"Turn off the Lights! Let's Save Money!"

 On off. On off. Energy is apart of Houstonians everyday life. We use energy to see, eat, and live comfortably. Yet, we can be smarter and more frugal with the amount of energy that we use everyday. There are simple things that we as Houstonians can do in our own homes to better the community and to sustain/conserve energy.

    One easy way to conserve energy is by simply turning the lights off! Mother nature has blessed us with beautiful sunlight on sunny days, why not use it? Open the blinds up and keep the light switches down. This will bring a person's personal electricity bill down and will also help Houston as a whole. Minimum use of electricity also applies when leaving the room in the evening. it is okay to turn off the light once someone has left the room. This will once again save the green in one's pocket and the green on the earth.

    Another simple way to sustain Houston's energy is to lower the amount of televisions in the home. Some families have up to seven televisions that are only a family of four. When able, maybe a family night, everyone can come together and watch one television in the household. This would hightened the amount of family time spent, and lower the electricity bill.

    A third simple way to sustain Houston's energy, but certainly not the last. People can unplug unused electronics, especially when leaving town. Electricity is still being used if an appliance is plugged up, even when it is not turned on. So it'll be great to simply unplug that fan that is not in use, or the television in the guest room that only gets turned on 4 times out the month.

    Houston is making its way in sustaining and conserving energy. There is a program called "Lights Out" Houston that is all about being green. "It is estimated that by eliminating just 50% of the lights routinely left on overnight and on the weekends in downtown Houston, Houston could save almost $1 million dollars annually." (www.greenhoustontx.gov) More information can be found on the website: www.greenhoustontx.gov. Any Houstonians are more than welcomed to join the movement to a more sustained energy conserving Houston, TX. Come on and "Turn off the lights, let's save money!"

Comments

[Fadia]

I think that conserving energy is very important for everyone to do. Turning off lights when you are not using them or don't actually need them can help. I also keep my AC on auto in the house so when the desired temp reaches it turns off. Everyone is responsible for their foot step on this planet.

[mohsina]

I think conserving energy is very important. Use compact fluroscent light bulbs. these funny looking bulbs produce the same amount of light by using one fourth the electricity. Use of renewable energy, reuse and recycling are important elements of sustainable living.

[Coodab89]

I am guilty of not unplugging electronics that I am no longer using. I know that it will help I just forget. These are all very good ideas to live by to help save energy and I am going to try harder to remember to unplug things that I am not using at that moment in time. The main thing is my cell phone charger, I can never remember to unplug it from the wall and it stays in all day everyday. I don't want to have a huge carbon foot print.

[Kelly Wade]

I think that it is great that the city of Houston has started a campaign to get their residents to reduce the amount of energy they use. I would love to know what the city is asking the big corporations who reside in the Houston area to reduce the amount of energy they use.

[Bianca Y.]

Other ways you can conserve energy is to limit your use of household appliances,such as the washer machine and dryer, dishwasher etc. Running your washer and dryer at night time instead of during the day time, only using your dishwasher when its full or go back to the old fashion way of washing dishes( this simple adjustment can conserve alot of energy over a time).

I think that this going green movement is very good way to live a more sustainable life. I think that the movement should have more advertisement so the people can see the difference they can make if they just cut back on their energy use because lets be honest if we don't see the changes or the effects of what would happen immediatly than most people aren't really interested in making the adjustment.

[Janette]

This is a relatable topic because it is something that we can all work on. We could also switch to a natural source of energy like solar power or wind energy, both of which are offered in Houston.Yes, I think that saving money on our bills should be a good incentive but I think that it is sad that to most people that is the only incentive they have. They do not care that our planet is being harmed by their carelessness. A good thing that I have seen in schools is that they are into the "green trend" and they are promoting it which is great because when I went to elementary I do not ever remember being talked to about recycling or power saving. Hopefully this children, which are tomorrow's future, will grow up to be more conscious of energy waste and how to prevent it.

[Toni Vallen]

I think that this going green movement is very good way to live a more sustainable life. I think that the movement should have more advertisement so the people can see the difference they can make if they just cut back on their energy use