THE Ways to Conserve Thread (merged)

TheSupplyGuy

I've discovered many easy and practical things that could easily help the world and lower oil consumption. Here's some of them:

Install the heater things in every bathroom instead of paper(it may sound worse, but thing of all the energy to get that paper and transport it). The only concern I have is if they're less sanitary, since germs do like warmth.

Replace about as many escalators as possible with stairs.

Buy food from your local farmer's market instead of supporting items that have been shipped 1000+ miles, plus you get better prices and support your local economy.

Turn things off when you leave a room/aren't using them(that may sound ultrasimple, but you won't believe how many people can't seem to manage it). I'll have more later as these ephiphanies come to me Smile

.
_________________
In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.-Thoreau
Peak Oil

clv101 · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:39 am Post subject:

Nice idea - I'm a bit fan of conservation, a barrel of oil saved is after all just as good as a barrel of oil discovered.

However, I'm not so sure of replacing paper towels with electric heaters... I would have suggested replacing them with cotton towels which are washed and re-used or just not to bother at all... would it be such a hardship not to dry our hands? Give them a shake... walk on, they'll be dry in a couple of minutes.

I can't see replacing escalators with stairs as having a large impact. Sure it's a move in the right direction. I would suggest turning off air-con. Do we really need a steady 22C whilst walking around the shopping centre or sitting in the office? Would 17C on a cold day and 30C on a hot day be such a hardship - HUGE savings to be had there. We need to stop trying to control our environment and learn to live with it... put a jumper on if cold, take it off if hot. Simple.

Buying from local producers - Excellent point.

Turning things off - Also excellent. I think there should be more technology deployed in this area. More things should turn themselves off and on again when they detect people.

Seeing how wistful we are now gives hope for a softer landing.

TheSupplyGuy · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 2:53 pm Post subject:

True, thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure the government got about 10 people together in a room to come up with ideas for conservation, they could easily make up a list of 20 things before lunch.
_________________
In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.-Thoreau
Peak Oil

MonteQuest · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:53 pm Post subject:

Here's my first ten:

1.Spend the money to keep your car tuned up, and keep your tires inflated properly.
2.In the winter, turn your thermostats down to 68 degrees or below. Reduce the setting to 55 degrees before going to sleep or when leaving for the day. (For each 1 degree you turn down the thermostat in the winter, you'll save up to 5% on your heating costs.)
3.Turn off non-essential lights and appliances. The electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars!
4.Avoid running large appliances such as washers, dryers, and electric ovens during peak energy demand hours from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
5.Close shades and blinds at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. This also applies during the day for warm climates.
6.Buy Energy Star appliances, products and lights.
7.Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.
8.Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.
9.Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.
10.Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.

As to escalators, why replace them with stairs, just don't turn them on! They are already stairs!
_________________
A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."
Live in Arizona? Check out: http://sustainablearizona.org and read my blog.

lowem · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 7:53 pm Post subject:

I kinda like those smart escalators I saw in Europe. I *think* it was Monaco / Monte Carlo. They stop when there's nobody and start running when they sense somebody stepping on. So far I've only seen a couple of those here in Singapore.

For PC's, I'd say at least setting the monitor power-saving mode helps a lot, especially for cheapos like me who can't afford (and don't want) LCD panels and have stuck with CRT's. Set to 5 or 10 minutes, and it's off.

The PC itself takes a lot less power than the monitor especially if you're running anything newer/better than Windows 95/98. Windows NT and XP (and 2003 should as well) come with a "System Idle Process" that issues the HLT instruction (HALT, actually) when doing nothing in particular.

Oh, and if you're actually going to buy a new CPU, avoid the Intel Pentium 4's, *especially* the P4E's - they're the V8 energy guzzlers of the processor world nowadays. The AMD64's are cheaper, run faster in most applications except XVID, MP3 encoding (who does that all the time anyway), run cooler and use much less energy.

Mine's an AMD64, it runs at 41 degC idle, 44-46 degC running 3D games, and up to 56 degC XVID encoding. Intel P4E's typically run at over 50 degC *while idle*. And heat up over 60-70 degC, guzzling way over 100W at full throttle.

