Looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint and save money? Permanently reduce your electric bill quickly and easily with the zero-volt challenge! This is a fun activity for your family and/or as a school project. It raises awareness of specifically how energy is being consumed in your home and can lead to future conservation discussions and efforts within your family or school. If this is a family project consider adding this to your calendar as a quick annual carbon checkup. If this is a school project, consider running a Zero-Volt (or 'Stop Wasting Energy!') contest to raise awareness about how much energy we waste mindlessly.
According to UNEP, in order to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C, we must drop our greenhouse gas emissions 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030. Every step you take to decrease energy consumption helps!.
With so many household devices - both appliances and electronics - in use today, it's easy to lose track of how many we're paying to keep plugged in that aren't actually adding any value to our lives. Many modern devices use a surprising amount of standby power when turned off - up to a whopping 25% of your electric bill could just go toward powering idle devices. Other devices, such as second refrigerators or freezers, cost hundreds of dollars a year to run, but may not be worth the extra expense. And some unused devices may simply have been plugged in at some point in the past and forgotten. And, finally, if any light fixtures still have old incandescent bulbs, these cost considerably more to use than LED bulbs.
Quickly identify and minimize unneeded expenses in three easy steps:
* Important Only unplug a device if it is safe for both you and the device!
This is a great time to check for water leaks: While you're at it, take a moment to turn off any running water and check the water meter to make sure it's zero. This is a quick way to find hidden leaks (the most common being a leaking toilet flapper).