Top 5 Household Tips for Earth Day

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Healthy Living Editors
April 19, 2010
5:05 pm
193 comments

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With Earth Day just around the corner, now is the perfect time to reassess our habits and look for ways to be more eco-friendly by cutting back on waste and energy consumption. And what better place to start than in our homes?

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Tip 1: Save Energy By Washing Your Laundry in Cold Water Only

Almost all of the energy used by a washing machine goes towards heating the water, so by simply turning down the temperature, you can really make a dramatic impact on energy use. In fact, washing in cold water costs 5 to 10 times less than using warmer settings. Learn how to green your laundry from start to finish.

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Healthy Living Editors

Healthy Living offers more than 10,000 ways for you to improve your life, your home, your community, and even the world. From the latest healthy and green news to simple DIY tips, our informative and inspirational content empowers you to make a difference.

also by Healthy Living Editors

Nathan R.

6:46PM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

would anyone like a salty treat? ;)

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Carole R.

6:43PM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

Sounda good. Thanks for an informative post.

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Kat H.

5:20AM PDT on Apr 4, 2012

Thank you!

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Flash G.

3:18PM PDT on Sep 17, 2011

Im impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog thats each educative and entertaining, and let me let you know, you might have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is excellent; the problem is something that not sufficient persons are speaking intelligently about. I am very completely happy that I stumbled throughout this in my search for something relating to this.

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Sheri P.

5:37PM PDT on Jul 17, 2011

I'm already doing 4 out of 5 of those. I need to pull out my old battery charger and get back to rechargeable batteries.

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Derek S.

1:06AM PDT on Jun 12, 2011

As an additional tip you should consider also the house air conditioning.
A lot of people leave the air conditioners on in areas of the house that they do not need.
You might be living in a five room house but only using one or two room at one time and you leave the air conditioning on in four or all five room.

Just concentrate on turning on the air conditioners in the areas that you are staying in.

Same thing applies for light bulbs, fans, electronic devices. Although these are not as dramatic as air conditioning but every bit will sum up.

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Maureen C.

11:55PM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

Tip#1: To save energy, turn your water heater temperature down to about 120F degrees. Do you often need water so hot that it can scald you?

Tip #2: To save energy and for safety, don't switch on the element on an electric stove ( or "range") until the pot is actually on it: there is no reason to preheat the element. And switch off the element before cooking has finished -- if you have good heavy-bottomed pots or you're cooking in oil or water, cooking will continue for quite a while after you've switched off the element (you might be amazed!), and you won't expose a red-hot element when you lift off the pot.

(If you guessed #2 is an issue in my house, you're right! :-) Switch an element on 'High', then turn away to get the pot ready, and I go into full alarm mode! Danger, danger, Will Robinson!)

I'm also looking for a single-handle temperature control for my shower, so I don't have to diddle around with hot and cold taps to set water temperature, and so I can turn off the water for a few minutes while I lather up, then turn it back on to rinse at the same temperature. That should save water and energy.