Lifestyle Change Project
For the lifestyle change project, I chose to reduce my energy consumption. The primary reason for choosing this was to save money. Energy consumption was one aspect of the environment that had not paid much attention to. This change is also universal. Anyone can make a conscious effort to reduce his or her electricity consumption. It essentially requires awareness to the issue. Electricity use has “environmental implications, a reduction in electricity use by any means is beneficial. The reductions that come from simple changes in behavior are some of the easiest to achieve” (Friedland, Relyea, & Courard, 2012, pp. 338). This change allowed me to analyze my impact on the environment.
For the goal of this project, I …show more content…
As temperatures rise, the more work the air conditioner was used. The baseline data the temperature setting on the thermostat was set sixty-eight degrees. I have realized at the end of this project, this was not a energy conscious decision. Not only did I raise the temperature from sixty-eight degrees to seventy-two degrees. Coupled with the rise in temperature, utilizing peak times to raise and lower the temperature. The energy savings “are achieved by reducing or lowering the temperature in a residence during specific hours, such as unoccupied or night hours” (Carey, 2007, pp. 12). By raising the temperature four degrees has reduced the impact on the environment generating the electricity. Fluorinated gases “are widely used as room air conditioner refrigerants; hydrochlorofluorocarbon and hydrofluorocarbon, are a family of powerful, anthropogenic greenhouse gases with an effective global warming impact to the atmosphere that is thousands of times greater than that of CO2” (Zhao, Zeng, & Yuan, 2015). These harmful gases are reduced when use of the air conditioner is limited and …show more content…
One major challenge was changing the norm. Reducing the amount of loads of laundry was at the top of the list. Before the project, I would do close to four loads a week. If I needed a few items of clothing, I would wash them. Now I think about the impact that load of laundry has. I determine that it is not really worth it. Changing the temperature on the air conditioner was a major challenge as well. When the temperature is lower, I sleep better. This change was hard for my body to adapt to at first, but soon it did. Also, unplugging a refrigerator meant that I had to purchase less food. With the reduced storage area, it also reduced our grocery bill. While at the same time it was a challenge, it also was an advantage. I am going to continue my lifestyle change. While it proved to be difficult, I now see the change that I can make on the environment. There are also finachal benefits. When I compared the electricity bills between the baseline and the change data, I saved
For the lifestyle change project, I chose to reduce my energy consumption. The primary reason for choosing this was to save money. Energy consumption was one aspect of the environment that had not paid much attention to. This change is also universal. Anyone can make a conscious effort to reduce his or her electricity consumption. It essentially requires awareness to the issue. Electricity use has “environmental implications, a reduction in electricity use by any means is beneficial. The reductions that come from simple changes in behavior are some of the easiest to achieve” (Friedland, Relyea, & Courard, 2012, pp. 338). This change allowed me to analyze my impact on the environment.
For the goal of this project, I …show more content…
As temperatures rise, the more work the air conditioner was used. The baseline data the temperature setting on the thermostat was set sixty-eight degrees. I have realized at the end of this project, this was not a energy conscious decision. Not only did I raise the temperature from sixty-eight degrees to seventy-two degrees. Coupled with the rise in temperature, utilizing peak times to raise and lower the temperature. The energy savings “are achieved by reducing or lowering the temperature in a residence during specific hours, such as unoccupied or night hours” (Carey, 2007, pp. 12). By raising the temperature four degrees has reduced the impact on the environment generating the electricity. Fluorinated gases “are widely used as room air conditioner refrigerants; hydrochlorofluorocarbon and hydrofluorocarbon, are a family of powerful, anthropogenic greenhouse gases with an effective global warming impact to the atmosphere that is thousands of times greater than that of CO2” (Zhao, Zeng, & Yuan, 2015). These harmful gases are reduced when use of the air conditioner is limited and …show more content…
One major challenge was changing the norm. Reducing the amount of loads of laundry was at the top of the list. Before the project, I would do close to four loads a week. If I needed a few items of clothing, I would wash them. Now I think about the impact that load of laundry has. I determine that it is not really worth it. Changing the temperature on the air conditioner was a major challenge as well. When the temperature is lower, I sleep better. This change was hard for my body to adapt to at first, but soon it did. Also, unplugging a refrigerator meant that I had to purchase less food. With the reduced storage area, it also reduced our grocery bill. While at the same time it was a challenge, it also was an advantage. I am going to continue my lifestyle change. While it proved to be difficult, I now see the change that I can make on the environment. There are also finachal benefits. When I compared the electricity bills between the baseline and the change data, I saved