This article is meant to show you a few ways you can “go green” with technology. What going green with technology means is to use technology in some way to save energy or reduce waste. While there are probably a lot of ways you can do this, we’re going to focus on a few that are generally easy, inexpensive, and popular.
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SmartHub or EFT with paperless billing
The very first option is to sign up for TCC’s “SmartHub” or EFT (electronic funds transfer) with paperless billing. Right away, you’ll save time and money by not writing and mailing a check or driving down to the TCC office to pay your bill. It will be paid automatically through any checking or savings account, or credit or debit card that you choose. It will also help reduce waste (and cost, to TCC) by not having to print and mail a paper bill each month. Your current and past bills will be available online and you’ll get an email when the latest bill is available so you’ll know when you can look at it. Click here to go to SmartHub!
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Autopay on other bills
This idea is not just for your TCC bill, but for all of your bills! You can typically set them up through the company providing you the service OR through your bank or credit union. Not writing checks and mailing bills to five or more places each month will save you about $50 per year….plus all of the paper you’ll be saving due to reduced printing of bills, envelopes, checks, and stamps!
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Smart thermostat
One way you can save money while cutting down on waste (wasted energy) is by getting a smart thermostat. A smart thermostat takes a programmable thermostat to the next level by allowing you to make changes from an app on your smartphone or tablet. This means you can not only set a schedule for heating and cooling your home efficiently, but you can make changes to your thermostat remotely in case you forget to turn it up or down. Of course, it still has manual operation so you can adjust settings directly on the thermostat itself. You aren’t required to use your smartphone. An even more sophisticated version of this system uses smart vents as well so you can even control the temperature to individual rooms in your home so you have shut vents to rooms that are not needed/used during certain times of the day.
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Smart outlets to turn devices on and off remotely
Another innovation to the home is smart outlets. Smart outlets are like a normal electrical outlet for plugging items in to power, but they add Wi-Fi and software so they can be controlled by an app on your smartphone or tablet. You can program them to turn on and off at certain times or just open the app to check and see if an outlet you wanted off was left on. You can get smart outlets that replace a traditional outlet, smart outlets that retrofit to existing outlets, or smart power strips for multiple smart outlets from one plug-in.
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Solar chargers
Small, solar chargers for your phone or tablet are not only convenient for keeping your devices charged when you may not have access to electricity but they also save energy because you aren’t using any electricity for charging! Unlike power banks, which must be charged up first in order to charge your devices, solar chargers charge up using the sun and store that energy to charge your devices. These are great for road trips, camping, charging on an airplane, or going to places without easy-access electricity. There are even solar chargers made to be hung in (or stuck to) a window for easy charging in your home or on the road.
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LED and Smart bulbs
Changing out your standard (incandescent) bulbs for LED or smart light bulbs will help you save energy in a few different ways. One, LED bulbs require a fraction of the electricity of a standard bulb for the same brightness. Two, LED bulbs last a lot longer and make up for their higher up-front price. (This means you are cutting down on waste by not throwing a dozen regular bulbs in the trash for one LED bulb!). Three, smart LED bulbs can be dimmed and turned on/off remotely so you can save energy when they are left on — or when full brightness is not needed. Plus, with many smart bulbs, you can even change the tone from white to soft white or even to a variety of colors!
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Tankless water heater
This idea is not Internet related, but it is still taking advantage of technology to save money and cut down on waste. A tankless water heater runs your water through a series of snaking tubes which are warmed up to heat your water as you need it (on demand). So it is only “on” when you need hot water. A standard water heater, by contrast, keeps the entire tank of water (30 – 50 gallons or so) at the desired temperature (120 – 160 degrees) all the time so it’s hot when you need it. Tankless water heaters are much more efficient, both concerning energy, space, and the amount of material needed to produce them.
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Summary
It is nice to use technology to save time, energy, and money, while reducing waste. These were just a few ideas and there are likely many more. If you want to learn more, just open Google.com and search “going green with technology” and you’ll find a number of websites, blogs, YouTube channels, and organizations with far more information on this subject.