For the home, in a hot, tropical climate like Singapore's, it's possible to survive without aircon, it all depends on where your home is located, and the direction it's facing. Some people buy the apartments facing East or West - bad idea. The sun shines right into the house and heats up everything and everybody. Some people put the aircon compressor unit where the sun shines - even worse idea, but sometimes there's not much choice about it. And get fans, place them strategically. Each fan is at least 10-20x cheaper in running costs than an aircon unit, just need 1, the most 2, to a room.
_________________
Live quotes - crude oil, gold and currencies
http://www.post1.net/lowem/page/livequotes

pepper2000 · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 123

One strategy is to use the microwave instead of the oven when feasible. Get a small refrigerator/freezer. Put appliances, especially the computer, on a power strip and turn off the power strip when they are not in use. Even when off, many electronics continue to use energy.

I have a roommate who turns the thermostat to 80 degrees, leaves the windows open, turns on every light and sometimes the television, and then leaves the apartment. It drives me crazy.

TheSupplyGuy · Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 2:16 pm Post subject:

Wow, I'm sorry for you pepper. Maybe we should keep working on this, and turn it into a pinned thread in this forum?
_________________
In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.-Thoreau
Peak Oil

xcel · Tar Sands Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 22

Hi All:

___My small contribution to humanity â€¦

The Horror, the absolute horror â€¦

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

frankthetank · Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 10:05 pm Post subject:

Turn down your hot water heaters...I've seen some that are cranked up so high they'll burn you...

Close heat/ac register in rooms that aren't being used...

0mar · Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:20 am Post subject:

Unfortunately, conservation will only delay the peak by a few years. Even if the US completely stopped importing oil, the peak could still conceivable hit by 2010-2020. To me, it looks like we have plateaued these last few years. There has been very little change in the total production of countries, despite new drilling and finds. This is mainly due to depletion in other non-OPEC countries. I am not saying that conservation is bad; it's a wonderful stop-gap, but it will never solve peak oil.

There needs to be a fundemental change in the way we use energy and more importantly, in how many people occupy the earth. For one thing, suburbs should be demolished ASAP and people should start living closer to work. The US's standard of living, along with most highly developed countries, needs to drop to about the level of Turkey or Poland. On top of that, ~3 billion people just plain need to go. And all these useless pieces of sh!t need to go too. Like electric toothbrushes, 13.1 stereosystems, lavish week-long parties thrown by rich people, and generally all the sh!t we don' t need in the survival-sense of the word. Useless novelties that serve no purpose other than existing to be sold.

What we need to do is educate people that true happiness comes from social interactions, a satisfying job, and a decent family. What one really needs in total is the above and a couple (and I really do mean couple) hobbies, such as woodwork or computers or music etc etc. We need to stop advocating a consumerist culture that thrives on exploitation. A society built on avarice and unsatiable needs will never suceed in the long-term. Guess what kind of society we have.

pbcoole · Guest

I just stumbled over this sight while ordering a copy of the End of Suburbia.

In this entire thread on conservation, no one mentioned getting rid of your car altogether. My wife and I sold our car back in May, and in some ways, it has actually been easier. We took the money and bought a triple bicycle which my five and three-year-old children ride with me. For a long time before that, my five-year-old rode on a tandem bicycle with me.

I sometimes see people defending the use of cars because, well, we live in a car culture. We should, instead, press for higher cafe standards, etc. That's a circular argument if I ever heard one. The reason we have a car culture is because people drive cars. The way we would stop having a car culture is through individual choices not to drive.

We stopped driving because we did not want to participate as intensively in the car culture rather than to conserve oil, although it is true that oil is used in the manufacture of things which are more important than transportation (medical supplies for instance).

(People ask us this time of year what we do about icy roads. The answer is easy: studded bicycle tires).

Paul

Xelat · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:54 pm Post subject:

I second pbcoole. I drive 10 to 20 thousand miles a year. But having learned about PO in January and watched the elections go down I became just to fed up with the whole thing. So I stopped driving. That's what you should do. Anyone who is half a man (or woman) and recognizes the threat of PO should get out of their car and on the bus, train, bike or even walk. This is true even for the doomers - I have frequently heard doomers say that you need to be able to put in a whole days worth of manual labor. Well being able to walk/run 40 miles in a day I would think would be essential. Putting in an hour or so a day on your bike will take you a long way towards this. It really is not very difficult at all.

We ought to start a bike advocacy thread and just keep it floating toward the top of this forum.

TrueKaiser · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 28, 2004 Posts: 539

jesus_of_suburbia · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:23 pm Post subject:

Barbara · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:13 am Post subject:

Do you REALLY use disposable paper towels in your house bathroom???? Shocked

(Sometimes I think these americans really deserve a good lesson... Mad

)
_________________
**no english mothertongue**
--------
Objects in the rear view mirror
are closer than they appear.