101 Ways You Can Save Energy and Save Environment

“The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies.” – Al Gore

The saving environment is one of the most-liked content here at OCAAT. I am happy to see such awareness for the environment. Also, I tend to think that social media is spreading good habits in the masses, making this planet a better place to live. Once I posted on Facebook about buying reusable shopping bags for grocery, it went viral and amidst 20 likes and 17 comments, I think at least a couple got inspired and bought reusable shopping bags.

Earlier, I posted 25 ways I am contributing towards saving the environment every day. While I am at it constantly, I tried listing the possible ways I can help save the environment. The topic is such serious that I decided to write about it again, even though OCAAT is a personal finance blog. 

There are some energy and environment saving tips that if followed to the latter will go a long way in reducing the amount of energy you spend in your home. You will save yourself a lot of money in the long run as well.

To add to that, you will be contributing to saving the earth by using the little energy available for a longer period. If your home didn’t come equipped with energy-efficient features, there are many things you can do to make it that way:

At home, we practice green ways of living. We do not use plastic. Most of the things we buy are sustainable. We reuse and repurpose things as much as we can.

We even buy eco-friendly home décor, furniture, and accessories online and offline. We give preference to the “made from recyclable material” label over other ones. 

101 Ways to Help Save Energy and Environment

1. Use fluorescent light bulbs as they use less energy than standard light bulbs. LED bulbs are even better in that aspect.
2. Light your rooms only when you need, not all rooms need the same amount of lighting.
3. By arranging the amount of lighting depending on the amount of light needed, you will choose the right kind of fluorescent light bulb and save energy.
4. Rather than have several low wattage bulbs in a room, get yourself a single high-wattage bulb and
5. Do not exceed the recommended wattage for a fixture.
6. Ensure you are aware of the recommended wattage for every fixture
7. Be sure to switch off the outdoor bulbs when they are not needed.
8. Long-life incandescent light bulbs waste a lot of energy, so be sure to keep off them.
9. Clean your bulbs appropriately and as often as they get dirty to improve their efficiency.
10. Paint your house with white colors so that they can reflect the light from the lighting fixtures. This will mean you will only use lower wattage bulbs.
11. Use small appliances to cook smaller meals, e.g. microwave
12. Remove the frost from the fridge as often as possible.
13. Clean your fridge at least twice in a year to remove the dirt and dust and to enable it to run more efficiently.
14. Set your fridge at a temperature slightly lower than room temperature-enough to maintain the food items in it for some time.
15. Place your fridge away from the sunlight or any direct heat as this will make it use a lot of energy.
16. Always make sure your dishwasher is full before turning it on to wash the dishes.
17. Do not clean your dishes for longer than necessary.
18. Clean your home using manual tools as much as possible, a simple brim vs. vacuum cleaner helps a lot when you have time.
19. Ensure your appliances are well maintained so they cost less energy.
20. When using a cooker, let the food simmer until it is fully cooked, do not always cook on full heat as it will use more energy.
21. Turn off the heat before the food is fully cooked, the food will cook with the retained heat. This is a lesson I learned from the food network.
22. Prepare all your ingredients before you turn on the heat to cook
23. Cover the pan when cooking to allow the steam to cook the food as well. This will save energy.
24. Don’t open the door of the oven when the food bakes as it will reduce the energy and it will take a lot more energy to increase it.
25. Cook using the right pan size, a larger pan will waste heat as the whole of it will have to be heated
26. Use a washing machine that you can control the water level, this will save you a lot of energy since you can use less water when you want to
27. For those machines, you cannot control water levels, make sure you have washed clothes only when you need to.
28. Line dry your clothes outside in the summer months to save energy
29. Use cold water  for rinsing to save  energy, rather than heating water to rinse them
30. Clean the lint filter in  your washer to ensure that it runs efficiently and saves a lot more energy
31. Make sure your air conditioner has a fan to reduce your energy costs. Your air conditioner will not work harder than it has to when you have a fan
32. Use ceiling fans for cooling the rooms during the hotter months.
33. Maintaining the fans and air conditioning systems accordingly will help reduce the operating costs and reduce the energy you have to pay for.
34. Power on your PC, printer, and the fact only when you need them and switch them off when you have finished working with them
35. Buy water heaters that save a lot of energy (they may be expensive but worth it in the long run)
36. Buy the right size of the heater. One that is too large will heat a lot of water which may not be used so it will waste energy
37. Water heaters should be close to the kitchen so that it does not have to travel a long distance of pipe and lose its heat
38. Buy eco-friendly and sustainable greenhouse products, avoid plastic as much as possible. They cause more harm to the environment than metals.
39. Repair any leaks in water heaters and tanks to prevent loss of water and energy
