How Communities Can Help Conserve Energy

The more people are involved in conserving energy, the cheaper it will be to generate energy. When a community works as a team toward a common goal, every household is going to benefit from them no matter how lofty the goals seem to be. Energy consumption is one of the things that must be tackled during your community meetings.

Forget about installing a swimming pool in the clubhouse or worrying about the quality of the equipment in the public playground. Take it a notch higher with more important goals. If you live in windy cities or in Coconino County, harnessing wind energy should be one of your discussions.

Installing Alternative Sources of Energy

Coming together and pooling your resources to install a solar water heating system or wind turbine, for example, can reduce the costs of the technology. And although every household might have to pay a pricey upfront fee, everyone will benefit from the reduced energy bills. Imagine generating your community's energy needs from the wind, sun, or water? That will have a direct effect on the budget of every household in your neighborhood.

Replacing Street Light Bulbs

Take the lead to replace the streetlight bulbs with more energy-efficient ones. You can use compact fluorescent lamps, LEDs for those holiday decorations, and downlights. During the daytime, make sure that someone will have access to turning off the streetlamps. The dimmer should work effectively in the afternoon and early evening. Downlights use a third of the energy consumed by incandescent light bulbs. They also last three to four times longer.

Consider Solar Lamps

How about using solar lamps for the streetlamps? If you can't invest in wind turbines and solar panels, the least a community can do is replace their streetlamps with solar-powered ones. These bulbs will harness solar power in the morning and use this power to light up the streets in the evening. This means that you won't have to use energy to power your streetlamps in the morning. This should probably be done for the town hall, too. You'll pass on the savings to anyone who'll rent the town hall.

Investing in a Biomass Boiler

A biomass boiler can be used as a centralized heating system for all households in a neighborhood. It is the main system that you can use to distribute heat to many homes. The heat travels through a network of underground insulated pipes that carry hot water or steam. It is a cheaper alternative to households paying for an individual heating system.

Start a Community Garden

Is there a patch of land in your community that can be converted into a garden? You can create a community garden. You can grow vegetables, fruits, flowers, and many other kinds of plants. If everyone agrees to take part in this project, the community can also build a greenhouse.

Some new technologies and products will provide options to communities for their energy-saving efforts.Working together to build a community that's more resilient to climate change sets a good example for children. In the future, they will continue the work and reap the rewards of reduced energy bills and a protected environment.