One easy way to shrink your carbon footprint is to conserve energy

One easy way to shrink your carbon footprint is to conserve energy. Most of us waste  energy when heating, cooling, and lighting our homes, and when running electrical appliances and gadgets. Small steps like changing light-bulbs and switching off gadgets might not seem important, but they can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Televisions on “standby” can use over half the energy they do when switched on300pounds (135 kg) of C02 gas are saved each year by every CFL bulb.

Light planet An enormous amount of energy is used just lighting towns and cities—as shown in this satellite image of Earth at night. The spots and lines of light show groups of buildings in many of the world’s biggest cities, and even the highways that link them together. 

what can you do ?

Replace every traditional lightbulbin the house with an energy-efficient CFL bulb.

Turn televisions, computers,

and other electronics to “off,” instead of “standby” or “sleep.

Always unplug chargers

for cell phones and mp3 players after use.

Turn down central heating

in winter, and wear a sweater to keep warm.

Turn down air-conditioning

in summer, or turn it off and use a fan instead.

Better Lightbulbs

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) give out the same amount of light as traditional Lightbulbs, but they use around 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer. If every house in the United States replaced just one bulb, the CC₂ gas saved would be the same as taking 1.3 million cars off the road.