How to save on utilities

Bills — they’re a necessary evil.

You pay them, and you’re broke for a month. You don’t pay them, and you lose the electricity and gain a refrigerator of rotten food.

But there are ways to cut down these costs and, according to local experts, possibly help the environment in the process.

Electricity
Mckenzie Beverage, coordinator of the Office of Sustainability's Energy Challenge, said saving energy is a simple task.

Make sure you turn unnecessary electronics off when leaving the house, Beverage said. Unplugging the items is even better, as electronics continue to use electricity as long as they are connected to a socket.

Plugging these items into power strips can make this easier, as the power to multiple items can be cut with a click of a switch.

The most substantial thing you can do, Beverage said, is monitor your refrigerator and dryer. Turn your fridge to a less cool setting, she suggests — the food will still keep — and air-dry your clothes on the backs of chairs or on a clothesline as much as a possible.

“In 45 minutes, your dryer uses as much energy as an entire dorm room does in 24 hours,” she said.

Water
Jon Callahan, public affairs specialist for City of Bloomington Utilities, said saving water is not difficult to do either.

When showering or even just washing your hands, Callahan recommends turning the water off when lathering up. Similarly, don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth.

A house shared by four people uses 200 gallons of water a week, he said — an amount that can be significantly reduced by simply turning off the faucet.

Callahan also recommends keeping showers to less than five minutes long. He said taking less time in the shower can save up to 1,000 gallons of water a month.

“You can do some pretty simple things,” he said. “This is not a lifestyle change.”