Tomorrow, March 27^th, 2010, 8:30pm local time is official Earth Hour.

Join hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world as they come together to call for action on climate change and turn their lights off for one hour. This is a great way to demonstrate how focusing locally can make a global difference. Earth Hour is a global initiative started by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to focus attention on climate change. Since its inception in 2007 in Sydney Australia, millions of people around the globe have participated every year. While Earth Hour represents a small moment in time, it serves as a reminder that each of us plays a role in protecting our environment. This also is a great opportunity to talk to our family and friends about energy conservation and what it means to our children and grand children.

In 2009, hundreds of millions of people in more than 4,000 cities in 87 countries on seven continents participated. In the U.S., 80 million Americans, 318 cities and eight states officially turned off their lights for Earth Hour including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and San Francisco. Iconic landmarks around the world went dark for Earth Hour, including the Las Vegas Strip, NY’s Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, UN headquarters, Golden Gate Bridge, Seattle’s Space Needle, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Sydney’s Opera House, and many more.

The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations. Ohio is an official Earth Hour state and will turn off the lights at the Governor’s residence for one hour. Cincinnati is a participating city.

Join in tomorrow night and be a part of this global movement! Turn your lights off from 8:30-9:30pm. Visit Earth Hour's website for more information.

Be green, save energy,

Fia

OH Appliance Rebate

Our homes make up 20% of the CO2 emissions throughout the United States. Help increase your energy efficiency. Beginning Friday, March 26, 2010, Ohio residents can be rewarded for the purchase of an ENERGY STAR appliance! By upgrading your appliances to ENERGY STAR, and recycling your old ones, you are saving a TON on energy bills! Rule of thumb, if your current appliance is 10 years or older, it is definitely time to upgrade to ENERGY STAR.

For more information, visit this website.

To learn more about saving energy, visit ENERGY STAR or Green Energy Ohio.

Phantom Power 101

The Basics:
When you turn off your television, computer, DVD player or other electronics, but leave them plugged in, they are still using power. "Phantom power", also known as "phantom loads" or "vampire power" is the energy that is being consumed by appliances when they are plugged in, but not turned on. In an average home, about 75% of all electricity is used to power home appliances while they are turned off.

What You Can Do:
Unplug your appliances and electronics when they are not in use (phone chargers, DVD players, computers, televisions, camera battery chargers, rechargeable battery chargers, even lamps). Use power strips with surge protectors to make it easy to "unplug" many appliances at once. You can do this both at home and at work.

How It Helps:

• Saves money on your energy bills. Standby mode can cost the average American household as much as $50 (or more) per year.
• Lowers emissions. If all phantom loads in U.S. homes were stopped, we could shut down 17 power plants.
  
• Just by properly switching off electronics like your computer, television and CD player can decrease the more than 97 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by waste standby energy every year.
  

Unplugging your electronics, including lamps, when you aren't using them takes a little getting used to. Daniel and I started doing so last year, and we have saved a lot of energy. You do have to wait for a few minutes for the cable box to reset itself, but the difference we have seen in our energy bills is well worth it! Using power strips really helps. Not only do they have surge protectors in them to keep your electronics safe, but you can invest in different types including ones that have a main outlet so when you turn off your TV you can automatically turn off the cable, the DVD player, the Wii, etc., without having to turn off the power strip. Check out this Smart Strip as an example.

Be Green!

Sources:
Bonnin, J. & McKay, K. (2009). True Green Home: 100 Inspirational Ideas for Creating a Green Environment at Home. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society.

Hill, G. & O'Neill, M. (2008). Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living. New York: Villard Books.