Simple Steps to a Greener Home

Did you know that if every home in the country replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, it would be like ditching 800,000 cars and would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, according to Energy Star, a joint program between the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy? When it comes to conserving our resources and “going green” there are many simple things a normal household can do.For starters, you can save the most money and energy by replacing high-use lights with compact fluorescent bulbs. The five highest-use fixtures in a home are typically the kitchen ceiling lights, the living or family room table and floor lamps and outdoor porch or post lamp. CFL’s use 75 percent less energy than normal bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.If you’re not recycling, now’s the time to start. You can recycle everything from cell phones to paper easily. For example, Waste Management (www.wm.com) has a new mail-in program for recycling batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs and electronics. Also, most of us have a recycling bin provided by our trash service. Use the bin for aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, plastic bottles and steel cans.You can also stop the never-ending flow of junk mail and help reduce waste. Out of the 17.8 tons of bulk mail the U.S. Postal Service delivers, only 22 percent is recycled each year. Stop junk mail by visiting the Direct Marketing Association’s Web site at dmaconsumers.org. For just $1 you can be put on the “do not mail” list. You can also eliminate the slew of credit card and insurance offers for free at optoutprescreen.com. Lastly, forgo bottled water and buy a reusable bottle. More than 28 billion single-use water bottles are bought every year and 80 percent of those end up in landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute.For even more ways to help make the world a greener place, visit www.energystar.gov, www.epa.gov or www.earth911.org.