Project Two - Research: Ways to reduce energy consumption

- Unplug appliances and turn off lights when you're not using them
- Set computers to sleep and hibernate
- Use power strips for TVs, stereos etc. so you can easily switch them off
- Take control of temperature:
      - Turn thermostat on water down
      - Use sunlight in the daytime and close curtains to trap heat at night
      - Turn thermostat down at night and when noones home
      - Insulate walls and ceilings
- Wash clothes in cold water and let them air dry.  Don't use a dryer
- Let dishes air dry.  Don't dry them in the dish washer
- Use dish washer and washing machine at off peak hours as energy consumption is more at peak hours
- Use energy suffient bulbs
- Walk, bike or car pool instead of driving
- Reduce the amount of waste you produce, use reusable products and recyle
- Take shorter showers and replace your shower head with a less powerful one that dispenses water slower
- Cook efficiently
- Use Blackle, which is a black version of Google.  A black screen uses less power than a white one.
- Download apps like CO2 saver which reduces the power settings on your computer when its not in use

When researching about ways to reduce energy, I found the majority of the ways were to simply turning things off when not in use and reducing the amount you use water and power.  This is easily said but when it comes to actually doing it, most people won't bother because it takes a lot more effort to switch the TV off at the wall than to just turn it on stanby with the control.  To make people want to do these things more you'd need to make it easier to turn things off completely or make something give you positive and negative responses as people respond to this more.