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I don’t care if people comment this topic in English or German. Just comment it if you want to say something. 
I will try to collect all of the relevant points and publish them in a freely available format for everyone afterwards!
donstechan has also picked up this very important topic on his blog in german:
und was machst du?
Thanks!
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I recently tried to figure out simple ways to save energy and resources in my everyday life and I came to the point where I thought: “wait a minute … I could blog this and ask others about their impressions!“.
I want to sum up some simple ideas which are very easy to realize for everybody in a developed country.
That’s why I’m asking YOU. What are you doing to save energy and resources?
Here are some of my ideas. I would appreciate if the one or the other could realize some (or all) of them. Most of them are a result of common sense and I’m often shocked when I see people who disregard these simple things:
Water
- When brushing your teeth, the water doesn’t need to go down the sink. This also refers to the shower (when you soap yourself). That’s not neccessary.
- Even if it’s very comfortable to take a shower for a long time – don’t do it.
- You don’t have to wash your clothes after you have worn them only once. Actually, excessive washing will damage your clothes. If they aren’t dirty, why wash them? And if they are niffy, try to air them instead.
Trash
- Try to avoid buying things which are excessively packaged.
- Use deposit bottles where possible.
Fossil fuels
- When driving your car, avoid using the air conditioning. Switch off your headlights if possible. This helps to reduce the mileage and reduces the emissions.
Electricity
- Unplug your electronic devices physically. Most devices still need electricity even when switched off. If you are unsure, unplug the fuse of your flat.
- Try to use energy saving lamps.
- Switch off the light when you leave a room.
I think that everyone could do these simple things without any big effort, so DO IT!
It also helps your moneybag. 
I would also like to hear comments and ideas from you.
Thanks in advance!
UPDATE:
Thanks a lot to stechan for posting his ideas, I really appreciate that! And because of the point with the headlights I have to say that I also think that switching on your headlights is safer, even during daytime. But it also reduces the mileage if switched off … that’s a point which has potential for a discussion.
18 Comments
Great Topic. I totally agree with you in the most of your points. The only point i don’t really like is the one with the headlights. I believe that the gain of safety is more important. And yes – i do believe that it even makes a difference at day.
There was once a “Sendung mit der Maus” about trash which totally changed my mind. I like the illustrations they use, its awesome. Anyway, it’s shocking how much you can actually do by yourself. The point with the deposit bottles has already been mentioned. But sadly, you often don’t have a choice. I don’t know a lot of companies who provide these bottles. On the other hand, you can also help the environment by reusing throw-away-bottles. As I’m only drinking water, I buy a water bottle once a month and then reuse it till it smells like fungus
I use the plastic bags from supermarkets for the plastic trash. I know, paper bags are more enviromental friendly, but they are also more expensive and i don’t really know an application where i could use them again.
The packaging policy of most companies really freaks me out. In most cases there’s not even a reason to do so. As an example: Tea. Why do the tea bags have to be packaged seperatly? And of course i don’t want to run to the dumpster every couple of days because of this crap.
Some additional points about Water: Even if you wash your clothes, think about if you really need detergent. And even if you do think it is necessary, using just a small amount is often more than enough. Same thing with fabric softener. I found out that this crap is actually not even really working. Vinegar works much better and is more enviromental friendly (and recommended by old ladies). But… yeah… it smells strange
I heard of reducing the water in your toilet… but thats actually not a good idea. Because if the pipes are not flushed completly, the dirt sticks at the wall of your pipe and after some years and a big sausage you won’t be able to flush until you change your pipes
Fossile fuels: The best would be, if we could stop using them right now. But we can’t … so, heres what i do: When I have to stop for some reason (traffic light, crash, …) I turn the car off. When it’s at least 20 seconds, you already save fuel. I just don’t understand why the most people dont turn of their car in such situations. They stand there with their car running just to get a couple of meters forward every 30 seconds. These people are the ones who complain about the fuel prize.
I hope that electrical cars are soon available… but this will lead to other problems (increasing electricity prize…)
Electricity: In the HTL I heard that if all austrian people would turn off their stand-by devices, we could close one of our power plants. My flatmates don’t care about this fact, so I turn off everything thats not used right now. People don’t realise that these actions matter.
Heating: There is a point, where further heating is useless. At this point you really should turn your heater off. I’m moving my working place near the heater when it is getting colder. And don’t use fan heaters, i can’t think of a more useless piece of junk right now. In case you need something like that, an infrared heater would do a much better job.
Thats all of what I can think about right now. I hope my english isn’t that bad… altough corrections are appreciated
I have to say this again: Great Post. Hopefully there are more people posting their ideas here.
Is my english really so bad that you had to update the post?
No, but I want as many impression as possible and I don’t want people to torture themselves because of the language
Meine Meinung gibts jetzt auch auf Deutsch
-> http://donstechan.at/und-was-machst-du/
Danke ap0 für die nette Erwähnung
Fossile fuels: As don sad, don’t heat too much and avoid to keep the windows open all the time. open them completly for a few minutes to flush the room and then close them. Buy things which don’t need to travel the half globe.
Electrical: On a rainy day there’s not really a need for a light in the stairway, seem logical, but i see it the other way every day. some people hit the switch just because of their habits.
When buying a new “toy” does this really need a digital watch?
Trash: real garbage separation! think twice about the materials. a tetrapak is no paper!
…more later…sorry for the bad english
opp, you could post in German too, no problem. As i wrote in the beginning, it’s okay. (by the way it isn’t that bad
)
good point with the “half the globe” stuff. I nearly forgot this one although it’s REALLY important. I guess my list of simple things could get quite long
thanks for the ideas dude
3 more little things:
fuel:
check the airpresure of your wheels frequently! safes a lot of gas!
avoid unnessecery acceleration! drive passiv!
Trash:
If you don’t want prospects, then tell your postoffice! Today this meens that the prospects aren’t printed.
I forgot, sorry: before talking about light at day and savety: think about something doesn’t influence the savety, but nnobody even waste one thought about turning of: the soundsystem! mosttime min. 4 Speakers,nowadays even more, 50 to 60 W each plus the player…i think more energy then the light…
I totally agree with opperator – use your brain when driving your car. My car got a diesel powered engine, and diesel engines have their maximum power at around 2000-2500rpm, so why forcing it to turn up to 5000rpm? This is completely senseless and even ridiculous.
Now that the price of gasoline climbs up by the day, you should concern even more about that.
wassersparen: zu zweit duschen
hihi
@stini:
we are the real conservationists
@opperator:
you’re right. the sound-system in modern cars really need much energy, but you know, how boring a long drive could get if there is no sound… :/ also the tip with the tire pressure is very helpful. thanks a lot.
but I just see that we all forgot the most important part:
“don’t even drive if it’s not absolutely necessary!”
Smaller distances don’t require a car. This helps the environment, your health and your moneybag. it’s a win-win-situation for everyone.
About lamps:
http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/09/19/me-and-cfls-havent-parted-ways-just-yet/
Very nice article. Thanks for that!
Nice article about hybrid/electric cars:
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=transportation&id=20651
aaand another article:
http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/10/03/top-energy-and-money-saving-thermostat-tactics/
Fuel And Electricity Saving Devices…
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100%, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong….
infrared heater…
I found your post comments while searching Google. Very relevant especially as this is not an issue which a lot of peaople are conversant with….
How To Run A Car On Water…
I was looking through your past posts. Great job there….