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Time… We all wish we could have a little more of it in our busy lives especially when it comes to cooking a quick meal.  With a full schedule, a satisfying meal could be as simple as making a pasta dish.  Packaged uncooked pasta takes about 10 minutes to cook, however what takes the longest is boiling the water.  One way to speed up the process is to boil the pot of water with the lid on.  This will trap the heat in the pot instead of releasing it into the air.  Therefore, the water in the pot will be heated more and come to a boil much quicker.

This is beneficial because, not only are you saving time boiling the pot of water, you are saving the extra electricity or gas you would have used if the lid was not on the pot.  This will save you money since you will not be using and paying for an unused amount of energy.  This will also help the environment because fewer energy resources were produced and consumed, which will reduce its environmental damage.

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When cooking large hot meals, it can often lead to having left overs for another time.  After consuming your hot meal before storing it, make sure you stay away from using plastic bags and keep food fresh in reusable containers.  In order to keep your food fresh for longer periods of time, food must be stored in the refrigerator.  However, don’t put your hot food container in the refrigerator right away.  Let it cool down outside the refrigerator first, and then proceed to placing it inside.  Above is a picture of the spaghetti and meat sauce I cooked last night that I let cool for a couple hours before storing it in the refrigerator.

Whether you have 20 minutes to let it cool before you have to run somewhere else or a couple hours until you go to bed, letting your food cool prior to refrigeration will prevent your refrigerator’s inside temperature from heating up.  This will reduce the amount of energy your refrigerator consumes in order to keep a constant cool heat.  Saving energy will reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted during the production on the energy’s source and will also save you money on your electric bills.

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Your refrigerator and freezer take up about seven to nine percent of your energy bill.  There are many ways to reduce the amount of energy used to keep your freezer cool by simply reducing the amount of warm air that enters.  When warm air enters a fridge or freezer space, the fridge/freezer’s natural instinct is to get it back to how cold it was prior to the door being open.  Therefore, it will use more energy to cool the air inside.

Previous Be EGOlogical tip: “Quick Snack” recommended avoiding leaving the fridge/freezer door open for a long time to reduce the amount of warm air entering.  Another way to save money on the energy costs of your fridge/freezer is to keep your freezer stocked at all times.  It takes more energy to cool down empty air space because when your freezer is full, there is less room for warm air to enter.  Therefore less energy will be used to cool down your freezer.

If your freezer is not full of food, you can fill the empty space with cardboard boxes full of newspaper or frozen water bottles.  By keeping your freezer full, your will reduce the amount of energy your fridge/freezer uses and therefore reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during energy production and save some money on your energy bill.

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How many times have you fiddled with the settings of your washing machine and wondered if you are applying the right settings for each load of laundry?  Every washing machine is different and can often times be confusing.  Once you set it for the right size and type for the clothing you are washing, another option listed is the water temperature.  You might have heard that washing your clothes on warm/hot water will “kill the germs better” or “clean your clothes better,” however this is typically not the case.  Most clothes do not need to be cleaned with hot water and can get the job done with cold water.

By reducing the temperature of water used, you reduce the amount of energy used to wash that load.  This will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during energy production and consumption and will also save you money on your energy bill.  Another added bonus is that your clothes will last longer, therefore reducing your clothing consumption rates.  So next time you are about to run a load of laundry, make sure your water temperature is set to “Cold” to save energy, the environment, and money!