Today's Energy Insight

Did you know you should try to wash your clothes in cold water whenever possible? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, almost 90% of the energy used to wash clothes is used to heat the water. When you think about how often you do laundry, that's a lot of wasted energy.

Today's Energy Insight

"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew."

~ Marshall McLuhan

Today's Energy Insight

Here are the top three things you can do at school, work or home to conserve energy...

When it is bright enough and available, use natural light and turn off lights when a room, office or an area is unoccupied.

Turn off PCs, monitors, printers and photocopiers at the end of the day, don't leave them on standby. A copier left on overnight uses enough energy to make over 1500 copies.

Unplug phone and laptop chargers when not being used. 95% of energy used by phone chargers is wasted.

Thanks for doing your part and being energy smart!

Today's Energy Insight

Happy Hearts Day!

Even though the color of the day is red,

keep thinking GREEN and have a

Happy and Energy Efficient Valentine's Day!

Energy Projects

If you are looking for new ideas for Science Fair projects, below is a great link to some energy experiments courtesy of the National Energy Education Development Project. There are several options in four categories: Primary, Elementary, Intermediate and Secondary.

Click here to check it out!

Today's Energy Insight

A curious staff member recently submitted the following question, “Does single ply toilet paper really save money?  I know it is cheaper to buy, but is it really cheaper in the end (no pun intended)?  Do people end up using more single ply toilet paper than double – perhaps balancing out the total cost?”

Thank you to a certain teacher for submitting this question, you will be receiving a fabulous prize. I am not referring to this teacher by name because I didn't want her to get any crap (pun intended) from her colleagues.

After extensive research and finding out way more than necessary on the subject, there really is not a definitive answer. It seems toilet tissue has been debated on many levels for years. There are so many variables beyond the number of layers including the width and length of the roll, the size of the individual sections, coarseness, paper pulp source, embossing (quilting) additives (lotion or oil) rate of disintegration and much more. It all comes down to personal preference, perception and where you want to pinch your pennies.

How’s that for a non-answer??? If anyone has more information to share on this subject, please email the EEC and if your submission is appropriate and print worthy, you too will receive a fabulous prize.

Today's Energy Insight

What is the most cost-effective method for cooking in the kitchen?

   Convection

         Conventional

               Microwave

                     Stove Top Burner

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy calls the microwave the most efficient method for cooking. Microwaves use a lot of energy when operating, but thanks to reduced cooking times, using a microwave oven will use two-thirds as much energy as a conventional oven. That’s because microwaves’ heat waves focus on what’s in the container, and don’t waste energy on heating the air or container around it.