Knowing where electricity comes from
Take some time this week and find out where your energy comes from. Call your local power company or go online and see if you can find it. It may be difficult.
Try to get a sense of what is truly happening every time you hit a light switch or plug something in. It may make you look at it differently.
Set goals for next month about being a better steward regarding power usage. Look at the actual kilowatt hour usage on your bill and commit to decreasing daily usage. You might even set an extreme goal and be surprised that it isn't as tough as you thought.
31 January 2011
30 January 2011
Electricity: Practice 4
Turning things off
There are so many items in a house that often get left on when they are not being used. Televisions, fans, chargers, radios, cable/satellite boxes are just a few.
Sometime this week, take time when you leave a room or your house to make sure you have turned everything off that is not essential. As you make your rounds, notice how many things you have that use electricity, and think of how much power it takes to run your house in any given day.
Be humbled by how much money and resources this takes. Be proud that you are being a good steward with these resources, but at the same time don’t forget to realize so much more than just your money makes this possible.
There are so many items in a house that often get left on when they are not being used. Televisions, fans, chargers, radios, cable/satellite boxes are just a few.
Sometime this week, take time when you leave a room or your house to make sure you have turned everything off that is not essential. As you make your rounds, notice how many things you have that use electricity, and think of how much power it takes to run your house in any given day.
Be humbled by how much money and resources this takes. Be proud that you are being a good steward with these resources, but at the same time don’t forget to realize so much more than just your money makes this possible.
26 January 2011
Electricity: Practice 3
Refrigerator
This one appliance is uses a pretty hefty percentage of your normal energy bill. It makes sense—you can’t really turn it off each day.
Here is one practice that will keep it from working as hard, and help you use your resources more wisely: Sometime this week, stock your refrigerator and freezer as full as you can. If you have an empty fridge (like my college apartment fridge), it will be cold just like a stocked one. The difference is that one has cold things, while the other has cold air.
When you open the door of an empty fridge, cold air goes out to your kitchen, and the fridge has to go to work to replace it. In a stocked fridge, the cold stuff stays there and stays cold. End result: a stocked fridge doesn’t have to work as hard. If you are not the type who always has a fridge full of food, it doesn’t mean you need to buy a lot of food you can’t possibly eat or leave that mayonnaise jar in there when you know it’s expired. Just take some empty containers like milk jugs, fill them with water, and put them in those empty spots. You save resources and money, just by leaving them there.
This one appliance is uses a pretty hefty percentage of your normal energy bill. It makes sense—you can’t really turn it off each day.
Here is one practice that will keep it from working as hard, and help you use your resources more wisely: Sometime this week, stock your refrigerator and freezer as full as you can. If you have an empty fridge (like my college apartment fridge), it will be cold just like a stocked one. The difference is that one has cold things, while the other has cold air.
When you open the door of an empty fridge, cold air goes out to your kitchen, and the fridge has to go to work to replace it. In a stocked fridge, the cold stuff stays there and stays cold. End result: a stocked fridge doesn’t have to work as hard. If you are not the type who always has a fridge full of food, it doesn’t mean you need to buy a lot of food you can’t possibly eat or leave that mayonnaise jar in there when you know it’s expired. Just take some empty containers like milk jugs, fill them with water, and put them in those empty spots. You save resources and money, just by leaving them there.
24 January 2011
Electricity: Practice 2
Heat/Air
This, I think, is one of the most difficult issues involving electricity to make some kind of change with.
We are so used to a consistent temperature that it is hard to imagine anything other than a room somewhere between 68 and 72 degrees. It has become so that in many buildings I find myself the hottest in the winter and the coldest in the summer. We have this amazing gift of never having to worry if we will freeze or be exhausted by heat. But, many of us get too comfortable, using this gift when we aren’t around or stretching it during the most extreme times of the year.
This week, if you do not already, be mindful of your thermostat when you leave your house. Give your heater a break while you are gone. It will save you money. If you already adjust your thermostat when you go, try adjusting the temperatures when you are there. Make common sense adjustments like dressing with warm house slippers (your feet inform the rest of your body on how to feel). Use blankets on your couch. Dress warmer. This will save you money, which is big to some. But even if you think it is well worth your money to keep the thermostat where you like it, this is a way to be in better touch with the gifts God gives you, saving coal reserves. It also keeps you in tune with the seasons, as God created us to be.
This, I think, is one of the most difficult issues involving electricity to make some kind of change with.
