The greener the better - that’s the future of Singapore. The nation's planners envision more cycle paths and walkways, improved green corridors, and even a stylish, new waterfront near Marina Bay. In short a cleaner, greener nation.
Green Your Home and Save From recycling to energy saving, minor changes at home add up to real benefits for the planet, not to mention your own health and happiness. Here are six top tips from the experts.
1. Cool Down Use ceiling fans instead of air conditioners. According to Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings by Alex Wilson, even a slow-moving fan can easily help cool your home. In money terms, with the energy it takes to run one air conditioning unit, you can run eight ceiling fans.
2. Stop the Energy Vampires Think about all the plugged in appliances that you aren’t currently using. Energy vampires like coffee makers, handphone chargers, laptops and TVs. Matt Golden, founder and president of Sustainable Spaces says a significant amount of energy is used while these appliances are turned off. Try to unplug them. A multiple power strip can make it easier to unplug everything at once.
3. Save Water Water Use it Wisely.com advises installing a dual-flush toilet–with two buttons, one for a small flush (0.8 gallons of water) and a larger flush (1.6 gallons), compared to 3.5 gallons for pre-1994 models. If you can’t do that, adjust your float valve to admit less water into the toilet's tank.
4. Green Clean Household cleaners are potentially toxic to both you and the environment. Use simple cleaning ingredients such as plain soap, water, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), vinegar, washing soda (sodium carbonate) and lemon juice. Better for your health and cheaper too!
5. Let There be Light Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer.
“CFL technology is more energy efficient and uses less power to generate the same amount of light.” Energy Efficient Singapore
6. Save Trees You can buy tree-free, cheaper 100% recycled paper for everything from tissue paper to greeting cards. Recycled paper uses less or no virgin pulp and keeps more waste paper out of landfills.