chicken, and baked potatoes
-conserve hot water: shorter showers, were clothes longer if possible before washing
-use the air dry feature on a dish washer
-only wash full loads
-I machine dry towels 20 minutes and then line dry. Still soft, 2/3 less electricity used
-line dry clothes
-switch to a hot water on demand water heater (the size of a medicine chest) we no longer store 80 gallons of hot water
-always turn off the water heater when leaving over night/vacation
-power strips
-night lites with LED electronic “eyes” that only g
Sorry, hit the button my accident.
_LED nightlites only go on when dark
-energy star appliances, convection ovens
-use tabletop appliances when possible: crockpot, toaster oven
-I launder in cold except for towels and whites in warm. Stopped using “hot” and didn’t notice any difference in cleanliness
-use a dishbin for kitchen clean up vs letting water run out of the spout, into the drain the whole time
-use fans vs A/C when possible
-launder only full loads
I have a long way to go in terms of saving electricity but I am using flourescent bulbs in our house. It took a while, but right now we are finally using it 100%.I am still encouraging everyone in my home to switch off the lights when not in use.
You all amaze me-what fantastic ideas!
Ruth-I did a post once on those dryer balls-I have store bought ones & use them now instead of dryer sheets-but there are DIY ideas on the post. http://www.frugalupstate.com/crafts-diy/homemade-dryer-balls-frugal-green/
Michelle-wow! Turning off your water heater sounds pretty drastic, good for you for taking the “plunge”.
Cindy-Yes, the laundry things can save a lot! I rarely use hot or warm water washing. . . but this year I was really bad about line drying. Shame on me. Sorry to hear that your water heater timer didn’t work out for you. It sounds like such a great idea.
Denise-I did find the CF in the floodlights & chandelier bulbs! Thanks for the tip.
Heather-Yeah, a timer would help with the kids-but it would have to be hard wired in somehow-it is the overhead light they leave on, not a lamp. Hmm. Food for thought anyway.
McAfeeCyberMom-buying a few at a time is the way to go without going broke! Sorry I don’t really have much info on them-we’ve always just used the fairly inexpesive power surge protector type-but we are bad about leaving the computer on all the time (tsk tsk). Maybe you could call Best Buy & ask, or give your twitter community a shout out and see if any of the geek types out there have some advice?
Cici-the “not having to change them” is a big benefit as well-especially with 9ft ceilings!
Carol-wow, what a list of fantastic ideas! I do many of them some of the time, but I don’t always do them all consistently 🙂
It is great that y’all want to save electricity…I am all over that bad boy. However, CFL’s are not actually an environmentally wise way to do it. They contain mercury, a powerful neurotoxin, in its most dangerous form. Purchasing these toxic bombs not only risks releasing the mercury into your house if one happens to break, but it also encourages these companies to make this junk. If you think I am crazy read up on what the EPA advises you to do if one bulb breaks…one of the things they recommend is disposing of your carpet…in heavy duty plastic bags delivered to a tox drop. Just saying….
True-so one must weigh the savings in electricity against the difficulties of properly disposing of the CFL to avoid contamination. I think it will be a moot point soon-LED lights are going to replace CFLs on the marketplace soon I think