$$$-The 5 Rs-#1 Reduce-$$$

Hey guys and gals,
Although the 5Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew and Respect) are generally incorporated into my discussions I figured they each deserve their own posts. If you haven't guessed already today's "R" is Reduce:

Reduce everything! I'm talking energy consumption, time driving, cleaning supplies, general "stuff", even your subscriptions to magazines and newspapers.

Energy consumption has been covered before and will probably be covered again; but just as a reminder, turn out the lights and turn down the heat (or A/C if you live in a warmer region: By the way my post about saving on your heating bill can also be applied to cooling costs). You can also replace your lights with high efficiency ones (they generally last longer and use less power).

If you're like me then you don't have a car :( but if you do use it less. Try to plan your shopping trips so you can pick up all you need in one swift spree. Carpool with friends and family and coworkers. Here's my favorite: ride a bike. Riding bike is very fun and saves you loads on gas. If biking isn't an option then walk. I know of too many people that drive somewhere when they could just walk. Walking is fun and it relieves stress quite a bit; go for a walk with your significant other rather than a drive (it's more romantic because then you get to hold hands). Just try to drive less is all I'm trying to say it helps the environment and your savings account.

Use as little cleaning things as possible. If at all possible clean with green cleaners that you can get at Walmart, Target, Kmart, and any other store. And also try to get multipurpose/surface cleaners rather than one for glass, one for wood, plastic, etc etc.

Reduce your stuff but don't throw it away use one of the other Rs. Most people in the US have way to "stuff" or as I like to call it: crap. Half the crap we have we don't need or even want we just get it to have it. I won't lie I have lots of stuff I don't need, or want anymore. Before you go shopping make a list of the things you need and stick to it. Other than the other Rs (ie recycle, renew, reuse) you can sell your crap on ebay or to some other sucker at work or school. Somebody always wants something.

Pretty much all the information you could want in the universe is on the internet. Since you're reading this I'm going to go ahead and say I know you have the internet. Use the internet to get your stocks, weather, sports, and celebrity news it's all here and free. So instead of paying for your magazine and newspaper subscriptions just go online.

Just make a list of all the stuff you have and use and try to figure out which stuff you could go without or with less of. And remember TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

$$$-Cell Phones-$$$

Hey there everybody,
Today I'm going to talk about cell phones. Chances are you got one. Chances are you use it. Chances are you charge it from time to time so you can continue using it. Chances are you leave the charger plugged in 24/7/365. Chances are you plug it in when you go to bed and let it charge all night. I'm not going to lie I do most of these things.

There's two problems with what we do with our cell phones: 1) We leave the charger plugged in all the time, and 2) we charge our phones all night. I'll explain these two now

Leaving the charger plugged in all the time.
Now I'm all for convenience like the convenience of leaving the charger plugged in all the time so you can just plug in the phone and charge it. This is a bad idea though. I read somewhere that if everybody unplugged their phone chargers when they weren't being used, enough energy could be saved to power like a gagillion homes. That's not a real number but it gets the point across. Chargers (and pretty much everything else) draw power from the socket even when they aren't being used; I don't know why, I don't really care why, I just read it a ton of times and figure it must be true (also my brother the electrician said it was true too).

Point being, unplug your charger please. It will save on your energy bill. It probably won't be obvious on a single billing statement but over the course of your lifetime it'll save you. And if everybody does it, it will be noticeable to the power companies (because they get to see how much total power they're selling). And with saving power comes reducing our carbon footprint, since most of us get our power from burning coal.

Charging our phones while we sleep.
Unless your me, you get an average of 8-9 hours of sleep a night. The average phone battery only needs to be charged 1-2 (I'll give you 2.5) hours. Do the math that's about 7 hours of killing our planet (sorry that was a little harsh, how about wasting power). I can't say I don't do this from time to time but I try not to and neither should you. They say you can't overcharge your battery these days and that it doesn't use extra power when the battery is charged but still, come on. I know when I have my phone plugged in the backlight stays on dim and won't go off, and lots of chargers have those annoying blue or red lights when a phone is plugged in.

