Energy Efficiency
Top five energy-related New Year’s resolutions
It’s that time of year! Time to pin all of our hopes for 2012 on those five little words: “This year I resolve to….” Well, why not mix it up this year and resolve to save energy and waste less? (You know you’re going to stop going to the gym by February anyway.) Here are five easy resolutions that you may actually keep.
- Dine and drink with purpose. This year, choose to support local restaurants that make the extra effort to be energy efficient and less wasteful. Tons of great restaurants—the Birchwood Café, Café Barbette, Bryant Lake Bowl, Common Roots Café, and the Red Stag Supper Club—have teamed up with the Minnesota Energy Challenge and Eureka Recycling to recycle and compost at their restaurants.
- Resolve to buy less or buy used. Find a good tailor instead of buying something new. Visit Goodwill and Savers for household or kitchen items at a fraction of the price. (And skip the shopping bag!)
- Take the challenge! The Minnesota Energy Challenge is an action guide for reducing energy waste in your home or business. Design your own energy-saving action plan by signing up to do really easy stuff like turning down the water heater or combining trips. Join the more than 28,000 Minnesotans who have taken the challenge over the last five years and saved over $13 million every year.
- Resolve to use transit a little more often in 2012. If you’ve never used transit, why not start with once a week? You’ll save money on gas and parking, and you may be able to de-stress your commute. If you live in Minnesota, Metro Transit makes it easy to plan your routes.
- Buy from local farmers. You don’t need to wait until spring to hit the local farmers’ markets! The St. Paul and Minneapolis farmers’ markets run all winter long. Other cities have biweekly or one-time markets during the winter. Support local farmers, eat healthier food, and cut down on transportation-related global warming pollution.
Photo: Pinti 1 under Flickr’s Attribution License