Energy and You
March 15, 2011
Advances in technology have pushed us forward in energy use and consumption. The world is in a different place from where it was 30 years ago and will be even more different 30 years in the future. If there is one thing that will change, it is our use of electrics and advances in technology, many of which make our lives increasingly more comfortable. The world is powered by electricity and so now are our lives. The USA is one of the biggest users of energy in the world, an average American can use close to 11,548 kilowatts/ hr. during the day. This doesn’t include all the energy that is used from outside sources. The world is not getting any smaller and neither is the world’s consumption of energy. What part can you play in the world of energy consumption?
There are vast numbers of ways to turn the tide on the way we consume energy. The changing of old light bulbs to new, energy saving light bulbs is one way to reduce energy consumption, but it is also one of the most advertised methods. There are other ways to reduce the use by making simple choices concerning everyday things. Choosing paper rather than plastic at your local grocery store can make an energy difference. The amount of energy it takes to break down plastic is astronomical compared to paper which can simply decay in the environment. An even better choice to this situation would be to just simply bring a reusable bag when at the grocery store. There are other, easy ways to change your consumption, like turning off the lights when you leave a room and opening a window instead of turning on the air conditioning. One unexpected method is to unplug electronic devices while not in use; this can make an unbelievable change in electricity consumption. The reason for this is a phantom charge that all electronics have, even when turned off. Basically a phantom charge is electrical current that go on inside electronic devices when they are plugged into the wall. An example of a phantom charge would the lights on game system that are still lit up when the system is turned off or a cell phone charger that is plugged in even if it is not connected to the cell phone. The replacing of old power strips with energy saving ones can help reduce consumption and hopefully reduce fire danger by replacing any faulty old strips. The use of rechargeable batteries is helpful in reducing waste and energy, yeah sure you’re still using energy from the wall, but energy going to recharge them is less than the energy of breaking down the battery and because these batteries have multiple reuses, they will not end up in a landfill. The use of a bicycle or simply walking to get somewhere can make its difference known. Not only are you not driving and using up gas as a form of energy, but you’re using your own body energy and making yourself healthier.
There is an endless list of things that one can do to reduce your consumption of energy. However, there are two things that each of us need to ask ourselves first. One is, what I do that consumes energy in a wasteful way. Second, what will I do to change my behavior and make myself less energy dependent and more energy efficient? A last thing is the realization that even little things can make a difference in the long run. Unplugging that old stereo that has been plugged into the wall for months or maybe even years can show a reduction on your energy bill.
On a national scale we have found ways to lower our consumption such as using buses, trains, and other mass modes of transportation to move people. Switching energy sources that we use is a change that we are trying to do as nation. I’m talking about going green and the use of clean and reusable sources of energy such as hydro electrical power, wind power, and geo-thermal power. These are some of the ways many people have found to make the world a little greener. The system of reduce, reuse, and recycle has also made a difference in the way we treat our waste materials. Even now there are people in the world who are coming up with new and inventive ways to reduce their consumption and make what we do consume healthier for the environment around us. What is it that you will do to make a change?
2 comments:
My question is, for those of us that are already doing all of those things (reusable grocery bags, unplugging electrical products not in use, using reusable batteries, biking everywhere we can, and all light bulbs low wattage LED, Etc.), what more steps can we do? Also, When looking at statistics all of these little changes, though one time changes that a majority of Americans find easy to do, they do not make much difference. The majority of energy consumption comes from things such as heating up our hot water for laundry and showers. Everyone thinks of showers and laundry as saving water but in actuality reducing your usage of hot water reduces your electricity consumption more so than changing a light bulb. So a little extra effort would make more of a difference.
Also, I love alternative energy sources, but if you like them, you may have to look elsewhere. Though new sources are being thought up every day as you say, new laws passed by our "wonderful" governor walker make it so that windmills cannot be built within so many hundreds of feed of any property line. Thus no windmills may be built in Wisconsin and these alternative energy sources and jobs are going out of state. And recycling has become optional and no longer funded, alternative routes of transportation (even the new zero emission buses in Milwaukee!) are possibly being shut down due to lack of funding in this new budget. So are we really going forwards? If our government is reinforcing or pushing for these programs how is the average American going to view these programs and changes and decide to be energy conscious themselves?
I think you bring up a very good point. Many people don't realize quite how much energy we use on an average day. In today's day and age we use energy in everything we do, without even realizing it. We need to be made more aware of all the little things that use energy and how we can lower that.
Another challenge here would be to convince others to do the same. To convince our government to conserve energy. Energy is not always a visible thing to people and it is so easy to access in our everyday life. We take it for granted.
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