Green Light Reflections

Featured Article on Household Energy Use

I just got the March 2009 issue of National Geographic in the mail.

Side note: Yes, I know we’re supposed to be cutting down on our magazine and catalogue subscriptions, which I’m working on and will discuss in a later post, but National Geographic is one of the few subscriptions that I will be keeping (and that I actually actively subscribe to – the rest just started getting sent to my house after distributors somehow managed to get my home address). It’s simply too superb a publication to give up.

Back to what I was saying… Coincidentally, the March 2009 cover story, “Saving Energy: It Starts at Home”, featuring a couple that attempts to reduce their energy use and carbon footprint, discusses the various ways people can live a more energy-efficient lifestyle. It also divulges all kinds of great facts about energy use in our daily lives and its broader implications. Perfect timing, considering, along with the issue of National Geographic, I also received my latest Duke Energy bill, which will reveal the results of Phase I of Project Get Off the Grid (a very exciting mail day). Anyway, I highly recommend reading the article (and the whole magazine, for that matter). The website actually has some cool extra features, including this one about the carbon footprint of various household appliances and what you can do about it.

Ultimately, the couple featured in the article was able to slash their electricity use by 70% and natural gas use by 40%. Granted, they started out approximately 30% above the national average for a two-person home, but very impressive nonetheless.