Gardening
10 simple ways to cut energy consumption
Gardening
10 simple ways to cut energy consumption
1. Cut your flights. Nothing else you do causes so much climate change in so short a time.
2. Think hard before you pick up your car keys. On average, 40 per cent of the journeys made by car could be made by other means -- on foot, by bicycle or on public transport.
3. Organize a "walking bus" to take the children to school.
4. Ask your boss to devise a "workplace travel plan" which rewards people for leaving their car at home.
5. Switch over to a supplier of renewable electricity. You don't have to erect your own wind turbine, but you can buy your power from someone who has.
6. Ask a builder to give you an estimate for bringing your home up to R2000 standards.
7. Ditch your air conditioner.
8. Turn down your thermostat: 18 degrees is as warm as your house ever needs to be. You just have to get used to it.
9. Make sure every bulb in your house is a compact fluorescent or LED.
10. Do NOT buy a plasma TV: they use five times as much energy as other models.
Learn more about green living with our guide on how to be eco-friendly in your home.
George Monbiot is the author of Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning (Doubleday, 2006).
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