Sierra Club Green Home

Give Your Clothes the Cold Shoulder About 90% of the energy used to wash clothes goes directly to heating the water. Cold-water washing works fine for all but the most stubborn stains. Our clothes washers and dryers article has more ideas for environmentally friendly laundering.

Take the solar plunge. If you’ve got a pool, why not heat it with the sun’s free energy? A solar pool heater is a great investment, paying for itself within two to seven years. Read our solar hot water article to learn more.

Spring cleaning. Ever wonder what’s in your cleaning products?  It’s hard to know because manufacturers aren’t required to disclose all the ingredients. Learn what steps to take to buy or make green cleaning products.

Chill out. Keep your refrigerator between 36 and 38 degrees and the freezer between 0 and 5 degrees. Any colder and you’re wasting electricity and money. Read our refrigerators article for more cool energy saving tips.

Shower shorter. Shorter showers save water and water heating energy. Using less water also means less energy is needed for pumping water and treating wastewater. If you have a tendency to daydream while showering, use a shower timer. Read our water conservation article for more tips.

Calculate the cost. Ever wonder what it costs to run an appliance all year?  It’s easy to figure out, just use this formula:  Multiply the appliance’s wattage times the number of hours used per day times the number of days used per year. Divide the product by 1,000 to get the number of kilowatt-hours used [...]

Rock-a-bye, Computer. At home and at work, make sure your computer is set to go into sleep or standby mode when you’re not using it. This simple step can save more than $200 a year. Read our computer article for more energy-saving tips.

Button up. Cracks around windows, doors, ducts and pipes can let cold air into your home.  Use weather stripping and caulk to block leaks and reduce your heating bill by 20%. Read our air sealing article for how-to tips.

My Green New Year. Why not make this your greenest year ever? Make a list of 10 things you plan to do to live more lightly on the planet. Keep the new years resolutions list where you’ll see it every day, and start on at least one of those items this week.

If you opt for a real Christmas tree (Sierra‘s Mr. Green says that real trees are greener than fakes), help the environment by recycling the brown-needled conifer after the holiday. Earth 911 will help you find a recycling program in your area.