Keep The Earth Cool -- Neoseeker Earth Day contest with PowerColor

Keep The Earth Cool Contest

The Earth. You might have heard of it. In fact, there is a very good chance you are even standing on it right now!

The Earth is a fantastic place. It is very hospitable to a wide range of life forms. Even us humans have a swell time Earth'ing it up, in a big way.

The Earth is cool. So Neoseeker would like to announce a Keep The Earth Cool contest, in honor of the Earth, and in honor of the day that honors the Earth, Earth Day. Our good friends at PowerColor would like to pitch in as well.

This contest is simplest thing ever: all you have to do, in this thread, is post a suggestion on how you can conserve energy. Such as say, biking to your friend's place, instead of driving a Hummer.

The contest ends a week from now, at the end of Earth Day (April 22nd). From this very thread, three winners will be chosen by PowerColor. The prize is one of three video cards from their new HD 5000 series Go! Green line.

This perhaps the easiest way to win a video card of all time.

If you'd like to know more about PowerColor's Go! Green series of video cards, the you can learn about the line-up over here -- NewEgg currently has the low-power cards on sale for Earth Day.

Thank you !

Oh cool! I do this just about everyday!

Well, a few thing I do everyday are pretty simple an easy to follow.

1. Turn off all electrical equipment when you leave it. (Bar some electric equipment that must be kept on)
2. Use a stove instead of a heater. We use pellet stove and save a lot of money and energy too!
3. Try to Bike/Walk short distances. Automobiles take energy and gas to use and aren't very good for the earth in general, or at least, the carbon emissions.
4. Use CFL Light Bulbs instead of the standard ones. They DO save energy.
5. Keep the doors and windows open during the summer instead of using fans to keep yourself cool.
6. Air dry your clothes (if possible) instead of using a dryer.
7. Take out charges from outlets of any kind. They do take a little electricity even though it might not be going anywhere.

I'll edit this later.

Why use CFL when you could get LEDs?

LED lights are up to 98% more efficient than traditional flourescent and incandescent bulbs and produce almost no heat. They really are the best way to be "green" without interrupting your everyday life. That said, they are kinda expensive.

Another investment people may not be aware of is the installation of a simple "full house fan". These fans are designed to draw air in from the outside and have it escape through the attic. By opening your windows in the AM and letting the fan run (until it starts to warm up a bit) and then shutting down your house, you can go a whole day without any need for air conditioning (assuming your home is insulated well enough). IIRC ours is designed for a 2800 square foot home and costs 80 cents a day to run (assuming it were to be run for 12 hours).

1. Use public transport, that way more people can get to their destination with the same energy usage

2. Similar to the first suggestion, car-pull with people. If you're going to be going to the same place, just have one person be the designated driver to get you there

3. If you're watching the same program as someone else, just use the one television (sounds stupid but I've seen it happen more times than I can laugh about)

4. To cool yourself down you can use household objects like a piece of paper to fan yourself. If you're cold, you can simply wrap up rather than turn on the heating

5. When doing the washing, do it in full loads to save energy. Use a cold water cycle, it also takes less energy

6. Install solar panels on your roof. You won't have to pay high electric bills anymore and the energy is completely natural

7. Solar-powered garden lights. They're cheap, save you money and they come in a large variety of styles to boot

8. Have a "family night". Each Friday we simply gather in the lounge with just candles for a light source to talk and watch a movie. Means less energy consumption all-around for one night a week, though it could be done more often if people prefer

I'll put up more as they come to me.

[size=1][color=#666666]This message was edited by Dark Arcanine on Apr 15 2010.

1. Unplug all chargers when not in use (I think they take roughly 4 watts for sitting there and doing nothing =( )
   
2. Bike/Skateboard/Run/Carpool to work/school/etc.
   
3. Windows are there for a reasons. Open them instead of turning on the AC. When it is too cold, wrap up in a blanket or a Snuggie (and with a Snuggie, all of your friends will be jealous =D )
   
4. EnergyStar appliances and other equipment. You can buy inexpensive devices (I can't for the life of me remember what they're called >__<) to test the power consumption during use and idle of your current appliances. Use those results to see what upgrades could be made. (we actually did this as a project in my intro to engineering course last semester. Older appliances seemed to take up a whole lot electricity than newer ones)
   
5. If you can afford the investment, get solar panels installed. Unfortunately it is a big investment, as you won't offset the initial cost until roughly 30 years later (we need to find a way to make/install them cheaper, haha)

Haha, you guys already took all of the good ones and I don't want to paraphrase or anything just to make mine longer.

Insulate your house. You will cut over half of your homes energy consumption with this basic and cost effective step. Many major governments around the world are offering schemes to install free insulation or with significant rebates. Take advantage of this while you can.

Combine this with turning power points off at the wall, keeping blinds/windows shut when you do use air conditioning, run washers (clothes and dishes) and dryers only when you have a full load, and turning off your energy efficient light bulbs when you aren't in the room. This will quite easily cut your energy consumption by 75%+

The other major factor is upgrading things like fridges/microwaves/washers/dryers to newer, more energy efficient models. It may cost you money right now, but in the long run the money you save on your power bills, and the benefit to the globe will outweigh and short term cost more than sufficiently.


It seems basic, and you all think you knew this already. Yet how many of you actually do it? How many of you realise how much difference it can make? 60-75%+ for every home is a ridiculously high margin.

1) Be better about turning my PC off at night and while I am at work
2) Turn the temp/AC up when I'm going at work
3) Start composting biodegradable trash
4) Switch to all paperless bills - I have done this for most but I still get so most junk mail =/
5) Wash most cloths on cold cycle
6) Underclock energy hungry crossfire setup when not gaming

Trade in your gas guzzler for a new hybrid.