An alternative to charging your phone during bedtime is during dinner. Your not using your phone hopefully (that would be rude), so why not charge it then. Ok so dinner isn't 1-2.5 hrs long well leave it there till bedtime then. I don't need my phone by me 24/7 in order to survive like some people I know so I can charge it whenever; but if you do, bring the charger into the room you're in most.

Another thing is that more power is in fact needed to make louder noises and vibrations (I hope you can figure this one out on your own), and no I'm not making sexual innuendo.
Remember TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

$$$-Heat-$$$

Hey folks,
Today's lesson is about heat. Today is a pretty chilly one here in Wisconsin and before you know it, it's gonna be winter. Today I'll give you some quick tips to winterize you home to save on your heating bill.

Cover your windows with plastic.
By plastic I mean the special window plastic you can get at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Kmart, or pretty much any store. This stuff seems a little pricey at first but it will most definitely save you in the long run. When installed correctly and after you blow dry them you can barely notice that they're even there. But remember, if you have blinds, be sure to decide before you put on the plastic whether you want the blinds up or down all winter. Here's a little bonus tip: if you leave the blinds up the sun can help heat the house.

Don't heat unused rooms.
When you turn on the heat in your home shut all the doors to the rooms that are seldom used. For college students this might include your roommate's bedroom who went home for winter break. For everyone else, this could be walk in closets and the like. If your home is heated by forced air close the vents or cover them up with a blanket or towel. If your home is heated with water pipes or electrical heating units DO NOT cover them. That would be a fire hazard; you want to be warm, but not that warm.
If the doors in your home have a large space between the floor and the bottom of the door go out and buy some door sweeps to block the draft. Or, to save money attach (tape, staple etc) some old sweater, blanket, or towel to the bottom of the door to block the draft.

Turn down the heat when you leave for an extended period of time.
Now you have to be careful with this one. When you leave for the weekend don't shut off the heat completely because you will use more energy to completely reheat your home. Also, if you have water pipes they'll freeze and that's not a good thing. I would say turn down the heat about 10 degrees F.

And whatever you do please do not leave the lights on hoping they will help heat up your home because that's just plain silly.
Remember: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS.

$$$-Welcome!-$$$

Hello everyone!
This is a new blog which will teach you how to live a better more green lifestyle. To "live green" is to go about your daily life in such a manner that you're not polluting our planet. This blog will give you easy to follow tips that will reduce your carbon footprint on our planet, reduce waste, and even save you some money. If one of my blog posts is going to save you money I will add six dollar ($) signs to it's title (three before, three after) much like this one. I have also added the National Geographic Pic of the Day just so you can see how beautiful we can keep our planet just by living a more green lifestyle.

I'm going to try and update this blog as much as possible but I'm a full-time college student with two jobs and an internship so come back often. Also about this blog is that it's totally free. Sure you can find tips here and there online but a lot of people want you to buy their books which is just crazy! Our planet's future should not be something that you have to pay for in order to ensure; plus, I've always been all for the free exchange of knowledge.

Today I'm going to start out with something very simple and often overlooked-lights. Now, I'm not going to deluge you with numbers and stats but you can reduce your carbon footprint and increase your bank account quite a bit by just shutting off your lights when your not using them. It's pretty simple; most lights work by flipping a switch up (on) or down (off) all you have to do is whenever you leave a room for more that like ten seconds is flip the switch down.

It's a common misconception that it saves electricity and is therefore cheaper to just leave the lights on for those few seconds or minutes. I don't know where that came from, but don't believe it. I'm not saying you have to be in the dark, but if you're not going to use the lights why have them on? This tip can save electricity (reduce your carbon footprint), and save you on the cost of bulbs and your electric bill (increase your bank account). I'm going to end every blog post with this simple reminder: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!