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Eco-Friendly Tips During Social Distancing: Conserving Electricity and Water

  • Writer: ywacc.ngo
    ywacc.ngo
  • Apr 8, 2020
  • 3 min read

In case you missed the last couple of articles, we urge you to check them out first! Over the next couple of weeks/months, we want to provide articles that can provide some positive news during these tough times. We will also try and highlight some helpful tips that you can follow to help the Earth directly from your home. Our last article was focused on dietary and food related eco-friendly hacks; this one will be more focused on conserving electricity and water.




We’ll start with the obvious, but an important tip. When you’re not using a room, please make sure to turn off all light switches and electronic devices, such as fans, that are not needed. On average, doing a casual walk through a house to ensure all nonessential switches are off, results in at least four light bulbs being turned off. If you want to look at a specific case study that attempts to collect data on this simple task, check out “Lights Off Cornell.” This project was started by a committee of students at Cornell University aiming to conserve energy on campus by just switching off light bulbs that were not in use. They calculated that about 60,000 dollars could have been saved if nonessential lights were turned off- and that’s just including light bulbs. Think about how much energy could have been conserved by also switching off televisions, computers, chargers, heaters, fans humidifiers, and air conditioning systems when not in use.


Another eco-friendly tip that you can follow while staying at home pertains to washing machines and dryers. For starters, make sure to turn on the washer and/or dryer only when there is a full load of laundry to be done. There is no need to do a full cycle in the washing machine for just three shirts, a pair of pants, and a single sock. An average, non commercial washing machine uses about 255 watts of energy per hour (Energy Resource Center). The price of energy goes up when using a commercial washer that can handle larger loads. An average dryer, however, uses about 2,790 watts of energy per hour! (Energy Resource Center). Instead of using a dryer, you can try to dry your clothes on a clothesline. While this practice is not super popular in the United States, this option is the norm in many other countries. Now, with warmer weather approaching, is the perfect time to try this new tip. Using a clothesline will also better preserve the fabric, material, and color of your clothes, overall making them last longer.



The last couple of tips will focus on the shower and bath. While this is awfully cliched, taking shorter showers really does help conserve our water supply and help our planet. An average shower uses about five gallons of water per minute (Boston University). To put this number into context, it is recommended that an average adult drink about half a gallon of water per day (Mayo Clinic). The water you could save by cutting a minute off of your shower time, could be used as drinking water for about 10 days. Another eco-friendly tip that you can follow while social distancing, but also during the entire year, is choosing to take showers instead of baths. According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, a full bathtub requires about 70 gallons of water. In contrast, a short shower requires only about 10-25 gallons (EPA). We hope this encourages you to be more conscious of your environmental impact!



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