The Environmental Effects of Wasting Energy

Mankind needs energy for heating, cooking, manufacturing and for transportation. Our lives and lifestyles depend on it. If you consider that the vast majority of that energy is drawn from what are irreplaceable sources: fossil fuels. Certain fossil fuels burn cleaner than others do. Natural gas is very clean, most petroleum products are somewhat dirty, and coal is very difficult to use without dumping a lot of nasty byproducts into the environment.

The Impact of Fossil Fuels

Not only does the use of fossil fuels have a detrimental impact on the environment; the collection of these fuels also can be damaging to the environment. Strip mining and oil spills are just two obvious, awful consequences of fossil fuel collection. Since making and consuming energy has bad effects on the environment and, the acquiring of the fossil fuels has bad effects on the environment, then it stands to reason that the worst sin against the environment is wasting energy. Wasting energy causes both long-term and short-term negative consequences to the environment. This benefits no one.

Energy Waste Can Be Reduced

Waste can come from so many things. Did you know some cars get zero miles per gallon? They are parked cars with their engines running. As stupid as that sounds, what about the lights on in the empty room and the unwatched television or computer? Just as serious, but not as obvious is the waste caused by poor choices. Inefficient indoor and outdoor lighting is such a choice. Just switching away from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lighting would save so much energy.

Choosing Fluorescent Over Incandescent

Incandescent light bulbs use substantially more electricity than fluorescent lighting. They burn out far more often than compact fluorescent bulbs and also require far more energy to manufacture. The light emitted from fluorescent light bulbs is actually brighter than the light emitted by incandescent bulbs watt-for-watt.

Incandescent light bulbs give off substantial heat when turned on, which then requires air conditioning and/or high powered fans to keep the room comfortable. Even if you were to ignore the havoc incandescent bulbs wreak on the environment, cost wise they make no sense when compared to fluorescent lighting. Since less light is required, more money is saved, less energy is wasted, which culminates in decreased negative impact on the environment when using fluorescent lighting.

The current price for a barrel of oil ($143 USD on 6/30/08) is going to make many previously wasteful people now start to pay attention to the ways they can start saving energy. As oil prices go up, so follow the prices of electricity and natural gas. People will set their thermostats higher, look for timers to shut off their water heaters during the day, plan their errands to stop making extra trips, wash clothes in cold water and use a clothesline for drying them, and replace incandescent light bulbs with florescent lighting.

Do Your Part

If you want to do your part to help the environment...

Step #1 is very simple. The next time you go to the store to purchase light bulbs, make a specific effort to buy fluorescent lighting instead of anything else. To make it even easier, you can order compact fluorescent light bulbs at a discount online right now at The Energy Superstore, and save gas money too.

Step #2 is also pretty simple, turn off lights and appliances when you leave the room. If everyone implemented these two steps, we would see a major decrease in energy consumption and energy waste. Please try to remember to do your part.