Quick tip: Switch off the lights.

I'll be the first to admit, I never understood the point of occasions such as Earth hour. For those of you who are not familiar with Earth Hour (now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if that's what it was really called): earth hour was an hour once a year when everyone around the world turned off their lights for a full 60 minutes. This usually coincided with Earth Day on April 23d, which is meant to remind us about environment issues.

As you may have guessed, today's quick tip is about conserving energy in the form of lighting. (I'll keep it simple and keep heating out of this until the fall and winter months are upon us.)
Quick tip: Only turn on the lights you need, and only keep them on for however long you need them.




Remember how much fun you would have as a kid during power outages? (I was scared of the dark for a long time but power outages were always fun!) How about spending time at a cottage without electricity and lighting candles once the sun went down?
Here's a short list of things that are fun to do by candlelight or in the dark:
- Playing board games or cards
- Eating dinner
- Having friends over for wine!
- Sleeping
- Romance
- Listening to music

Last words: I recently found out that beeswax candles are the best option. This is because they contain "no paraffin, benzene, acrolyn, lead, stearic acid, or any other chemicals. As a result no toxic petrochemical by-products are released during the burning of beeswax candles." Source. For this reason, I'm burning whatever candles I have now and will make the switch once I burn through my current toxic candles.

Quick tip: Take the stairs!

Our lives are often filled with lots of stress and running around. Ironically, none of it is actually associated with running or getting much movement at all. In the process, we've also forgotten how to stay active as we automatically hit the elevator button or head straight for the escalator when the stairs are within sight.

Quick tip: Take the stairs - every time!
Even if your friends/neighbours/strangers are taking the elevator.

I started doing this in July, and it's now almost mid-August. The only exceptions I've made were for carrying really heavy or bulky things (like my vacuum cleaner - don't ask) up and down the stairs. I've found that it challenges me to take a few extra steps and regardless of how high up you're headed, it can also be fun!




Now you may not save the world by saving a few buttons-worth of electricity used to power an elevator but to convince you, I've made a list of reasons to take the stairs every time:
- More exercise (up and down the stairs)
- Less guilt (I feel great!)
- More energy (thanks to more exercise)
- If you're proactive about this, you'll end up making a bit of extra effort in other areas of your life. (ie. Like riding your bike to the grocery store or the farmer's market.)
- Less need to go to the gym (depending on how many stairs a day you climb, this could be a valuable source of exercise! Why waste time on the stair-master when you can just get in the habit of doing it regularly, and for free.)
- The feeling of accomplishment that comes from doing a little extra.
- Sexy legs! (That's right. I said it.)
- Not using extra electricity when your legs can carry you. And saving it for when you need it. (ie. Like when you bring home furniture!)
- It's fun!


While brainstorming about this entry I happened upon some really great pictures of staircases, maybe they'll inspire and remind you to take the stairs! Click here for more.