We are all so concerned with just trying to make ends meet that we seem to be running in place and cannot stand back and take in the bigger picture to tell us what is actually happening. We need to ask ourselves why we are so significantly inefficient in running our lives. For many years now, we have dealt with pretty good times and have not had to worry about putting such expensive petrol into our cars, nor be concerned about the fact that without those cars we simply cannot exist. It’s been so long since we had a recession, we can’t remember what it is all about and some of us are too young anyway, being forced to read about these downturns in reference books! Whether it was time for a wake up call or not, we certainly got one.

It is crazy that we rely on mechanical energy forms to help us do everything, without question. Our energy inefficiency has led to gross amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and damage to our environment, and we need to change now! We talk a good story about the benefits of renewable energy, but we are not helping the environment by diverting funds away from the research and development needed to actually make these options work for us.

“The Great Recession,” as it has become known, has now shown us how vulnerable we are to a downturn and how we all have little to fall back on in hard times. As such, we must be efficient in everything we do and this definitely includes energy use. We all have to learn to turn appliances off, to think of what we could do as an alternative and not just opt for the easy way. We must review our transportation habits and not clog the roads with single occupant vehicles each and every day as we go back and forth to work.

If you happen to be the decision-maker either at home or in the office, come up with ways to save electricity and then put an action plan in place. Just as an example, you could turn the thermostat down by a degree or so, insist that the family turn off all the lights when not in use, make sure the clothes are washed together and not individually and in general ensure that we are all better keepers of the space that we live in.

As we know, we cannot rely on our politicians to work quickly enough. Few seem to doubt the validity of those environmental claims, but political agendas are still getting in the way of making any headway. The so-called “summit” attended by our leaders in Copenhagen failed to produce any realistic action, once again.

We don’t have to wait around for politicians to try and force big business to solve these issues. If we all do our own bit, we can save ourselves money by steadily reducing our energy use and our own carbon footprints every day, and although we can’t get this all done by ourselves, we can achieve real results if we all work together. Start right away by putting “people power” into action and let’s all enjoy the journey, taking advantage of the fact that there are billions of us around the world with an almost unbelievable combined potential – but only if we act now!

It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t have to live off the land or move to a cabin in the mountains to start helping the environment! Have you noticed how environmental issues have become hot news, quite literally, these days? Quite simply, we can’t continue to be conspicuous with our consumption habits and we have to understand what it means to be sustainable as we move forward. This will require us to think about every single action that we take during our daily lives. Find ways to save electricity at home and really learn about the benefits of renewable energy, to see whether we can apply at least some of these ideas to our lives.

How can we help save the environment, individually? Here’s a small list of steps that you can take at home, right now, which would make a difference. If all of us were to apply what we read here, there would be a remarkable change over the long haul.

1. Look at all the bulbs you have in your house. It is much better to use compact fluorescent bulbs than those traditional incandescent items that use a lot of energy. Begin by changing all the light bulbs in the house. You’d be surprised just how many bulbs you have. You may be worried about the money that goes out of your wallet when you first buy this kind of bulb, but statisticians from the government assure us that we can save so much money during the course of the year with lower electricity bills that we can make this money back.

2. Be a much better steward. Get used to sending a lot more to the recycling plant. Bury biodegradable waste and food leftovers in the ground rather than clogging up the local landfills. Experts tell us that 20% of the rubbish that we produce is actually biodegradable and we could get rid of it ourselves without stressing the system unnecessarily. Think of the energy used to collect this excess waste and save them the trouble of doing so.

3. Look at your transportation. Consider whether you could share transportation with fellow worker/employees on a daily basis. You could cut down on both your bills by pooling resources this way. Why is it that those traffic jams that we experience daily on the motorway when going to work, are all made up of vehicles that just seem to have a single occupant? We have known about this for some time and cannot deny that it is really silly and as we wait for politicians to perfect public transportation systems, we should all exhibit some common sense.

4. Plant trees in your back garden. Trees are great for our environmental problems and the thorny subject of climate change. They attract carbon dioxide emissions that are otherwise spewed into the air by power consumption. By planting trees you can also keep direct sunlight away from your home and this could help to cut down your cooling bills in the summer, as well. In addition, well-positioned trees cut down noise pollution caused by a noisy highway that might be located close to you.

You see, just by being creative we can make a difference in almost every activity we engage in.

There’s no point in trying to brush the problem of excess energy use under the carpet any longer. We need to realise that change begins at home and it is up to each one of us. If we own or rent a home and use all the creature comforts that we are used to, then we are responsible for using a certain amount of energy and have, consequently, a carbon footprint to worry about. We cannot turn to big business and blame them for everything, nor can we half-heartedly point to the fact that we might take the bus when we go to work and not use a car. We all need to make big changes and look for ways to save electricity wherever we can find them. A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step.

Before you do anything else, go around all your doors and windows and look to see that they’re fitting properly. Don’t just give it a cursory glance as you likely won’t be able to see any problems with the naked eye – and as such, you should use an open flame to see if you have any drafts or even run your hand over the edges. There is no sense whatsoever in heating the inside of your house or using air conditioning to try and cool it down during the brief hot spells that we get, if your hard earned money is flying out the window. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that your house is as airtight as you can make it before worrying about your cooling and heating costs.

Rooms that are only rarely used should be isolated and you can put timer activated lighting appliances in these areas. Motion detectors are good as well as they will activate and deactivate the lights when people move around. Unplug all electrical items when they’re not actually in use, as they can still drain electricity when connected to a wall socket. It’s best if all computers are turned off at night. You have no need to keep them on for this period of time and they will only build up heat within, anyway. Remember every bit helps and it will all add up over the course of a year.

We all know of the benefits of renewable energy, but once again, we tend to think that it’s a project for somebody else. Solar energy panels could be a good idea? Some home owners run their entire property on solar power, using either roof mounted panels or additional panels in their garden. One of the ways to save electricity is to cut down on its extraction from the grid and to reduce the size of your footprint. If our footprint is too big, we need to get more energy efficient “shoes” and not continue to be extravagant in everything that we do. Turn your water heater thermostat down a notch and try to avoid using electricity to heat your water, as it is very inefficient. They say that roughly 2/3 of the energy actually produced to get the electricity to you, to heat your water in the first place, is lost in the distribution system. For efficiency’s sake, oil or gas fired water heaters are much better, more highly efficient and will be far more beneficial when it comes to helping the environment as well.