Transportation Tips for Living Green

Can’t afford a fuel efficient or hybrid car? Not to worry, you can still save on transportation and fuel costs. Check out these tips for living green and keeping more green in your pocket.

• Work from home 1 -2 days a week. Not only will you use less fuel and emit less harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but you will also be more efficient and have a couple more hours to devote to your family. Those who telecommute now outnumber those who use mass transit.
• Skip a business trip or vacation. According to a Reader’s Digest article, skipping an airplane trip greatly helps reduce the amount of CO2 being emitted from an airplane as well as water vapors and nitrogen oxides, which can be more damaging than CO2 alone. 
• Don’t be afraid to use your car’s air conditioning system during the warmer months, it’s actually less costly to run the AC than drive with the windows down. Just keep the setting at low and drive the speed limit.
• Use cruise control whenever you can while driving. Not only will you improve your gas mileage, but you will also save about 250 pounds of CO2 every year. If you’re counting your carbon credit usage, this will help.

Need more tips for living green? Check out Fair Green Trade’s green directory.

Achieve Laptop Energy Conservation and Be Cool with ThermaPAK’s Laptop Mat

If you own a laptop, you may have experienced the unpleasant sensation of your overheated computer resting on your lap. Not a fun feeling. So what’s to be done? Ditching your personal computer for a cooler one isn’t really the most viable option. But fortunately, a company called ThermaPAK has a cool, low-cost solution for both energy conservation and your own comfort.

Their slogan is “Be Green. Be Cool.” And with that simple goal in mind, ThermaPAK has created a HeatShift Pad that keeps laps cool even when laptops are getting hot. The rippled mat absorbs heat from your laptop. Keeping your laptop cool doesn’t just mean that you can work longer and more easily, but it also achieves better energy conservation. Also, your battery will last longer.

It’s an easy way to get great energy conservation and keep cool. If your laptop has been getting too hot under the collar recently, give it a break and try the ThermaPAK HeatShift pad.

Energy Conservation Facts to Fall Back On

In many parts of the nation, people are getting ready for the coming winter months and turning their clocks back an hour. However, what you really need to fall back on are basic energy conservation facts which have not changed much in recent years.

Energy conservation facts you need to know to save money on heating and equipment.

• Aging furnaces and AC units should be replaced with more energy efficient models. Through replacing outdated equipment, homeowners could see a savings as much as $500 a season.
• The steep rise of natural gas costs this winter could be enough to send you searching for a different heating source. If you live anywhere between the Mid-Atlantic to the Great Plains, you know how winters can be. So having the most current energy conservation facts about heating is of the utmost importance.
• Technological advances are constantly being made to update and improve furnaces and heating equipment, but only about every 2 years. The most current energy conservation facts include the newest furnaces which run between 92 – 95 percent energy efficient. However, if you have a furnace that was installed 10 years ago, it may only be running at 80 percent efficiency as reported in a BizJournal.com article.
• More consumers are increasingly becoming aware and looking for companies who use sustainable energy. This type of energy is one that can be easily absorbed by the earth without additional harm – energy conservation facts that every homeowner and multi-family housing complex owner needs to know.
• Solar and geothermal energy has been gaining the most attention although both have been in existence for more than 20 years. Companies who are now offering rebates to homeowners for using sustainable energy can see a savings to install these eco-friendly heating and AC units, which are valuable energy conservation facts for anyone.

Find more manufacturers of sustainable energy and alternative sources of energy through Fair Green Trade’s green directory.

If you are a company that offers energy efficient heating and/or alternative energy sources, please comment below and tell us about your services or what you are doing to become more eco friendly.