We all know that it’s important to conserve energy, but sometimes we don’t really think about all of the little things that we can do to conserve energy and save on electricity.

The notion of Earth Day (in April) is great, but unfortunately I think that a lot of people turn off the lights for one hour on Earth Day, feel virtuous for doing so and for participating, and then continue to leave a gigantic carbon footprint. Earth Day raises awareness, but it’s just one day. We need to focus on making small changes every day to make a real difference.

Photo courtesy of Tech.Food.Life.

Since this week is the Commuter Challenge, I thought that it was a great time to discuss the topic! As with Earth Day, the Commuter Challenge is something that we should also be striving to do all the time. We should always be finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint – not just for one day or one week each year.

Here are some simple, smart ways to save on electricity:

– Unplug appliances when they aren’t in use. My paper shredder and blender are always out, ready for use, but I only ever plug them in when I use them. Some items are best plugged in 24/7 (I can’t imagine it would be much fun to constantly plug in and unplug a microwave, for example, with all the settings that would need to be adjusted and with the fact that usually the outlet is hidden behind the giant contraption), so leave those ones alone. If you know that there are cords plugged in for no good reason, though, it’s best to unplug them. If there are certain lamps in your home that aren’t frequently used, why not unplug those as well?

– Leave the lights off. I’m lucky to have virtually an entire wall of windows in my condo, so a ton of light floods in throughout the day. I like to keep the lights off during the day and only turn them on once the sun starts to go down. We often turn lights on when we’re at home, but this is really just a waste. We don’t need half of the lights turned on that we keep on.

– Replace the lights. What’s more romantic than candles scattered around the home? I adore candles! They make for a lovely soft light, no electricity required. You’d be surprised at how little you really need a light to be on. Sometimes the low light of candles or from the light outdoors can be enough in the home.

– Turn off the computer. I turn my laptop on when I’m using it, and that’s it. It gets turned off every night before I go to sleep. If I turn it on in the morning before heading to work, I also turn it off before heading to work so that it gets a break during the day as well. There’s no point in keeping things plugged in when we aren’t using them! This goes for lights, as well: if you aren’t at home, turn off the lights!

– Use fans and small heaters. A couple of my baseboard heaters appear to be broken, so I survived the winter with lots of blankets, hot tea and a portable heater. The little heater is the best. I carry it around my condo with me when I’m moving from one room to the next. The boyfriend likes it so much that he got one for his own apartment. Portable heaters can be tiny things that give off a lot of heat. As for the warmer months: last summer I took one look at the air conditioner contraption that the previous condo owners had left for me and I promptly went out and picked up two standing fans. I didn’t want to go through the hassle of setting up a big air conditioner, and besides, I don’t like how dry the air gets from using an air conditioner. During the summer my condo stays cool by keeping the window open and the two fans going. It’s perfect.

Those are just a few of the ways that you can save on electricity in your own home, without a huge hassle! What do you do to conserve energy?