SUGGESTIONS FROM TEAM C

Install Automatic “Sleep-mode” on Computer Appliances
1) Activate the “sleep” mode on fax machines, printers, and computers to save power while you are not using them (Neal Hribar 2008).
2) Companies waste over $1 billion a year on computer monitors, fax machines, printers, etc. that should be turned off when instead they are left on (Chris Arnold, 2004).
3) Installing an automatic sleep mode feature costs nothing. The EPA provides free software that can do this for your computer (Arnold 2004).
4) Leaving monitors on all the time eats up energy because computer technology runs on burning fossil fuels (Patrick Burns 2008). If every American put their computer-related devices on sleep-mode, we could save up to 100% of the energy we use. That’s up to $40,000! (Patrick Burns 2008). 
 Close the Drapes on Hot Weather; Open them in Cold Weather
1) Close the drapes in hotter weather to avoid having to turn the air conditioner up. This will eliminate some of the heat that the sun emits through your house on a hot day. Open the drapes during the day in colder weather to avoid turning up the heater. This traps some of the heat produced by the sun on a cold day (Neal Hribar 2008).
2) The average household produces about 30% of their total carbon emissions with heating (Earth Care Sundbury 2008).
3) Closing or opening drapes or blinds has no initial cost. It can only save you money!
4) Trapping or avoiding heat with drapes depending on the season can save up to 55% of the average American’s heating/cooling bills (Energy Right 2008).
Works Cited
Arnold, Chris. 2004. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1960428
Hribar, Neal. 2008 http://www.hribar.com/energy-saving-tips.htm
  Burns, Patrick. 2008 http://www.acns.colostate.edu/aspx/www.acns/bulls/energy_saving_power_saving.html
  Energy Right. 2008. http://www.energyright.com/ideas.htm#top
  Earth Care Sundbury. 2008. http://www.city.greatersudbury.on.ca/cms/index.cfm?app=div_earthcare&lang=en&currID=4770

Ride a bicycle instead of using your car. This form of transportation doesn’t use any nonrenewable energy and also doesn’t give off any pollution (Charity Guide, 2007).
Charity Guide. “Ride Your Bicycle Instead.” 2007. http://bb.philau.edu/.philau.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11213_1
A four mile drive is equivalent to 15lbs of pollutants (Charity Guide, 2007). If people can start using bikes instead of driving, they can save 15lbs of pollution for each ride.

Eat less meat and more vegetables. Each calorie of protein found in an animal uses 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce. This equates to about half of the consumed water in the US (Next Student, 2008).
Next Student. “10 easy ways to go green on campus.” 2007. http://www.nextstudent.com/the-students-blog/archive/2008/05/06/10-easy-ways-to-go-green-on-campus.aspx


1. Use a clothesline whenever possible instead of a dryer. This saves gas and/or electricity and money. Sunshine is free to use whenever it is available (Merchant, 2008).
2. By using a clothesline instead of a dryer, residential energy costs can drop by 5% (Merchant, 2008).
3. The initial cost is next to nothing if a person has some thin rope lying around and a few trees in the backyard. If this is not feasible, there are several options. A simple clothesline is $5.25 and it can tied to any post, tree, or even fence. A retractable indoor clothesline can be purchased for $22.00 and wooden drying racks can be purchased for $33.00. All can be found at clotheslineshop.com (Clothesline Shop, 2008). The drawbacks of a clothesline are the time it takes for clothes to dry, especially jeans, and the possible stiffness.
4. An electric dryer costs $6.97 a month to run about 5 loads of laundry per week and uses 85 kWh of electricity (Duke Energy). By switching from a dryer to clothesline, the average household can
save about $100 per year (Merchant, 2008).

Works Cited

"Appliances: Cost of Operation." Duke Energy. Duke Energy. 18 Oct 2008 .

Merchant , Brian. "Use Clotheslines, Reduce Energy Cost by 5%." Planet Green. 15 Sep 2008. Discovery Communications. 18 Oct 2008 .

"Outdoor Clotheslines." The Clothesline Shop. 2008. The Clothesline Shop. 18 Oct 2008 .

Watch less television

1. Watch less television by turning the television off when it is not really being watched, watching television in a group or as a family. To just save energy on an LCD TV, turn down the backlight (First Choice Power).
2. If a tv is left on for 8 hours per day it will cost between $41-$102 per year Turn the tube off or purchase an LCD TV, which uses 50% less energy (New York Energy Smart, 2008).
3. Turning the television off is free and easy. Watching television as a family or group is also free and can help build closer relationships. If purchasing an LCD tv check out this website: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/lcd-tv/?referrer=yahoo_ssp Prices range from $385 to $2500, depending on size (Consumer Search, 2008).
4. A color television accounts for 2.9% of an average household’s energy expenses. If investing in a new television, keep in mind a plasma tv uses 246 watts, an analog tv uses 123, and an LCD tv uses just 77 watts (Portland General). The average American spends 19 hours per week watching television (Merchant, 2008).

"Average number of hours per week spent watching television." Sign on San Diego. 2005. The San Diego Tribune. 18 Oct 2008

1) Keep your tires inflated to improve gas mileage (Bond 2006).

2) Your gas mileage will be improved by 3%(Bond 2006).

3) It costs anywhere from $0-$.50 to use the air pump at the local gas station to fill your tires. By taking the time to do this you save money on gas and get longer usage out of your tires (Green Home 2008).

4) Incorrect tire pressure is responsible for the production of an additional 18.4 metric tons of CO2 which end up in the atmosphere each year (Green Home 2008). Every gallon you save also saves 20 pounds of C02 emissions(Bond 2008).

10 Simple (and Cheap) Green Ideas. 2008
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-simple-and-cheap-green-ideas.html

Fill your tires. Reduce your CO2. 2008
http://greenhome.huddler.com/forum/thread/293/fill-your-tires-reduce-your-co2

1)Remove yourself from the national mailing list to save paper and save yourself the aggravation. Use sites like these:
https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/?ref=G
(CBS 2007).
or pay $20
to use greendimes.com which eliminates larger amounts of junkmail and plants 10 trees for every person who registers.

2)The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail. 320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year, you are saving your tax dollars (Green Dimes 2008).

3) There is no cost to get yourself unlisted, just savings for yourself and the environment (Direct Mail 2008).

4. 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail. It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year. 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread. Green Dimes has stopped 3 million pounds of junk mail and over 500,000 catalogs from being delivered to their members. Over one millions trees have been planted or saved by their service and partners. A reported decrease of 90% of unwanted junk mail has been applauded by their members(KNOL 2008).


Top "Clean and Green" Ideas. 2007.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/24/cleangreen/main3291152.shtml

Green Dimes. 2008
http://www.mamashealth.com/saveearth/greendimes.asp

KNOL. 2008.
http://knol.google.com/k/jonathan-kraft/stopping-junk-mail-and-go-green-has/1cr2uvc2n4ajo/24#