Don’t Take The Car if You're Not Going Far!

By: Rachael H.

 

How often do you leave the lights on in your house? There is an absurd amount of energy being wasted in the U.S. today. Leaving the lights on when you don’t need to builds up over time. The energy you waste leaving on the lights costs a considerable amount of money, and it ends up harming the environment. A study from 2009 showed that Americans waste an alarming average of 130 billion dollars a year.

According to an article written by Sarah Battaglia, the U.S. is the number one energy-wasting country in the world. American efficiency is 42%, which means that 58% is being wasted. That is more than half of the U.S.’s energy consumption.

When energy is made, usually either coal or another fossil fuel is being used to make it. Natural gases are being used as well, which release methane and other atrocious emissions into the atmosphere. This causes our atmosphere to decay. Some scientists say this helps to cause global warming. That means that all the coal and gases being put into the air to make energy are being wasted. A study by Arcadia says, “Coal, for example, is the second-largest fossil fuel used in the U.S.”  The pollution coming from these fossil fuels is tremendous. When people waste energy they are technically polluting the environment.

If we take a look at the light bulb, the amount that gets wasted is 66.7%. About 14 million people leave the lights on; an example is when you leave for work. Have you ever felt heat coming off of your lightbulb? Then you should know that the heat is also wasted energy. When we leave the lights on for too long or use outdated lights, we end up wasting energy, causing it to make heat. Using LED bulbs can save 25-85% less energy. An article from Energy Central says, “Since the sole purpose of a light bulb is to produce light, all of the energy that goes into producing the heat is a complete waste.” 

The next problem is money wasting. The electricity bill average per month is $111.67. (this can vary depending on where you live). You should also think about all the things you are doing that wastes energy. Sorry, but that's going into your bill as well. There is an abundant amount of ways we can help lower the cost and drop the amount of energy being wasted.

This all may sound extreme, but as I said, there are ways you can be part of making cleaner energy, saving money, and being helpful to the environment. So let's get started!

There is solar energy, which is the most common. This is where we take the sun's rays and use that to make energy. Solar panels help us do that! We can put them on our roofs, and some communities have big fields full of them.

Wind energy is another option! We could use the natural wind to make energy for our homes. You may have seen this before, but there are big spinning poles in the sky. These are called wind turbines. There are ways to have this in our backyard, but there are rules and regulations that go along with it. For example, it would be 30 feet higher than anything within 200 feet of it, including trees.

There is also Hydropower. The U.S. has tons of dams, but did you know that some of these are producing energy too? When water flows through a dam or river, it flows through a system.  That's what makes the energy.

Those who want to help can, even at home, by turning off the lights, not running the AC while you're gone, having clean air filters, not loitering at the fridge, and using LED bulbs. If it is cooler outside, then pop open a window. Overall, about 66% of energy in housing gets wasted.

When we are using transportation we could walk, bike, carpool, and/or combine shopping trips. The amount of energy we waste on transportation is 71%!

The world needs to stop being lazy, especially the U.S. So don’t take the car if you aren’t going far; it's simple. When we can, we should help to not destroy the environment with pollution, gases, smoke, and other fossil fuels; the world needs our help!