Its time for Spring Cleaning once again and its also a good time
to talk about reducing carbon dioxide emissions in your home. It
doesn't take a lot to make a big difference. In case you are new
to the whole "carbon neutral" debate, here is a summary: carbon
dioxide is released into the atmosphere when we burn fossil
fuels such as oil, coal and gas. CO2 is a bi-product every time
we generate electricity and start our cars, turn on our
computers or run our dishwashers. Here are a few tips to utilize
your energy more efficiently at home and reduce your emissions.
The great part of doing these simple steps will result in lower
energy bills. (1) Set your thermostat 3 degrees cooler in winter
and 3 degrees warmer in the summer. (2) Clean / Replace filters
in your heater and air conditioning unit. (3) Run your
dishwasher when it is fully loaded, between the hours of
midnight and 4 am and use the energy-saver setting if there is
one. (4) Power down your electronics, computers, stereos, iPods,
etc when not in use. Un