| | | | | (Eleni Kalorkoti for The Post) | | Welcome to the first edition of the Climate Coach newsletter. You're here, I'm guessing, because you care about our planet and the future generations that will live on it. You may have even wondered: What can I do? That's the question I'll explore every week with you in this column and newsletter. On Tuesday, you'll get a preview of my latest Climate Coach column in your inbox. On Thursday, I'll host an honest discussion in this newsletter about the environmental choices we face in our daily lives, one guided by curiosity, optimism and vigilant skepticism. To round it out, I'll curate the most insightful climate news from The Washington Post and elsewhere. | | At first glance, it may seem you can't do much about climate change. But you're not alone. If just Climate Coach subscribers got together in one place, they would populate one medium-size city (a pretty smart one, I'd guess, with excellent transit, waste-free home delivery and great taste in newsletters). And we're only on day one. As we'll discover, each of us is a potential "norm entrepreneur," someone whose ideas and actions prove to others what's possible, even desirable. Over time, this changes the course of society. So write back. Forward this to a friend. Submit any questions you have here. I'll read every one, and answer as many as I can. In my first column, I investigated how Americans are still using their appliances like it's 1970 — and how we can do better. Luckily, the news on the home front is good. We've never had more efficient appliances. We just need to use them better (and stop pre-rinsing our dishes). | |  | | When I was a kid, my dad followed behind me, shutting off the incandescent lights I left burning around the house. "You're wasting energy," he'd scold as I slipped out of the room. He was right, of course. In the 1980s, 5 to 10 percent of an average household's electricity bill went to keeping lights on. So when my own son was born last June, my dad joked he was waiting for the day when his grandson would exact his revenge on my utility bill. | | Luckily for me, this day will never come. I've been rescued by LED lights, now the primary lighting source for about half of U.S. homes. LEDs are miraculous wafers of semiconducting material that emit as much light as incandescent bulbs while using about 10 percent of the electricity. Later this year, incandescent bulbs will disappear from store shelves for good as new federal efficiency standards take effect. If it isn't already, your home lighting will soon be a rounding error on your energy budget. Yet most people still sound like my dad. When you ask Americans how they save energy at home, "turn off the lights" has been at the top of the list since the 1980s. But when it comes to actual savings, it doesn't even crack the top 10. Like most conventional wisdom about how to reduce household energy and emissions, much of what we believe about our homes and appliances is wrong. It's time to update our thinking. | | I interviewed engineers, energy efficiency experts and appliance manufacturers across the country to find out how we're misusing our appliances. Here's (a preview of) what I learned: Don't pre-rinse. Run your dishwasher. Modern dishwashers use far less water to clean a load of unrinsed plates than washing by hand. Just leave room for the water sprayers to reach every dish. Set your refrigerator thermostat and forget it. Many people still set the temperature too cold. Recommended temperatures — usually between 37 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit — preserve food the longest. Just arrange your food so it's easy to find (wasted food remains a major source of emissions). Your thermostat is smarter than you. You might have heard that keeping your thermostat at one temperature saves on heating and cooling bills. It doesn't. Instead, install a programmable or smart thermostat that adjusts to your preferences and habits. Stop washing clothes in hot water. Modern laundry detergents mostly work just as well at cold temperatures, and most washing machines' built-in sensors ensure clothes get just as clean without extra water or heat. Don't save ancient appliances. Replace them. Pushing appliances well beyond their expected lifetime just delays their imminent replacement while burning cash and energy. There's more! Check out my full column to find out about other ways to run an efficient home for you and the climate. The best part? None of these things rely on your child remembering to turn off the lights. Sorry, Dad (I know you're reading this). | | See you on Thursday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | | | | | | | | | |
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