Conflicting information about what constitutes a green choice can leave many consumers stalled with indecision. This new article from Bankrate helps to separate fact from fiction when it comes to living a greener life, and making choices that can have a positive effect on the environment. The best way to break the logjam is to start by trying a couple of solutions that are doable and make sense to you.
For example, if you still have that avocado green fridge from the 1970s, you’re using 70 percent more power than you would with a new model. If you’re using an appliance with an Energy Star label, your savings will be closer to 90 percent, says Jennifer Powers, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.
That’s simply because newer appliances do a lot more with a lot less juice: If the old equipment is more than 10 to 15 years old, you can probably cut significant energy use by replacing it.
When you buy household paper goods (like paper towels, napkins, toilet paper and copy paper), look for products that use high percentages of recycled or post-consumer waste. If everyone in the country elected to buy one package of 100 percent recycled napkins instead of the nonrecycled variety, that act alone would save 1 million trees, says Powers.
And up to 10 percent of your power bill goes to run appliances that you’ve already turned off, says Powers. Dubbed “vampire power,” it’s the energy a machine keeps using so that it can pop on quickly when you flip the switch. Don’t feel like plugging and unplugging every time you want to use the computer or play the stereo? Use a power strip. (Just beware of overloading too many gadgets and gizmos on the same one.) Then, when you’re not using the item, flip the switch on the strip, and you’ll know that “off” is really “off.”