40. Low-flow showerheads will save you a lot of water and energy in the long run
41. The water softener will remove minerals from water that make it hard therefore, it will be easier to boil water, hence saving energy
42. Use thermostat for your air conditioner. Participate in the energy efficiency program offered by your utility company. Check with your provider for such a program. Florida Power and light does have a comprehensive program, where I participate.
43. Use an air conditioner with varying fan speeds
44. Locate your air conditioning in a central part of your home.
45. Seal any air conditioner to prevent warm air from getting in
46. Start the thermostat at low or medium, not high
47. Place the air conditioner in  a cooler part of your home
48. Get an energy-efficient model of the air conditioner; one that has a SEER ratio of more than 13
49. Determine the size of the air conditioner needed for your home before buying
50. Repair air conditioners to maximize efficiency. We hire repairmen every year to tune up our AC. The Feron should be recycled every year for better AC performance and it’s longevity.
51. Keep the thermostat clear of heat-generating appliances.
52. Clean and replace the air conditioner filter as needed.
53. Change the thermostat settings of your air conditioner appropriately.
54. Close window blinds during the day to keep your house warm so that your air conditioner isn’t overworked.
55. Do not cool the rooms you do not need. AC vents can be turned off and on. If you have an extra room, try to turn off AC air there, so the rest of the home can be cooled faster.
56. Reduce the heat in your household so that your air conditioning doesn’t work extra hard
57. Turn off appliances when you do not need them-they to produce more heat
58. When driving, avoid quick breaking and starting as it decreases mileage
59. Don’t start the car before settling well in it. Read more on gas saving tips.
60. Avoid as much as possible getting stuck in traffic jams as they also decrease mileage
61. Keep your tires properly inflated-under-inflated tires will reduce mileage
62. Use premium unleaded gasoline because it is more efficient, although it’s debatable.
63. Use air conditioning only when it is necessary. Always set a particular temperature.
64. Open the window or close them to adjust the heat instead of using the air conditioner.
65. Park in the shade to prevent your car from overheating and reliance on air-conditioning
66. Service your air conditioner to ensure it works efficiently and it does not leak CFC’s
67. Do not turn off your engine if you are stopping for less than 30 seconds
68. Drive slowly, my mile-per-gallon indicator runs at the highest efficiency at 55 mph speed on high ways.
69. Use the right oil for your car. If the engine is in good health, it consumes less gas to operate.
70. Take your car for regular maintenance. Fill up air to maintain proper pressure.
71. Take used oil to a recycling center, don’t drop it in your trash can.
72. Remove luggage racks from your car, if you do not use them
73. Travel light, don’t carry excessive luggage, a lighter car consumes less gas.
74. Buy a vehicle that is energy efficient. If you can’t afford a hybrid, at least try to go for energy-efficient cars and do not buy a bigger car than you need.
75. Combine your errands rather than making a trip every time you need something
76. Drive only when you must, carpool when you can.
77. Use a smaller vehicle while driving alone, if you have an option.
78. Use scooter/bike for small errands
79. Be sure of where you are going, no need to get lost and use more fuel
80. Don’t overheat the swimming pool
81. Use solar energy to heat the swimming pool,
82. You can go solar energy route for all your energy needs if you have money for the equipment upfront.
83. Trees will protect your home from the heat hence reduce energy spent in cooling
84. Heat your swimming pool only when necessary
85. Don’t idle in your car, you may have to turn on the air conditioning
86. Put vinyl foam covers in your hot tub to save energy
87. Plant trees to protect your home from winds
88. Use rainwater for watering plants to reduce reliance on pumped water. Rainwater can be easily harvested in households. Just watch a couple of videos online and get going. We do it in our home. It’s easy, it’s fun and it’s environmental, hence mentally satisfying.
89. Take advantage of gravity when collecting and pumping water outside your home
90. Water lawns in the morning. Read more about saving water.
91. Don’t water lawns in the rainy season
92. Use drip irrigation instead of sprinklers
93. Use less plastic, use reusable shopping bags. Every grocer now sells reusable shopping bags. A Just one-time cost of few cents per bag and you can eliminate tons of plastic from your life.
94. Reuse and re-purpose your tools and containers. Here are 30 ways to reuse bottles.
95. Use emails and eGreetings and try to reduce the usage of physical mails and letters to save paper.
96. Use less fertilizer, use more of organic compost
97. Mulch your plants to retain moisture
98. Sweep sidewalks, don’t use a hose, it wastes energy
99. Organize planting events in your neighborhood.
100. Believe it or not, BBQ pollutes the air, I feel the pain when there’s some steak burning nearby, I feel sick inside. Does everybody need to smell it?
101. Check your hoses and connectors for faults that may lead you to use more energy

These are a lot of ways to save the environment, I know, but if you try to follow at least a few you’d contribute enough. Our planet doesn’t need you to do everything but, it needs everybody to do some.

Readers, are you pledging to save the environment today? Your children and grandchildren wouldn’t live peacefully on planet earth otherwise.