SPOTLIGHT: HOW TO GREEN MY PARENTS

With “Earth Week” celebrations, we went over 1,000 online subscriptions to most reliable sources and spotlighted amazing kids joining the Green My Parents initiative, a national youth movement committed to save over $100 million, seed the green economy and save the planet.  Starting where? Closer than you can imagine — Home. 

But before you start, learn to read utility bills, and teach Mom & Dad to do the same. Knowing how much money you spend on electricity, water, gas, etc. will prove how much you save your family. With these steps, an average family could save over $1000.

§       Shop Smart. Stop wasting astronomical amounts of money: Study ENERGY STAR. You just killed all the vampires. Don’t invite another energy sucker into your home. Before buying new stuff, find out how much energy and/or water it uses. AJ, a GMP Champion, crunched the numbers for a refrigerator on its last legs. He gave his mom a list of ENERGY STAR fridges and cost savings. Their new fridge pays for itself in three years– average savings is $51 per year.

§       Play “Where did my food come from?” A fun, mealtime game ‘Hey, where did this tomato soup, these fish sticks, that salad, come from?’ Start with the youngest person at the table. Let them pick one thing on their plate and ask the question. Challenge your parents to reduce the number of miles travelled for every food item on your plate!

§       Shower shorter. Take a 90-minute shower…spread over 30 days. Every 5 minutes wastes up to 25 gallons– that’s 8000 gallons a year. Get your family down to 3 minutes. You’ll need a timer. A family of four could save over $50.

§       When it comes to walking, step it up. Challenge your parents to choose one regular, neighborhood route- a trip to the store, school drop-off, or a night at the movies. Now tell them to walk or bike it. Remind them that the bus, walking, biking or carpooling are not “alternative” transportation for kids. Save about half a gallon of gas per trip or $75 a year.

§       No, Speedracer, No! What’s the best way to save time, gas and money driving to school or work? Leave earlier. Teach your parents that speeding barely saves time, but increases the costs of fuel, tickets and insurance. For every 10 miles, driving 65 instead of 55 saves less than 2 minutes. Tell them to slow down: boost miles per gallon (MPG) up to 30% and save over $150 a year.

§       Drive your age, not your shoe size. Show your parents the most efficient cars on the road. It they are over 40, try a hybrid: some of them get over 40 MPG. Show your grandparents the all-electric vehicles coming out in 2011: the Nissan Leaf gets 367 MPG. Hybrids could save over $900 a year on gas.

§       Kick the bottle. Think the price of gas is hard to swallow? Try bottled water! Bottled water can be over $6 a gallon– twice the price gas. People say you should drink 8 glasses each day. If you drink bottled water, you could be throwing away $1000 a year. Help your parents kick their habit: invest in a filter and portable canteens.