|
CURRENT ISSUES
Topics of Interest to Consumers
Help Mother Nature from Your Home
Earth Day is all about celebrating the beauty and resources that Mother
Nature has given to us, and doing something to give back to
the earth that will help clean, brighten, and preserve it for
us and for future generations.
This year, celebrating Earth Day could not only help
protect the environment, but can help you now in your
own home. Did you
know that the average home is responsible for twice as much
air pollution as the average car?
Most people wouldn't associate their house with the
production of emissions that are harmful to our health and our
environment, but America's homes in fact produce thousands of
pounds of pollution each year—and energy consumption plays a
major role.
For
Earth Day, you have the power to make a change for the better
by choosing products that have earned the government's ENERGY
STAR when shopping for light fixtures, appliances, home
electronics, heating and cooling systems, and more.
ENERGY STAR qualified products prevent greenhouse gas
emissions and protect the environment by meeting strict energy
efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE).
This means less energy is generated by power plants,
decreasing the amount of fossil fuels burned, which results in
less air pollution. Investments
already made through ENERGY STAR in Massachusetts will prevent
42 billion pounds of carbon dioxide and 66 million pounds of
nitrogen dioxide emissions.
$1.8 billion will be saved by Massachusetts consumers,
those are big savings!
You
can help now in your own home.
ENERGY STAR encourages consumers to follow 5 simple
steps in their homes that will help clean the environment and
save money:
1.
Change 5 lights
Change
a light, and you help change the world.
Replace your 5 most frequently used light fixtures, or
the bulbs in them, with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR,
and you'll help the environment while saving money on energy
bills. If every
household did it, together we'd prevent more than 1 trillion
pounds of air pollution.
2.
Look for ENERGY STAR labeled products
When
buying new products for your home, get the features and
performance you want AND help reduce air pollution.
Look for ENERGY STAR-qualified products in more than 40
product categories, including lighting, home electronics,
heating and cooling equipment, and appliances.
Americans have already purchased more than 1 billion
qualified products, and last year alone-reduced pollution
equivalent to taking 15 million cars off the road.
If you are building or buying a new home ask about
ENERGY STAR, we
label those too.
3.
Heat and cool smartly
Simple steps like
having your heating and cooling equipment tuned up yearly by a
licensed contractor, and
cleaning air filters regularly, can go a long way toward
saving energy and increasing comfort at home.
When it's time to replace your old equipment, choose a high
efficiency model, and make sure it's sized and installed
properly. Also,
use an ENERGY STAR programmable thermostat to avoid heating or
cooling an empty house. If
just one household in ten bought ENERGY STAR heating and
cooling equipment, the
change would keep more than 17 billion pounds of pollution out
of the air.
4. Seal up your
home with better insulation and ductwork
Close up those
unseen cracks and gaps in your house, install adequate
insulation, and choose ENERGY STAR qualified windows when
replacing old windows. That
way you'll eliminate drafts, keep your home more comfortable
all year round, and save a lot of energy that would otherwise
be wasted. Last
year alone ENERGY STAR improvements saved enough energy to
power 25 million homes for the entire year.
5. Tell family
and friends how they can help
Slip it into a
conversation with your mother.
Talk about it at a neighbor's barbecue.
Pass it on at
a PTA meeting or at work.
We're asking you to help spread the word that energy
efficiency is good for your home and good for our environment.
So tell 5 people and together we can help our homes
help us all. For more information visit www.energystar.gov
OTHER
HELPFUL INFORMATION
|
