As student fees rise and the American job market crumbles, it’s easy for environmental issues to take a backseat in the average Triton’s daily routine. But fortunately, we can tackle both our financial and environmental worries through everyday conservation methods. Individually speaking, the behavioral changes are small, but when a larger body ‘mdash; such as the UCSD community ‘mdash; adopts them, they add up. The adjustments I’ve made can both fatten your wallet and give you a clean environmental conscience.
My methods include:
1) Lowering my energy bill by conserving energy. Turn off your power strip or unplug your cell phone and laptop chargers when you’re not using them to prevent phantom loads (energy consumed when the power is turned off). According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while they are turned off.
To maximize savings with a laptop, put your AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off; the transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even if the laptop is not plugged into the adapter.
If you don’t have them yet, get compact fluorescent light bulbs. According to Energy Star, a government-backed program that rates energy efficiency, a CFL will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about six months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.
2) Conserving water ‘mdash; San Diego imports 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River and Northern California. Start by turning off the tap when you’re washing dishes or soaping up in the shower. And turn off the water when you’re brushing your teeth or scrubbing your hands. According to the San Diego Water Authority, it saves about three gallons per day.
3) Disposing of bottled water and replacing it with a reusable water bottle and tap water (or filtered tap water). Though a 16-ounce bottle of water costs about $1, you can get the same amount in tap water for a few pennies.
4) Checking my tire pressure. The higher it is, the better fuel mileage you’ll see ‘mdash; meaning fewer fill-ups and more money in your pocket. You can also improve mileage by clearing out the junk in your trunk, because a heavier load leads to lower gas mileage. Consuming less gas also reduces air pollution (20.8 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere for every gallon of fuel consumed).
Whether financial or environmental, we’re all part of a community using the same pool of resources. Acknowledging that we have limited supplies enables us to consume more responsibly while both preserving the environment and saving our hard-earned cash.