Every little bit counts in energy conservation efforts.

It's no secret that it is much easier to get people to support a cause if they understand the reason behind it and the potential impact they can have on the outcome. So it is only logical that it would also be the case with energy conservation.

There is a great deal of talk about safeguarding our environment and reducing our dependence on foreign energy supplies. Currently, Americans use 30% of the world's oil supply but only 2% of that comes from American soil. (1) It will be difficult to change our energy consumption behavior without focusing on energy awareness and education.

More and more we see stories in the media about saving the environment and conserving energy. The solutions range from purchasing green power to buying energy efficient light bulbs. But does anyone really understand what going green is or what impact any of these solutions has on the effort to save the environment and conserve energy?

The fact is, "going green" and energy conservation is not going to be achieved through a few large scale initiatives by big government or big business. Energy conservation will be achieved one consumer and one business owner at a time, each doing their part to support the common goal.

Americans make up 4% of the world's population but consume 26% of its resources (2). We are not a society accustomed to conserving. Most of us don't know that small changes in each of our daily lives can make a big difference.

The challenge is educating consumers about the myriad of little things they can do to make a measurable impact with minimal affect on their daily lives. If consumers were aware of what they could do and the impact they could make, there would be more support for energy conservation. Let's look at some basic ways we can all start conserving immediately.

The average household spends 11% of the monthly budget on lighting. New lighting technologies, like compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, last up to ten times longer than incandescent bulbs and can reduce energy needed to light your home or business by as much as 50%-75%. Imagine what we could conserve as New Yorkers if we all simply replaced our existing light bulbs with CFLs.

Additionally, each bulb replaced reduces the amount of C[O.sub.2] released into the atmosphere by 150 pounds per year. The light the latest CFLs produce is almost indistinguishable from incandescent bulbs making the impact on our daily lives minimal. The impact on the effort to conserve our natural resources would be significant and we would save money on our electric bill in the process.

Driving is our primary mode of transportation and the main reason we are so dependent on foreign energy sources. Although our society is completely reliant on it, there are things we can do to lessen the impact it has on foreign dependency and our environment. When we drive, we spend an additional $0.20 per gallon of gas and reduce our fuel efficiency 7%-23% (3) for every 5 miles per hour (mph) over 60 mph.

If we each drove just 20 miles less per week for one year, we would reduce the amount of C[O.sub.2] released into the atmosphere by 900 pounds. Even a simple adjustment like keeping your tire pressure at the recommended level can increase the fuel efficiency of your car. None of these solutions significantly impact your daily life but collectively they make a big difference.

So--how do we get the word out? How do we educate people about energy conservation? It goes beyond setting rules, restrictions or imposing fees and fines. These things all help to force conservation. Ultimately, educating people about how they can conserve on their own and the impact they will have can go a lot further.

To get widespread support, consumers must understand what they are supporting and feel like they can impact the outcome. Education is one of the best ways to transform behavior to support conservation of energy. (4)

Programs that make it easy for consumers to start conserving will help. For instance, in Chicago the mayor is giving away 500,000 CFLs, which residents pick up along with basic energy information at their city office.

Co-op and Condo building owners and managers have a perfect opportunity to educate their residents about energy conservation and leverage it as a differentiator. Giving residents back some of the savings from everyone's conservation efforts would go a long way in bringing energy conservation to the forefront and showing the immediate impact.

Making consumers aware of where they can go to get information about conservation is another easy way to get the word out. There are many web sites that offer information about conservation. One site, www.campaignearth.org even offers a monthly challenge to help consumers and businesses focus on one specific initiative that will make an impact.

Consumers can get information from their local utility's site as well as New York's energy services companies (ESCOs) web sites.

One such ESCO, Accent Energy has an entire energy education section on their web site packed with information.

Accent Energy also offers an interactive video that makes it easy to learn how to conserve energy without making significant changes.

Conservation education not only helps conserve our energy resources, but it also reduces the amount of money we spend on energy consumption and that is something that everyone is interested in.

1 www.campaignearth.org

2 www.campaignearth.org

3 www.fueleconomy.gov

4 Rubens A. Dias, Cristiano R Mattos, Jose Balestri. Energy Policy. Energy Education: Breaking up the Rational Use Barriers, July 2004, Vol 32 pg 1139.

BY DANA SAUCIER, CO-FOUNDER, LISA IMONDI, VICE PRESIDENT, ACCENT ENERGY