Apollo Group: Think Green. Live Green. Go Green.

What You Can Do: Green@Home Tips

The responsibility of a greener environment rests on all of us. But it’s easier than you think to make your home a little greener, and get back a little green in your pocketbook in the process. Below, please find some simple tips for greener living at home.

Simple Tips for Promoting Sustainability at Home

(NEW) Stir up some positive change by asking your barista and/or office manager to switch to organic and Fair Trade-labeled brands.
(NEW) Bring a reusable mug for your daily cup of coffee.
(NEW) Use long-life refillable pens made from recycled plastic, paper or timber, or from fully biodegradable bioplastic. Also look for pencils manufactured from sustainably harvested timber or wood substitutes such as recycled paper, old plastic cups, wood offcuts and reclaimed denim.
(NEW) Reuse bread wrappers and other plastic packaging rather than buying plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Keep reusable spoons, forks and chopsticks in your drawer so you don't need the disposable kind.
(NEW) A plant on your desk is not only nice to look at but also acts as a natural air filter, absorbing airborne pollutants and computer radiation while replenishing oxygen levels.
(NEW) The idea that leaving a machine on is more efficient than turning it off has become something of an urban, and deeply uneconomic, myth.
Left on all day, every day, a computer will over a year use nearly 1,000 kilowatts of electricity, resulting in more than a ton of carbon emissions and an unnecessarily high electricity bill. By switching off your computer before you go home you'll cut its electricity use to less than 250 kilowatts, with comparable carbon and cost savings. Think about turning it off even when you're going to a meeting or lunch. Do the same with other office equipment.
(NEW) Use tree-free Kenaf-based paper.
It is an alternative to using wood based paper and is healthier for the eco-system and can be produced in greater quantities than in cutting down trees!
(NEW) Appliances with clocks and cell phone chargers slowly use power. Instead of plugging those into the wall, use a power strip that you can switch off when not in use. For warmer climates, invest in a window air conditioner to save on energy bills – most of us spend most of our time in one room so, we can leave the rest of the house much warmer during that time.
(NEW) I called up APS and asked them if they could switch my current home electric too "green" energy.
They provided me with a couple of options: 35%, 50% and 100% "green" energy to power my homes electric. I picked 100%, the cost was minimal but the impact is great!! I figure that one small step in my house will let to bigger and "greener" things!
(NEW) If as many employees as possible go to a compressed work schedule it would reduce the amount of driving significantly. Even better would be to have employee's that can telecommute, do it!
Even little things like changing shifts by a half hour or so to avoid long trips in traffic can help our planet! Go green, both for the world and our wallets! Green is good for the world and the company!
(NEW) Skip the treadmill and hit the pavement!
Why use energy to operate a treadmill when there are so many sites to see? Also, my kids often forget to shut off the nightlight, so I bought the ones with a daylight sensor. Making small changes such as these can have a major impact on our future!
(NEW) I use cloth diapers on my kids.
I know for those not familiar with modern cloth diapers it sounds like a pain, but its not. They are chemical free so they are better for your baby. They don't contribute to the massive amount of diapers in landfills that take 500 years to decompose. The U.S. alone uses 27 "billion" disposable diapers a year. Also they are really cute. :) When I first started researching them I realized there were no resources local to me so I got my business license and wholesale accounts with some retailers and opened my own online store www.clothbabyplanet.com. Now I provide classes to people in my area to help them get started or with any questions they have. They are so easy and I love knowing my children's diapers won't be in landfills for longer than they are even alive.
(NEW) There is a great service that drives employees from Apollo Group from the city of Maricopa to Tempe and Phoenix.
The service is very cheap and 100% reliable. The trip is approximately 40 miles one way -- imagine the impact we can make on the environment. The bus has seats that recline, air conditioning, wi-fi, bike racks and other amenities. http://mpd.azdot.gov/transit/Maricopa.asp
Clean and Green Energy at Home
As you know, University of Phoenix recently teamed up with hometown energy provider SRP to power 27 percent of its more than 200 campus locations nationwide with clean renewable energy via renewable energy credits sourced from wind turbines.

