Some very practical every day eco-tips. I am not an expert in environment issues. I do my best to search for practical tips.
Read it and if you feel like making a little difference to this planet, try to implement them. If you don't like them,fine, tell me why and I'll do my best not to disappoint you. But if are one of those people who believe you can't make a difference to this planet and therefore ask me to stop, then I'm sorry Mr.Tamil Crab.
I'll do my best to add one every day. (send me one, if you have. would love to add it here)
1. Use an eco-friendly font while printing. Century Gothic consumes 30% less ink than Arial.
2. Still using screensavers? Set your screensaver to 'blank' or 'none' and you save upto 90 watts of power per hour.
3. Do you wear seat belts while driving? Good. But don't wear it after starting your engine. Wear it before starting the engine, while the on-board computer checks the systems. Saves quite a bit of fuel.
4. Phantom power - after you charge your cell phone, switch off or unplug the charger. Leaving it on drains 20 Watts of power.
5. Idling gets you nowhere. Turn off your engine if you are stopping for more than 10 seconds. 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting it. For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile.
6. Chewing gum? Chewing gum is the second largest littering item in the world.Chewing gum is not biodegradable and will stick to its surface for many, many years until treated.
7. Use the boot as much as possible before moving on to the roof rack. Even an empty roof rack costs you 3-5% more fuel coz of the drag.
8. Air or Nitrogen for tires? 80% of air is nitrogen but oxygen in regular air permeates through rubber faster than nitrogen. Filling your tires with nitrogen means slower deflations and minimized oxidation--->longer tire life--->less fuel consumption:-)
9. 8, 9, 10 - the most economical font sizes to print without affecting the readability of the text. Anything higher is purely ornamental.
10. Parking your car? Park it so that you don't have to reverse it when you come back later. It takes more fuel to reverse a car when it has just been started.
11. Running your air conditioner does cause your vehicle to consume more fuel, but driving with your windows rolled down can be even worse due to the increase of drag on the vehicle. If you are driving slowly, such as around town or in city traffic, then you are better off leaving your windows open. For highway driving, roll up the windows and turn the air conditioning on.
12. If you've got a PC and a laptop, work on the laptop as much as possible. It takes 70% less power.
13. Fill up the tank more than one third full to prevent splashing of fuel. Not having a steady supply of gas will make your engine less efficient. The benefits of having a full tank will outweigh the drawbacks of having the added weight.
14. For coastal cities in India, the most ideal temperature setting for an AC is 24 degrees (`C).
15. Consider using your geyser, washing machine before 10 AM, the peak load starting time.
16. Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
17. A front loading washing machine will need only a third of the water needed by a top loader to soak all the clothes. It uses gravity to drop the clothes back into the water as the drum rotates.
