Caitlyn has been an ENERGY STAR for a long time. This past year we got married, which was great, but in the meantime I lost my job. Along with the wedding expenses we both have enormous student loans to pay back. At a time when Caitlyn could have just sat and dulled, she took action. I have followed Caitlyn’s lead in making our home as energy-efficient as possible. All of our lights have been changed to ENERGY STAR, our refrigerator temp adjusted, heat/AC minimized, clothes washing optimized, and appliances unplugged when not in use. We have become aware of where energy is being used, without affecting our quality of life. Even though we still have financial barriers to hurdle, we can make small changes that will help in the larger picture and address energy issues of today. Caitlyn is an ENERGY STAR and will continue to promote social awareness of energy reduction.
Q: What is the smartest energy decision you have made? Since John and I don’t own our own home, it’s been challenging to ensure that the appliances we use are energy efficient. One of our biggest decisions is that we always shop for ENERGY STAR when we’re considering any electronic purchases. We’ve never owned our own refrigerator or heating system, but we do make the effort to get the most efficiency out of what we have. At night and when we aren’t home, we make sure to turn down the heat/AC and we’ve turned down our hot water heater to conserve energy. John and I are diligent about unplugging electronics that are on “stand-by,” such as TVs, media equipment, our internet modem and router, kitchen appliances, and our laptops. We also always unplug charges that aren’t in use.
Q: How has this decision affected your lifestyle and your wallet for the better? The decisions we’ve made have certainly made us more conscious of our impact on the environment. These days, ENERGY STAR appliances (in our case, electronics, etc.) aren’t really more expensive than the alternative, so in the end we know we’re saving. When we started doing this, we did see a drop in our electric bills, but since then it’s really just made us aware that making little changes isn’t hard and that anyone can do it.
Q: Are you surprised at the big changes that came from making a small change? I am not surprised. Being an environmental professional, I certainly feel it’s my duty to lead by example and when new ideas emerge, I love to try them. Being energy conscious isn’t our only interest in the environment–John and I are avid recyclers, we do our best to reduce waste and our overall resource consumption, and we’ve just started learning how to compost.
Q: What led you to make the decision in the first place? As I mentioned above, I work in the environmental field, and I want to be doing the most I can to make a difference- both professionally and personally. It is also great to have experience with these activities so that when I’m sharing ideas with others I can speak from personal experience.
Q: How have you shared your experience with others? Through my work and my personal life I’ve shared and learned many conservation ideas. It is great when someone tries my suggestion and it works. We have to work together to make small strides every day.
