going green saves green

okay, so by now everyone and their cousin has been beaten senseless by the "go green" message. whether you're reducing, reusing and recycling, or swapping out lightbulbs, or unplugging your microwave when you're not using it, you know how important it is to do your bit. but, for anyone who still doubts that it's worthwhile, i offer cold, hard proof: my hydro bill.

when i lived at hell house, in my 300 sq. ft. apartment, my bi-monthly hydro bill was always, always between $42-48. always. didn't matter if it was winter or summer, the bill always fell into that range.

when i moved into my new, 600+ sq. ft. place this march, i made a conscious effort to make my pad as environmentally sound as possible. so, each light has compact fluorescent bulbs, any appliances not in use (microwave, VCR, printer, can opener, whatever) are unplugged, and i only turn on a light when i need one (i.e., i don't leave them on needlessly). having made all these minor changes, i was anxious to get my first hydro bill here to see what kind of impact, if any, it would have.

imagine my profound delight and surprise to see that the bill came to $32. that's a drop of about 25%! SWEET! plus, i reduced my carbon emissions and, you know, did something nice for the planet.

yay green!