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Many home and office printers have settings allowing you to choose the print quality. The “draft” setting uses less ink and prints your document more quickly. I generally can’t tell the difference between a document printed using the draft setting and one using the normal settings, so I use the draft setting for most uses.
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Please dispose of your trash responsibly and don’t litter. Birds, animals, fish, and marine mammals can be harmed by our litter. I recently read a sign in the New Bedford Whaling Museum that describes how plastic six-pack rings, strapping bands, and monofilament fishing line can entangle marine creatures. It also says that sea turtles, sea birds, and fish can swallow plastic bags, plastic pellets, and balloons. Sometimes these creatures die from their encounters with our trash. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), one of the organizations that helped prepare the sign, has posted a lot of information on their website on marine debris.
Two NPR articles I read today quoted the same statistic. An estimated 133 billion pounds of food are wasted in the U. S. each year. This waste has a double negative impact on the environment. Not only are the resources used to produce the food also wasted, but much of that food ends up in landfills. When the food decays in the landfill, it emits methane, which is a greenhouse gas.
An article by Allison Aubrey, posted on the NPR website on September 23, 2015, features an interview with Dana Gunders of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Her book, Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, is full of tips for reducing food waste at home. I haven’t read the book yet, but but some of her tips are included in the article at the link below. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/23/441460163/don-t-toss-that-sour-milk-10-tips-cut-food-waste-in-your-kitchen Learn how to use your electronics to minimize energy use and take advantage of the features that are available. Many of the newer electronic devices have sleep or hibernation modes that reduce power needs when the device is not in use. Someone recently told me that their new television has an eco mode that automatically adjusts the brightness of the television screen based on the level of light in the room so that less energy is used. Don’t assume that the default settings on your devices include these features. You may have to change the default settings to get the best energy savings and device performance.
I tirShowers are the third largest water use (almost 17%) in an average American home. In addition to the water use, showers require energy to heat the water.
Don’t open the oven door to check on your baking. Use the oven light and look through the oven window. Every time you open the oven door, heat escapes. Extra energy is used to re-heat the oven.
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