Were you inspired by this significant commitment to utilizing renewable energy sources? Follow the University’s lead and ask your local energy provider about ways you can go green at home. You may be able to power your own home with clean energy sources much easier than you think and for only pennies more than your monthly electricity bill.

Many providers offer plans that support 35%, 50%, or 100% renewable resources such as solar, wind, landfill gas, geothermal, and low-impact hydroelectric generation at a cost that is minimal while maximizing your long-term dedication to the environment. Signing up for a green energy plan is often as easy as a phone call or online form with your local energy provider and is effective almost immediately.

Your commitment to clean renewable energy sources at home will make a lasting difference!
Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs to save energy and money on your electric bill. Make your life a little easier by putting CFLs in hard to reach places, such as ceiling fixtures and enclosed outdoor fixtures. Compact fluorescent lights use a fraction of the energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs, allowing you the convenience of changing bulbs less frequently.
If one million households changed four light bulbs each, 900,000 tons of greenhouse gases would be eliminated.
Plant a tree. By planting trees near your home you can reduce home cooling costs by as much as 50 percent.
A single tree can absorb more than one ton of CO₂ over its lifetime.
Bank online and pay bills online.
If every U.S. home received and paid its bills online, annual greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 2.1 tons.
Recycle.
You can make 20 new cans from recycled material with the same energy it takes to make one from scratch.
Share the driving.
The average commuter burns 340 gallons a year, creating a 3.4-ton cloud of CO₂. Ride with one extra passenger and you’ve cut that figure in half. Find one more and you’ve cut it by two-thirds.
Recycle paper and use recycled paper products.
One ton of recycled paper uses 17 fewer trees and 67 percent less energy than non-recycled paper. Every ton of recycled paper saves enough electricity to power a three bedroom house for an entire year.
Bring reusable bags to do your grocery shopping.
The average American family of four tosses out about 1,500 plastic bags a year and each one can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. The bags are manufactured from about 12 million barrels per year of crude oil and natural-gas derivatives.
Buy eco-friendly household products.
If every American household used just one box of an eco-friendly powdered detergent instead of the petroleum-based kind, we’d save 217,000 barrels of oil a year – that’s about 90,000 tons of CO₂.
Use the cold cycle in the washing machine.
Wash your clothes in cold water and save yourself up to $400 a year in utility bills.
Buying ENERGY STAR electronics, refrigerators, washers, and air-conditioners will make your house more efficient, cut your emissions and save money on your utility bills. Make your house more efficient by wrapping your hot water heater in a cozy blanket; it can reduce your emissions by 1,000 pounds of CO₂ a year. Blanket insulation kits can be purchased for less than $20.
Unplug electronics, battery chargers and other equipment when not in use.
Taken together, these small items can use as much power as your refrigerator.
A five degree higher setting on your air conditioning thermostat will save about 10 percent on cooling costs.
Install an ENERGY STAR programmable thermostat and save as much as $115 per year.
The thermostat also provides more flexibility than standard models, such as the ability to program daily settings and adjust heating or air conditioning turn-on times as the outside temperature changes.
Reduce the amount of hot water used by installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.
Older showerheads deliver four to five gallons of water per minute. A new, two-and-a-half-gallon-per-minute showerhead will reduce your water consumption by one-third to one-half. A typical bathtub holds about 60 gallons. A top-quality, low-flow showerhead will cost $10 to $20 and pay for itself in energy saved within four months.
Use microwave ovens to save energy.
Microwave ovens are about 33 percent more efficient than convection ovens and 66 percent more efficient than conventional ovens.
When landscaping your yard consider bamboo.
Bamboo stores more CO₂ and generates 35 percent more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees.
Reuse plastic containers.
1.5 million tons of plastic are used to make bottles every year, a waste that could instead power electricity in 250,000 homes.