15. Water for laundry: Forgo the hot water when doing laundry. Heating water to “hot” accounts for 90 percent of the machine’s washing energy; only 10 percent goes to power the motor. Switching to “cold” can save the average household more than $400 annually with an electric water heater and $300 annually with a gas heater.
16. More on water for laundry. And get over the idea that you need hot water to kill nasties. Cold-water laundering is perfectly healthful in most situations at home, with a couple of caveats. One: If you suffer from allergies, you might need a shot of heat, which you can get from tossing the laundry into a hot dryer for 10 minutes. Here’s how it goes: If your problem is pollen or mold spores, cold water (and detergent) can rinse those out of your laundry as well as hot water. You need no heat on the situation. If your problem is animal dander or dust mites, you need some heat. Putting your laundry in a hot dryer (120 to 130 degrees) will kill those allergens. You don’t need to precede that with a hot water wash. It’s overkill.
The other big caveat: infectious diseases. If your family is dealing with something like E. Coli or norovirus (the cruise ship virus) or food poisoning or excessive diarrhea, all of which result in high levels of bacteria or virus in the environment, you need bleach. The hot water setting on most home washing machines is not hot enough to kill these. Add bleach with a cool or warm water setting and then follow with a hot dryer.
17. More on drying laundry. Clean the lint trap before every load. It’s the safe thing to do and the efficient thing to do. A clean trap can save as much as $35 a year in energy costs.
18. Get organized. Do your own (linen, storage) closet systems with a bunch of inexpensive clear plastic boxes/bins. Stash all sorts of household essentials in their own box—for instance, tape, ribbon, razors, soap, shampoo, etc. That way you can see what you already have at home and won’t be tempted to overbuy.
19. Multiple-use products. Pay attention to all the single-use items in your daily life—the throwaway plastic water bottles, paper napkins, paper towels, disposable wipes. And try to figure out alternatives: reusable water bottles; cloth napkins; microfiber dusting cloths that can be washed and reused; etc.
20. CFL disposal. Get rid of CFLs—recycle them—responsibly. The mercury contained in compact fluorescent light bulbs should not be accumulating in a landfill or, even worse, incinerated.