We are so used to a consistent temperature that it is hard to imagine anything other than a room somewhere between 68 and 72 degrees. It has become so that in many buildings I find myself the hottest in the winter and the coldest in the summer. We have this amazing gift of never having to worry if we will freeze or be exhausted by heat. But, many of us get too comfortable, using this gift when we aren’t around or stretching it during the most extreme times of the year.
This week, if you do not already, be mindful of your thermostat when you leave your house. Give your heater a break while you are gone. It will save you money. If you already adjust your thermostat when you go, try adjusting the temperatures when you are there. Make common sense adjustments like dressing with warm house slippers (your feet inform the rest of your body on how to feel). Use blankets on your couch. Dress warmer. This will save you money, which is big to some. But even if you think it is well worth your money to keep the thermostat where you like it, this is a way to be in better touch with the gifts God gives you, saving coal reserves. It also keeps you in tune with the seasons, as God created us to be.
20 January 2011
Electricity: Practice 1
Lights
Get creative with lighting your house: So many of us have windows in our house that are always covered by blinds of curtains. Yet, during any given day, there is enough sunlight to light many houses without needing light bulbs.
Sometime this week, if you are at home or in your office, try going without turning on the light switches. Open the blinds or the curtains and let the sun light your room. This, of course, may not be feasible if you don’t have enough windows, if it’s cloudy, or if it’s just too cold. But, if it’s possible, try it—see how your perspective changes with the different kind of light. Also, take a few moments to look out your window and be more connected with the world around you. You will notice nature, people, buildings. In these brief moments, pray. Your world is much bigger than the room you are in.
Try candles at night: Up until about 100 years ago the only light in homes at night came from some sort of candle. Take a night this week to reconnect with your roots. Have a dinner by candlelight. I bet it will make it more difficult to be distracted with just the candles lighting the house. You will save money and resources, and depending on what you do that night, it could be a very novel way to spend the evening as a family.
I remember many nights when the power went out, how I was surprisingly excited to get to use the candles and oil lamps at my parents’ house. Candles are still used to invoke something spiritual in our churches. If you are doing a devotion or Bible Study, try beginning by lighting your candles and ending by extinguishing them without using electrical lights. The fire has a different affect on us.
Get creative with lighting your house: So many of us have windows in our house that are always covered by blinds of curtains. Yet, during any given day, there is enough sunlight to light many houses without needing light bulbs.
Sometime this week, if you are at home or in your office, try going without turning on the light switches. Open the blinds or the curtains and let the sun light your room. This, of course, may not be feasible if you don’t have enough windows, if it’s cloudy, or if it’s just too cold. But, if it’s possible, try it—see how your perspective changes with the different kind of light. Also, take a few moments to look out your window and be more connected with the world around you. You will notice nature, people, buildings. In these brief moments, pray. Your world is much bigger than the room you are in.
Try candles at night: Up until about 100 years ago the only light in homes at night came from some sort of candle. Take a night this week to reconnect with your roots. Have a dinner by candlelight. I bet it will make it more difficult to be distracted with just the candles lighting the house. You will save money and resources, and depending on what you do that night, it could be a very novel way to spend the evening as a family.
I remember many nights when the power went out, how I was surprisingly excited to get to use the candles and oil lamps at my parents’ house. Candles are still used to invoke something spiritual in our churches. If you are doing a devotion or Bible Study, try beginning by lighting your candles and ending by extinguishing them without using electrical lights. The fire has a different affect on us.
19 January 2011
January Focus: Electricity
The idea of electricity is so abstract for many of us that it is hard to look at it the way we might look at food or water. It is kind of like money. If you have enough of it, why is it a big deal to use it? What could possibly be spiritual about our use or our conservation of electricity?
I think the first part is understanding where our electricity comes from. For us in the Tennessee River Valley, we get a lot of it from hydroelectric power. We also get it from burning coal too, though. Then there is a minimal amount from wind and solar. When you start to think about what happens outside of your house when you flip on that light switch, you are a little more connected to those things that make this possible. Secondly, just finding alternatives to electricity can take you out of your daily routine enough that it can be a spiritual experience.
I think the first part is understanding where our electricity comes from. For us in the Tennessee River Valley, we get a lot of it from hydroelectric power. We also get it from burning coal too, though. Then there is a minimal amount from wind and solar. When you start to think about what happens outside of your house when you flip on that light switch, you are a little more connected to those things that make this possible. Secondly, just finding alternatives to electricity can take you out of your daily routine enough that it can be a spiritual experience.
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