Everett Allen with the Orange Grove Center carries a computer monitor that was recycled during a 2013 Earth Day event in downtown Chattanooga.Today’s Earth Day
Plant a tree if you like, but if you really want to make a difference on Earth Day (and since climate change is a real, urgent and global challenge, you should), then make some power changes in your life.
The average American household uses 11,319 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. That costs each homeowner about $2,060 and dumps about 22,273 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air, according to energystar.gov. Since 29 percent of that energy is for heating and 13 percent is for cooling, make sure that your next heating and cooling unit is an efficient, Energy Star-rated system. That one change can cut your annual energy bill by more than $115, but it makes a much bigger impact on the planet.
If just one household in 10 bought a heating and cooling system that has earned the Energy Star insignia, 12 billion pounds in annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented. That’s the equivalent of the emissions from 1.1 million cars!
Another 12 percent of your power is eaten up by lighting, and this is an easy fix: buy LED replacement bulbs. Water heating is 13 percent of residential power use, so think about a solar panel for that. Your washer and dryer consume 5 percent of your power use. When it’s time to buy new machines, make them the new, more efficient kind.
UAW takes the high road
The United Auto Workers withdrawal Monday of its appeal of the Volkswagen union vote in February is a sign that adults have entered the room.