Free (or cheap) tips to live more sustainable: Energy

Today, April 22, is Earth Day. We all know that something needs to change if we want to keep our planet around for future generations. We all want to live more sustainable. But not everyone has the budget or the means for solar panels and electrical cars. But everyone can make some small changes in their day to day life to live more sustainable. On my website I’m sharing free (or cheap) tips to live more sustainable. I’m sharing my tips in several categories for you. On this page I’m sharing my tips in the category: Energy. With these small changes you can make your everyday life a little greener.

LED lights

Changing your regular lights to LED lights will help you save energy and money. The LED bulbs consume less energy than regular lights. They can even save-up to 80% energy.

Laundry

Only do your laundry when the washing machine is full and wash on low temperatures. Now that the weather is getting nicer, it’s much better to dry your laundry outside instead of in a dryer. Again, this tip also saves you money. But the amount of electricity that you save are also great for the environment. On average you save 80 to 115 euros per year if you don’t use a dryer. So even if it’s raining, it’s better to dry your laundry inside on a rack instead of in the dryer.

Leftovers

Try not to throw any food away. It helps if you don’t buy too much and that you save your leftovers. If you get some food containers you can always put your leftover dinner in the freezer for another day. Put your frozen meal in the fridge in the morning. This way the fridge can use the cold of your meal, and you’ll have to heat it less long in the evening.

Fridge

Now that we’re on the fridge and freezer subject anyway: if yours is older than 8 years, it might be smart to buy a new one. The newer fridges and freezers are a lot more energy friendly.

Socks

This might be the easiest tip of this page: wear warm socks! Most of the cold you feel when you’re at home is coming from the floor. The floor is the coldest part of the house as warm air rises. And especially if you have tiles the floor can be really cold. Buy some warm socks and you won’t have to turn the heater on as much. The same goes for a nice comfy sweater.

Heater

Speaking of the heater; don’t warm any rooms that you’re not using and try to set the thermostat a degree lower than usually. If you’re getting cold, you can put on some warmer clothes. You can also already lower the temperature about an hour before you go to bed. It’ll take about an hour before the temperature lowers in the room and you won’t need it to be warm when you’re in bed anyway.

Click here for a sustainable recipe for sweet potato stew.