Water/Energy Conservation
Overview
This week, let’s make a commitment to reduce our water consumption and the energy we use for electricity, heating, cooling, and transport. Transitioning to energy sustainability is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.
Tell us about your activity or challenge progress (see below). The first five entries win a pair of LED bulbs! Each submission also enters you for a chance to win the Water and Energy Conservation grand prize, a Rachio 3e smart irrigation controller.
Activities & Challenges
This week, we have 3 activities and 3 challenges – and 2 activities for kids too!
Activities
- Replace all incandescent bulbs in your home with energy-efficient LED bulbs. (Choose the LED temperature that works best for you: 5,000K gives a white light that mimics daylight, while 3,500K gives the soft glow of incandescent bulbs).
- Make a big leap and get solar energy! Thanks to rebates and our sunny, mediterranean climate, it takes just a few years to pay off a solar system. Check out Project Sunroof from Google, to see the cost and savings for your home.
- Save water in these times of drought. Install low-flush toilets, take shorter showers, and turn off water whenever it is not needed.
What’s your best energy saving idea? Use our Best Energy Saving Ideas Form. We’ll share it with others!
Activities for Kids
- Point out all the EV charging stations you can spot when riding in the car with your parents.
- Note your average shower time over the course of a week. See if you can shorten that time by a minute or more the next week. Figure out how much water you save in a year by taking a slightly shorter shower.
Challenges
- Consider an electric vehicle if you’re in the market for a new car. Take a test drive or learn more online. You’ll make a ton of difference in reducing greenhouse emissions, and you can get a nice rebate as well! When factoring in the gas and maintenance savings, the cost of EV ownership over time is lower than you think.
- Make big water savings in your garden! Install drip irrigation and a smart controller like Racchio. A smart controller automates water conservation by skipping rain days and automatically adjusting watering times to the season.
- Do you have to run your faucet for a while until hot water appears? That can be a lot of water down the drain! Collect the cold water in a bucket and use it to flush toilets or water house plants. Better still, a recirculation pump with a timer or on-demand switch is a simple solution to quick hot water that conserves precious water and energy.
What energy or water conservation action have you taken this week? If you’ve taken actions in the past, we’d like to hear them too!
Use our Water/Energy Actions Form to share what you did. If you have a photo, please send it to webmaster@cherryhillna.org and/or use the hashtag #Conservation if you post to social media. We’ll create a gallery with all submissions.
Water/Energy Savings Ideas
Click any image to enlarge it and/ or view the description
Send your ideas (and descriptions) to webmaster@cherryhillna.org
Other Actions You Can Take
- Look for ENERGY STAR-certified appliances when you replace your next appliance. You can save money on operating costs by reducing energy use — without sacrificing performance.
- When replacing your water heater, furnace, or air-conditioning units, check out heat pumps. They are far more efficient and they eliminate fossil fuels. And you can get a nice rebate through SVCE’s Future Fit program.)
- Consider an induction cooktop. Induction cooking is fast, efficient, easy to clean, and it cuts out fossil fuels. A no-commitment way to try one out is to borrow one at the Sunnyvale Public Library!.
- Join the Sunnyvale EV Enthusiasts group to ask questions and connect with EV car owners.
- Ditch the dryer! Line dry your laundry for easy energy savings.
- Adjust your thermostat seasonally to minimize the use of AC in the summer and the furnace in the winter.
- Switch from a gas-powered leaf blower to an electric blower for cleaner energy. Gas-powered leaf blowers emit pollution more than ten times dirtier than an automobile.
Resources & Further Reading
- Check out the City of Sunnyvale’s Sustainability page. It has lots of ideas and resources.
- Did you know the Sunnyvale Public Library has a DIY Home Energy Saving Toolkit? Check out this wonderful resource to get freebies like 2 LED bulbs, weatherstripping, low-flow faucet aerators and more. You can also use the included thermal gun to detect heat loss, and the Kill-A-Watt meter to find the energy hogs.
- Order a free Water Wise Home Survey DIY Kit and other water-conserving items from Valley Water.
- Have you taken a big energy reduction step? Bought an electric car? Installed a heat pump or drip irrigation? Made the switch to solar power? If so, would you be willing to share your experience with others? Let us know! We’d like to build a community of “ambassadors” who can answer questions and help others get there.