You can find the part one of this series at Quick Green Tips: Part One - Water.

We may not actually “see” the energy we use, but millions of people use it 24 hours a day, and unfortunately many are not only abusing it but wasting it. It’s the source of our lighting, electronics, and electric appliances, all of these far beyond our basic human needs.

Our homes are also a major unsuspected pollution source, the average home emits an unnecessary two tones of harmful carbon dioxide gas every, that’s more than the average car Being born in countries where it is always available has caused a continuing growing dependency and need for more things that make our life easier.

The United States makes up only 5% of the worlds population yet uses ¼ of the world’s energy. I myself am taking advantage of having energy to power my computer and write this article, but I am not against using it only against wasting it. Wasting energy not costs extra money but its costing our planet, so here are some tips to use it wisely.

Switch all electrical appliances off at the plug instead of using the 'standby' function. During stand by the appliances are still using electricity, and astonishingly, this accounts for 6% of all electricity usage in the home.

Always at least turn off the computer screen when your not using it, 60% of the power used by a computer is used by the monitor!

Invest in energy saving light bulbs, they may cost more initially, but use far less electricity than normal bulbs and last 12x longer, saving you money in the long run.

Use the kettle to boil water for cooking, instead of heating a pan on the stove. Its faster and another small way to save energy over time. Even better, use an electric kettle which uses less energy than the stove.

For every minute a fridge door is open it takes three minutes of electricity use for the fridge to cool back down to its set temperature, decide what you want before you open it.

Always set the washer to the lowest water level and temperature you need. Using a 40°C wash cycle rather than 60°C means you use a third less electricity. Reduce the wash to a 30°C cycle and the amount of electricity saved (not to mention money) will lower even more.

Remember to clean the lint screen on the dryer every time you use the machine, a screen filled with lint can cause your dryer use up to 30 percent more energy as well as increase the risk of fires. If you need to do two loads, dry one load of clothes immediately after the other to minimize heat loss and reducing warm-up and drying times.

If you’re in the market for a new electrical appliance Electrical appliances have two price tags, the purchase price and the long-term operating cost. Check the EnerGuide label to find out home many kilowatt-hours of energy you can expect a specific model to use each year. EnerGuide labels allow you to see the information in an easy to read format that lets you comparison shop.

Use the smallest electrical appliance needed for what you’re doing, use the toaster instead of the stove and opt for a slow-cooker to cook rice. On the other hand, irons although small can waster a lot of energy, try to get your clothes out of the dryer and fold them, by doing this you save the cost of energy and the energy you use ironing!