Cultivate Energy-Saving Habits
The cost of energy is rising and the threats posed by climate change are increasing. However, with just a bit of effort, the average household can reduce its energy use by about one-third – and save money on energy bills at the same time. The energy efficiency of the latest technology is improving and using common sense, we can significantly reduce our energy use.
How to do it now!
Simple adjustments to your daily habits can save tonnes of CO2 going into the atmosphere everyday. Some new habits to get you started include the following:
- Switch off lights when you don't need them.
- Use a power meter to conduct a home energy assessment. Many local Councils have home energy kits available to help you pinpoint high energy consuming appliances and provide you with information on how much each appliance costs to run. By better understanding your energy consumption you can learn to make simple changes, potentially saving several hundred dollars a year and tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Switch off electrical appliances when not in use. Standby power accounts for about 4 per cent of the average homes energy use, so turn it off at the power point to save energy and money!
- Turn down your thermostat and throw on a jumper. Turning it down by just 1°C can save you up to 10 per cent on your heating bill.
- Use pot lids when cooking. Keep lids on pans when cooking and reduce the energy required.
- Cold drink of water. Keep drinking water in the fridge instead of letting the tap water run for a few moments before the water becomes cold.
- Drying your clothes. Let clothes dry naturally on the clothesline rather than using a tumble dryer.
To learn a new habit requires a couple of simple steps:
- As a household decide the habits you’re going to establish and ensure everyone is onboard.
- Set up reminders (e.g. notes on the fridge, light switches, etc). Empower the kids to dob you in (they'll love that).
- Do the habit consciously for a week, then two, then it should be established and your subconscious will keep it going.
- At the end of each energy billing period note the saving and reward yourselves.
In addition, For those times when you need to drive your car or use electrical appliances you can reduce their impact on the environment by offsetting their emissions.
Additional resources
Why this action is important?
Science is telling us that we need to live more sustainably – more in tune with nature. In order for humans to establish a sustainable civilisation we must mimic and aspire to the efficiencies found in nature. This action is intended to engage people to understand the effect of their behaviour in terms of their long term returns (financial, environmental and intergenerational). Through our actions, we will better understand that living sustainably does not mean living in a cold, dark place, but merely making a few simple changes to our daily lives.
Environment
By reducing our energy use, we directly reduce our contribution to climate change and start to shift our thinking towards "how we can support nature" rather than blithely assuming nature will provide all.
Wellbeing
Climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions is projected to adversely affect the health of millions of people throughout the world with increases in malnutrition, increased deaths, disease and injury from heatwaves, floods, storms, fires and droughts, increases in diarrhoeal disease, increased frequency of cardio-respiratory disease due to worsening air quality and altered distribution of some disease vectors (Department of Human Services, Oct 2007).
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